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HARTINGTON — Incumbents across several local boards have filed to seek another term in office, with additional challengers entering the races ahead of the spring election.
Seven candidates have filed so far for three seats on the Wynot School Board.
Incumbents Todd Pinkelman, Laurie Schulte and Susan Lenzen have each filed for re-election. They will be challenged by Shasta Hans, Michael Klug, Steve Wieseler and Ryan Boeckman.
Additional candidates may still file. The filing deadline for non-incumbents is Monday, March 2. The incumbent filing deadline was Feb. 17.
All three incumbents on the Hartington-Newcastle School Board have also filed for re-election. Jason Dendinger, Candice Climer and Ian Lange will be on the ballot.
They will be challenged by Bryce Grutsch, who filed paperwork with the Cedar County Clerk’s Office on Feb. 19. This marks Grutsch’s first bid for public office.
On the Hartington City Council, all three incumbents have filed to seek another term. Mayor Mark Becker and council members Cody Christensen and Colin Kathol submitted their paperwork prior to last Tuesday’s deadline.
As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, no additional candidates had filed for those seats.
At the state level, Nebraska District 40 Sen. Barry DeKay is up for re-election. DeKay, of Niobrara, was first elected in 2022.
District 40 includes Cedar, Knox, Holt and Antelope counties, along with most of Dixon County and the northern portion of Pierce County. No one had filed to challenge him as of press time Tuesday.
Two candidates with Cedar County ties have also filed for governor.
Randolph native Sheila J. Korth-Focken has filed as a Republican and will challenge Gov. Jim Pillen in the May primary election.
Former state Sen. Lynne Walz is seeking the governor’s office on the Democratic ticket. Walz is married to Hartington native Chris Walz.
The primary election will be held May 12. Voters wishing to participate must register by April 26 if registering by mail, online or at a state DMV office. In-person registration at the County Clerk’s Office will be accepted through the close of business May 1. The same deadlines apply for voters wishing to change party affiliation.
According to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, Cedar County currently has 5,731 registered voters. Of those, 4,019 are registered Republicans and 889 are registered Democrats.
Statewide, there are 628,052 registered Republicans and 338,124 registered Democrats. An additional 19,622 voters are registered as nonpartisan or independent.
