Candidates withdraw from consideration

SANDPOINT — The deadline to officially withdraw as a candidate saw a handful of candidates pull their names from consideration for upcoming Bonner County elections on Nov. 7.

In the Lake Pend Oreille School District, Rebecca Holland withdrew from the race, telling district officials that she'd talked to Scott Wood and felt it was in voters' best interests for her to step down.

"In a recent meeting … I saw that we have similar supportive views of public education that I wish to see continue," Holland said.

Looking at the turmoil surrounding the West Bonner County School District, Holland wrote in her withdrawal letter that she did not want the same thing to happen in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

"It is essential that our zone 1 voters are aware of this conflict in our neighboring community," Holland wrote in the letter. "And knowing that three in a race can be mathematically problematic, I am choosing to yield in order to give my full support to Scott Wood."

Holland's withdrawal leaves the LPOSD Zone 1 race between Scott Wood and Jennifer McKnight. The zone encompasses the area east of U.S. 95 and includes Northside, Hope and Clark Fork schools.

Also up for vote is the district's Zone 4 seat, currently held by Geraldine Lewis, who is running for reelection and is unopposed. The zone includes the area south of Highway 200 and includes Sagle to E. Dufort and east of U.S. 95.

Also seeing a change in candidates is the race for the Priest River City Council. There are now two candidates seeking the two seats up in the 2023 election cycle.

Running are incumbent Doug Wagner and newcomer Sandy Brower. Councilor Ann Yount, who has applied for a seat on the West Bonner County School District, withdrew her name for the city council race.

Jeff Connolly is running unopposed for the mayor's seat.

Another election seeing a change in candidates is the Lakeland Joint School District Zone 2 races, with Thomas "T.J." Barnhart withdrawing as a candidate. That leaves Ramona Grissom and Cherish Hansen challenging for the seat.

While the district falls falls mainly in Kootenai County, it also encompasses a small part of Bonner County. In the district's Zone 1 seat race, running are incumbent Randi Bain and Kyle Olmstead.

In Sandpoint, six candidates are running for the three seats — Amelia Boyd, Pam Duquette, Deb Ruehle, Kyle Schreiber, Grant Simmons, and Elle Susnis. Ruehle is the lone incumbent.

In the city's mayoral race, running are Jeremy Grimm, Kate McAlister and Frytz More.

In the race for the Clark Fork City Council, three people are running for two seats. Running are incumbent Sharon J. Banning, current council president, Tanya M. Becker and Tel Thompson.

In the race for the Dover City Council, there are three people running for two seats. Running are Keith Congleton, Steven Haynes and incumbent Dan Parkin.

In the race for the East Hope City Council, there are four people running for two seats. Running are Pam Brockus, David T. Rost, Don Wells and Scott Wieman. In the East Hope mayor's race, Deborah Field is running unopposed for the seat.

In Kootenai City Council races, Stephen Ferris has filed to run for the Seat 2 position, and Daniel R. Schock has filed to run for the Seat 4 position. In the mayoral race, incumbent Nancy M. Lewis has filed to run for reelection.

In the race for Oldtown City Council, there are three seats open. Filing to run is Susan A. Jones.

In the race for the two Ponderay City Council seats on the ballot, incumbents Brad Mitton and Brenda L. Thompson are running unopposed. Mayor Steve Geiger is up for reelection and is unopposed.

In the West Bonner County School District, seats in zones 1, 3 and 5 are up for vote with one position open per zone.

In Zone 1, seeking the seat are Alan Galloway and incumbent Margaret Hall; in Zone 3, seeking the seat are Elizabeth Glazier and Troy Reinbold; and in Zone 5, seeking the seat are incumbent Carlyn Barton and challenger Kathy Nash.

In the race for the Bay Drive Recreation District board in Sagle, those running to date include Kenneth Hooper and Kirby J. McKee.

In the Coolin-Cavanaugh Bay Fire commission seat in Sub-District 1, seeking the seat is Ed Kassa.

In the East Priest Lake Fire District, Thomas L. Clevenger is the sole candidate listed to date.

In the race for Northside Fire District commission in Sub-District 1, to date those running include Dave Bowman.

In the race for Sagle Fire Protection District, those who have announced bids for Sub-District 2 include Geraldine Lewis. In Sub-District 3, those who have announced a bid for the commission seat include Gary Suppiger.

In the race for Sam Owen Fire District, in Sub-District 1, those who have announced a bid for the seat include Tony Butler and Jack J. Craemer.

In the race for Spirit Lake Fire Protection District, those running for the Sub-District 1 commissioner's seat is David Esterly. To date, seeking the Sub-District 3 commissioner's seat is Dan Meliza.

In Timberlake Fire District Sub-District 1, Jeffrey L. Wilkins is seeking the seat. For the Sub-District 3 seat, Jeff Priest is the sole candidate. In the race for West Bonner Cemetery Maintenance District, those who have announced a bid for the Position 1 seat are Kerry Johnston. Those filing to run for the Position 3 seat include Thomas Holman.

In West Pend Oreille Fire District commissioner seat in Sub-District 3, Chris Davis is the sole candidate to file.

In the race for Position 3 in the West Priest Lake Fire District commissioner's seat, those who have filed to run for the seat include Carl (Cass) Steer.

In the race for the Westside Fire District commissioner's seat in Sub-District 3, those who have filed to run for the seat to date include Scott W. Heisterkamp.