County primary ballot takes shape

SANDPOINT - The primary election ballot will contain no shortage of choices or unfamiliar faces when voters head to the polls on May 27.

Only three candidates seeking elected office in Bonner County are shoo-ins for their party's nomination and a number of candidates have either previously held office or run for election.

The deadline for residents to declare their candidacy and secure a spot on the ballot lapsed Friday. Here are the candidates running:

Commission District 1

Incumbent Commissioner Todd Crossett, a Democrat from Cocolalla, is running unopposed for his party's nomination. Republicans Cornel Rasor and John Reuter are vying for the GOP nod.

Rasor, a Sagle resident, ran for the District 1 seat in 2002, but lost to Marcia Phillips in the primary. Reuter, publisher of the Sandpoint Reader, is making his first run for office in Bonner County.

Commission District 2

Joe Young, an incumbent Republican commissioner, has no challenger in the primary. But a race has broken out on the Democrat ticket between former Commissioner Brian Orr and Patty Palmer.

Orr, the former mayor of Oldtown, lost in a tight race against Larry Allen in 1996 but went on to defeat Allen in 1998. Orr was re-elected to a two-year term in 2002, but lost to Young in the 2004 general election.

Palmer ran as an independent candidate for the District 1 seat in 1996, but lost to former Commissioner Bud Mueller. She competed as a Democrat in an unsuccessful run for state Sen. Shawn Keough's post in 2004.

Sheriff

There will be no gimmes in the primary election for this position.

Incumbent Republican Elaine Savage will have to fend off four challengers to advance to the Nov. 4 general election. She faces Rocky Jordan, Evan “Chip” Roos, Geoff Rusho and Daryl Wheeler in the primary.

Roos held the position of sheriff for three terms until 2000, when he opted not to run for re-election. Jordan and Rusho have both served as deputies in the sheriff's office, and Wheeler is a Sandpoint Police officer.

On the Democrat side, Larry Hanna of Ponderay and Tony Lamanna of Priest River are dueling for their party's nomination. Lamanna lost to Savage in a close, hard-fought race in 2004.

Prosecutor

Deputy Prosecutor Louis Marshall is currently the only candidate on the county ballot who has neither a primary nor a general election challenger. Marshall would succeed Prosecutor Phil Robinson, who has held the post for the last 12 years.