Filing activity starts for 2022 election
The 2022 election will have a local slant with several seats up for grabs, as well as the top positions in state government, including Governor.
Voters will elect a new District 44 state senator and, as happens every two years, the District 3 congressional seat will also be filled in November.
With the incumbent filing deadline not far off on Feb. 15, seven incumbents for local races have already filed, according to Chase County Clerk Debbie Clark and the Nebraska Secretary of State election website.
Local races this year include Imperial city council, mayor and airport authority, Chase County and Wauneta-Palisade school boards and Upper Republican NRD positions.
County seats to be filled include District 2 and 3 commissioner, assessor, attorney, clerk, treasurer and sheriff.
It’s likely the State Board of Education elections will draw more interest than in the past, after last year’s controversial proposals for health education standards.
Chase County voters will be casting ballots for the District 7 representative on the state board. On Monday, there were three filings in the state board of education race, and all of them are in District 7.
State school board incumbent Robin Stevens of Gothenburg, who has filed for re-election, already has two opponents—Elizabeth Tegtmeier of North Platte and Pat Moore of Litchfield.
Chase County voters will help elect members on the UNL Board of Regents and Mid-Plains Community College Board, as well.
On the state level, Third District Congressman Adrian Smith of Gering has filed for re-election, and had no challengers yet early this week.
No filings have been recorded yet either for the Dist. 44 state senator seat. Term-limited Dan Hughes of Venango is serving his final year in that position.
Five Republicans have already filed to replace Gov. Pete Ricketts, who cannot run again due to term limits.
County Clerk Clark noted that there are also seats up for election in 2022 for local power districts, the ESU #15 board and village boards in Wauneta and Lamar, but those filing deadlines are later in the year.
Clark reminds prospective candidates of upcoming filing deadlines—Feb. 15 for incumbents and March 1 for candidates not currently in office.
An incumbent is anyone serving currently in an office. They must follow the earlier Feb. 15 deadline even if filing for a different elected office.
Local filings
All of the filings so far in Chase County are from incumbents, although one of them is filing for a different office than he now holds.
Candidates could begin filing on Jan. 5.
Craig Loeffler, currently an Imperial city council member with two years left in his term, filed for Imperial Mayor. Current Mayor Dwight Coleman’s term expires this year.
Filings were also recorded for county commissioner, county attorney, county sheriff, CCS and WP school boards and the Upper Republican NRD board.
Here are all of the local filings received as of Tuesday:
Imperial mayor—Craig Loeffler.
County Commissioner Dist. 2—Jacci Brown.
County Attorney—Arlan Wine.
County Sheriff—Kevin Mueller.
CCS Board of Education—Steve Wallin.
WP Board of Education—Allison Sandman.
NRD at-large seat—Brock Stromberger.