Candidates begin circulating nomination papers in Sparta, Tomah, Bangor

With candidates able to begin circulating nomination papers Dec. 1, the City of Sparta election is beginning to take shape.

Leading the ballot will be a mayoral race that, so far, includes one-term incumbent Kristen Gust and challenger Kevin Riley, the District 8 alderman. While only Riley has taken out nomination papers, Gust has indicated she will run for re-election.

Also on the ballot for the April 6 election is municipal court judge. The incumbent, Mark Magnus, resigned the position earlier this year. Former City Attorney Dick Heitman is filling out his term.

Joseph Brown, a bailiff in Monroe County Circuit Court, is the only candidate as of yet who has taken out papers for the seat.

This year the four odd-numbered aldermanic districts are up for election. Incumbents Matthew Hoffland from District 5 and Bruce Humphrey from District 3 have both taken out nomination papers for another term.

District 1 Alderman Jim Church and District 7 Alderman Josh Lydon have yet to indicate whether they will seek another term. All candidates have until Jan. 4 to file nomination papers with the city clerk. 

Aldermen must collect between 20 and 40 signatures, while mayoral and municipal judge candidates have to collect 50 to 100 since those are citywide seats.

Bangor

Three trustee positions are up for grabs on the Village of Bangor board.

Incumbent Jeff Radtke filed his nomination papers Friday to keep his seat. Charles Horman, the other incumbent, has not yet declared he will run again. 

The third seat is vacant due to former trustee Eric Faas moving out of the area.

Tomah

As of Friday, time three incumbents have announced their intent to seek another term in the spring election. The even council seats (districts 2, 4, 6, and 8) and the mayor are up for re-election.

Richard Yarrington (District 2) Shawn Zabinski (District 4) and Lamont Kiefer (District 6) have taken out papers. Dean Peterson had not taken out papers for District 8 as of the publication deadline.

For the mayoral race, Remy Gomez has taken out papers and would challenge Mike Murray, who had not taken out papers to seek another term as mayor. But Murray has indicated with other local news sources his intent to seek another term.

Gomez is no stranger to municipal government. He was briefly the District 8 alderman after being appointed to a vacant seat. He was defeated by Peterson during an election race. Gomez is presently a Monroe County Board supervisor.