Unless there’s a major push between now and noon Thursday, it appears highly unlikely we will have a primary election in Lyon County.
On KVOE’s Newsmaker 2 segment Tuesday, County Clerk and Election Officer Tammy Vopat said none of the positions for City Commission, City Council, mayor or school board currently have enough candidates to trigger a primary — which would be Aug. 1 if things change. There is typically some confusion about how the primary field is set, and Vopat clarified that procedure during the interview.
The Emporia City Commission field currently has all incumbents — Erren Harter, Jamie Sauder and Becky Smith — and challenger Will Spencer on the ballot. Incumbent Michael Houston filed Tuesday morning for re-election to the Allen City Council. Americus City Council has incumbent Nicolette Nuessen filing for re-election, as has fellow incumbent Kayla Burton. Incumbents Karla Mendoza, Brian Shank and Dallas Shepherd are up for re-election on the Neosho Rapids City Council ballot and incumbent Billy Paige is on the Reading City Council ballot.
School boards have seen varying interest so far. The Emporia Board of Education has all incumbents filing for re-election, including Jeremy Dorsey, Art Gutierrez, Grant Riles and Leslie Seeley, and two newcomers — Christy Grant and Sam Tovar — now on the ballot. Incumbent David Goldsmith is running for re-election to USD 251 North Lyon County Position 2. In USD 252 Southern Lyon County, the field includes Position 1 incumbent Gene Windle, Position 5 incumbent Emily Darbyshire and Position 7 incumbent Charles Steffes, as well as newcomers for Position 4 Justin Farr and Brad Hoelting. Incumbent Kevin Flott is not running for re-election after over a decade on the board.
With last-minute filers expected for the overall election cycle this week, the Election Office crew is actually focusing on early preparation for the general election Nov. 7. If there is no primary, voter registration will close Oct. 17, with advance mail ballot voting beginning the following day and advance in-office voting starting Oct. 23. A Saturday voting event will take place Oct. 28, with the advance vote process ending at noon Nov. 6.
Applications are online at lyoncounty.org, the County Clerk’s Office inside the Lyon County Courthouse and at city clerk’s offices across the county. Applications need to be notarized as part of the filing process.
