WINNEMUCCA - The local election season got off to a slow start, but it finally sprang to life in the final days of the candidate filing period.
The total number of candidates running for non-judicial seats more than doubled in the hours leading up to 5 p.m. last Friday, adding some competition to major races for county office.
"It's been busier than it has been over the last two weeks of filing," Humboldt County Clerk Tami Rae Spero said March 16. "We've had a very steady day."
Indeed, Spero's staffers were keeping busy up until the second her office closed, just after Humboldt County Commission candidates Marlene Brissenden and Allen Violette filed their paperwork to run for two separate seats on the board.
Brissenden, a Republican, will run against previously announced GOP candidates Joyce Sheen and Rich Stone for Seat A on the board.
Since that race grew into a three-way Republican contest, the candidates' names will appear on primary election ballots. Early primary voting is scheduled to run from May 26 to June 8, while the primary itself is set for June 12.
The other two commission races will head straight to the Nov. 6 general election.
In the race for Seat B, incumbent Commissioner Mike Bell now faces competition from fellow Republican Bob Davidson, Sr., and Violette, who is running under the Independent American Party's banner.
Meanwhile, incumbent Seat D Commissioner Garley Amos will also face a general election challenge from fellow Republican Jim White.
Aside from the commission races, the biggest contest to watch might be the race for Seat C on Humboldt General Hospital's Board of Trustees.
Dr. Soon Kim, who works as a surgeon for the hospital, currently occupies the seat. But up until the final day of the filing period, it remained uncertain if Kim would seek a second term on the board.
Former Trustee Bill Hammargren was the first candidate to file for the seat, and he was later joined by McDermitt resident Dale Hartley.
Kim ended that uncertainty last Friday, when she filed paperwork to run for re-election. However, there's just as much uncertainty regarding Kim's future on the hospital board, if voters return her to office.
In late January, the board amended its policies to prevent hospital employees from serving as trustees - an action that was designed to reduce the potential for conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof.
The move came after the Nevada Commission on Ethics reprimanded Kim for failing to disclose her pecuniary interest in a routine agenda item that she and other board members approved.
In other hospital board races, Edward Hopfer and Jenny Setzer are running for Seat D, while incumbent HGH Trustee Mel Hummel has the race for Seat A all to himself.
In addition to his run for hospital board, Hartley is seeking seats on three other boards.
In two of those races, he will face incumbents: Bruce Easterday for Seat C on the McDermitt Fire Board, and Donald Petersen for Seat E on the McDermitt General Improvement District.
The third race is Hartley's to win: He is running unopposed for a seat on the Quinn River Television District Board, which currently lacks enough members to have a quorum.
Other rural candidates include Jason Deputy for Seat A on the Paradise Valley Fire District Board, incumbent Barbara Ferguson for Seat C on the McDermitt General Improvement District Board, Ken Petersen for Golconda Fire District Seat A and incumbent Fred Warden for Golconda Fire District Seat E.
Previously announced candidates include Dolores Shields for Seat C on the Golconda Fire District Board, Leo Swindler for McDermitt Fire District Board Seat A and Gary Wilson for McDermitt General Improvement District Seat A. Moe Hanzlik and Virginia Jane "Ginx" Viegut are also running, respectively, for Seats A and C on the Winnemucca Rural Fire District Board.
While interest in the commission and hospital board races grew, there was little enthusiasm from potential candidates for three seats on the Humboldt County School Board.
Incumbent Trustees Ann Miller and Boyd Betteridge filed on the closing day to retain their seats, but Board Chair Shelly Noble did not. As a result, the school board will have to appoint someone to Noble's position next January, once her current term officially expires.[[In-content Ad]]
