Editor's note: This article has been updated to include final filing information from Hughesville.
Tuesday was the last day of candidate filing for multiple municipalities in Pettis County, including cities, school boards and first responder districts for the April 5 municipal election.
Filing began Tuesday, Dec. 7.
City of Sedalia
Ward 2 Councilman Andrew Dawson is unopposed in his campaign for the position of mayor.
Mayor John Kehde’s four-year term ends in April. Dawson filed for mayor on the first day of filing and remained the only mayoral candidate when filing closed Tuesday.
Dawson joined the council in February 2019 when Kehde appointed him to fill a vacancy after the unexpected death of Councilman Russell Driskell. Dawson then ran for the seat and was elected in the 2019 municipal election. He was re-elected in 2021 with no opposition.
Four Sedalia City Council seats are available in the April election. Ward 1 Councilman Jeff Leeman, Ward 2 Councilwoman Tina Boggess, Ward 3 Councilman Lucas Richardson and Ward 4 Councilwoman Rhiannon Foster have terms expiring in April.
Three wards will not see a contested race in April. Only one candidate, Jack D. Robinson, filed for Ward 1. Incumbents Richardson and Foster were also the only candidates to file for their seats.
In Ward 2, Chris Marshall has challenged incumbent Boggess. The pair faced each other in the 2020 municipal election. In a tight race, Boggess won the Ward 2 seat with 186 votes while Marshall received 161.
Terms are for two years.
City of La Monte
Mayor Ronnie McNeive, Ward 1 Alderman Fred Armstrong and Ward 2 Alderman David Wessel are all up for election in April.
There will be a contested mayoral election in La Monte, as McNeive filed for re-election and newcomer Tabbatha Holland also filed. Armstrong and Wessel will both retain their seats, as they were the only candidates to file for aldermen positions.
City of Smithton
Mayor Damian Lemens, East Alderman Eddie Saltsgaver and West Alderman John Hollomon are up for election in April.
There will not be any contested elections in Smithton in April. However, there will be one new elected official. Lemens and Saltsgaver both filed for re-election, but Hollomon did not. Newcomer Brenda Byrd filed for the West Alderman seat.
Village of Hughesville
Two seats on the Board of Trustees are available in the municipal election as Rose Thompson and Trena Frazier both have terms ending in April.
Thompson and Frazier were the only candidates who filed, so there will not be a contested election.
City of Green Ridge
The City of Green Ridge did not respond to the Democrat by press time.
City of Houstonia
The City of Houstonia did not respond to the Democrat by press time.
Sedalia School District 200
Board of Education President Diana Nichols, who has been on the board since 2013, and Secretary Barbara Schrader, who is in her first term, are up for re-election in April. Nichols, Schrader, Michelle Quattlebaum, Brian Smith and Serena Cronk have filed. Quattlebaum also ran for the board in the 2021 municipal election.
Terms are for three years.
Green Ridge School District
Board of Education President Derik Larimore is serving a three-year term and Justin Ray is serving a one-year term. Larimore and Ray were the only candidates to file, so there will be no election.
Pettis Co R-V (Northwest) School District
The terms of Steven Townsend and Eric Cornine are expiring this April on the Board of Education. There will not be a contested election as incumbents Townsend and Cornine were the only ones to file.
Each term is for three years.
Smithton R-VI School District
The terms of President Jason Brown and Vice President Becky Williams are expiring in April. Smithton had four candidates file for the Board of Education: Jake Gieschen, Brown, James Trelow and Brian Conardy.
Each term on the Board of Education is for three years.
Pettis County R-XII (Dresden) School District
Two three-year terms will be on the ballot in April for the Board of Education. These seats are currently held by Keri Dickman and Addison Eckles. Dickman and Eckles have refiled along with newcomer Lynn Alexander.
La Monte R-IV School District
The La Monte Board of Education has two three-year positions opening, currently held by Jack Shull and William Breshears, for the April election.
Breshears has refiled, as did newcomer Ethan Perriguey, meaning there won’t be a contested election.
State Fair Community College
The Board of Trustees has two six-year terms and one two-year term available. President Randall Eaton and member Nick La Strada are currently serving in the six-year seats and member Tim Carr is serving in the two-year seat.
Carr, Christopher Guffey, Amie Breshears and William Foster have all filed for the six-year term and Tom Oldham, who currently serves as a Ward 1 Sedalia City Councilman, will run uncontested for the two-year term.
The SFCC board appointed Carr in March after the resignation of Jim Page, who had four years left in his term. The Board policy states that the appointee could only serve until the next election, after which, a candidate must be elected for the remaining two years of Page’s term. This is why there is a two-year term on the ballot.
Breshears has not run for the SFCC board in a public election but was one of three candidates, including Carr, to run for Page’s vacant seat when the board selected a new member in March.
Pettis County Ambulance District
Two Board of Directors members are up for re-election in April: Chairman Nick Gerke from District 1 and Treasurer John Fritz from District 4. Gerke will retain his seat as no one else filed for District 1, but both Fritz and Kim E. Graves filed for District 4.
Terms are for three years.
