Contested races grow with close of candidate filing

Monday’s close of filing for city elections saw another contested race start in Havre with Jodi Kueffler filing as a challenger to incumbent Havre City Judge Virginia Siegel.

People had until 5 p.m. Monday to file as a candidate for the Nov. 7 election.

Kueffler, who holds a Bachelor of Science in paralegal studies and has worked for local law firms and, since 2013, in the Hill County Attorney’s Office, will be in one of three contested races in Havre.

In Ward 3, Havre Middle School social studies and art teacher Lindsey Ratliff will face ophthalmologist Marc Whitacre. Incumbent Jay Pyette did not file for re-election.

Ward 4 has a three-way race, with Sarah Griffith, Will Lorett and Lorraine Pester competing for the seat now held by Matt Boucher.

Boucher did not file for re-election.

Incumbent Terry Lilletvedt. will run unopposed for a second term in her Ward 1 seat, as will Karen Swenson, who was was appointed to her Ward 2 seat last year when Janet Trethewey resigned.

Five of the Havre City Council’s eight seats will be on the ballot, though two incumbents won’t be. At 5 p.m Monday neither Jay Pyette of Ward 3 or Matthew Boucher of Ward 4 filed for another term.

Less than a month after receiving her appointment to her Ward 2 seat, Denise Brewer also filed for re-election, to a two-year term. Brewer, a former student activities director at Montana State University-Northern, was appointed this month to fill the seat vacated by Brian Barrows when he resigned in April midway through his second term. Brewer is running to fill the last two years of his term.

Havre Mayor Tim Solomon, who filed in April, will be unopposed in his bid for a third term in the nonpartisan elections. Solomon was first elected in 2009 when he  garnered 62 percent of the vote to unseat two-term Mayor Bob Rice. He defeated Rice again in a 2013 rematch.

Higham Mayor Ray Lipp also is running unopposed as he seeks another term.

Two seats on the Hingham Town Council are up both with incumbents running for re-election without a challenger. Roger Haas, a wheat farmer and long-time council member is seeking another term, while Dillon Lipp, who was appointed to fill a vacancy, also filed for re-election.

In Blaine County, Chinook Mayor Keith Hanson also will not face a challenger when he seeks re-election in November.

Robert Lee Smith will be running for re-election to his seat on the Chinook City Council in Ward 1. Meredy A. Phares, who was appointed, will run to serve the last two years of the term in the city’s other seat in Ward 1.

In Ward 2, Mitch Hader and James Hodgson are each running unopposed for separate city council seats.

K.M Hansen is running unopposed for the mayor position in Harlem. Incumbent Rob Taylor did not seek re-election.

Two incumbent Harlem City Council members, Ralph Schneider in Ward 1 and Eva English Ward 2, are running unopposed.

In Big Sandy, Mayor Steve Stiles will face no opposition as he runs for re-election.

Both of the Big Sandy City Council’s Ward 2 seats will be on the ballot. Incumbent Colby W. Baumgam has filed to run for another full term, while Doron Ray will run to finish a 2 year term in the other Ward 2 seat.

The Chouteau County Clerk and Recorder’s office said this morning that a Ward 1 seat is also up in Big Sandy, but no one has filed to run.

In Liberty County, three seats on the Chester City Council will be up in November. Shane Kenfield in Ward 1 and Wendy Dauwalder in Ward 2 are unopposed in their re-election bids, as is Tonia Wickum in Ward 3.