Kettering, Riverside among dozens with races on November ballot

Kettering will have contested mayor and council races in November, and Riverside will have a crowd of seven candidates running for four city council seats, after the Montgomery County Board of Elections approved final candidates Tuesday.

Most jurisdictions’ ballots were set two weeks ago, but Kettering, Riverside and Moraine have later deadlines in their city charters. Odd-year elections like this one include races for city, township and school board offices, as well as tax levies, but not county, state or federal candidate races.

RELATED: Numerous school levies on November ballot

Kettering

Longtime mayor Don Patterson is running for re-election in Kettering and will have two challengers — Michael Barnett, who lost the same race in 2013, and newcomer Nuponu Gorneleh.

All city residents will also vote on the two at-large city council seats, where at least one new member will be elected, because Amy Schrimpf is not running for re-election. The three candidates for those seats are incumbent Bill Lautar and challengers Griffin Derr and Jacqueline Fisher.

The four other members of Kettering council are not on the ballot because their terms run through 2019.

RELATED: Four candidates’ petitions ruled invalid

Riverside

Four city council seats are up for election, and at least two new members are guaranteed, because incumbents Michael Smith and Shirley Reynolds are not running for re-election.

The seven candidates who qualified for the ballot are: incumbents Mike Denning and Sara Lommatzsch, and challengers Beverly Campbell, Brenda Fry, Tony Kraus, Edward Schock and Kyle Winning.

One other potential candidate, Crystal Farris, was disqualified from the ballot Tuesday when the Board of Elections ruled that only 77 of the signatures on her petition to run for office were valid. At least 100 valid signatures are required.

Riverside Mayor Bill Flaute two other council members are in the middle of their four-year terms and therefore are not on the ballot this year.

Moraine

Moraine will have an uneventful election Nov. 7, as the three incumbents are running unopposed. Sitting Mayor Elaine Allison was the only candidate certified to the ballot for that race, and incumbents Ora Allen and Jim McGuire will be the only two candidates in the race for two at-large city council seats.

RELATED: Election comes at key time for Dayton Public Schools

Dayton school board

While most of the field for the school board race was set two weeks ago, the Board of Elections ruled on the candidacy of Claudia Hunter on Tuesday, saying her petitions did not have enough valid signatures. That means Hunter is not in the field, and eight candidates will run for four seats.

RELATED: Brief bios of Dayton school board candidates

Not enough candidates

** Not enough candidates: In Farmersville, only two people are on the ballot to run for four village council seats, and New Lebanon will see only two incumbents on the ballot for three seats on its village council.

Jefferson Twp. needs to fill three regular school board seats, but will have only one name on the ballot (Cuttino Dargan) and a second incumbent (Emmet Orr) approved as a write-in candidate, leaving them one short. In a separate race for the same school board, incumbent Vilma Helms is being challenged by Kanata Jones for the last two years of the unexpired term Helms was appointed to.

Montgomery County Board of Elections Deputy Director Steve Harsman said in those jurisdictions, after the people on the ballot are elected, those councils and school boards will follow their internal procedures to fill vacant seats.

Montgomery County races set earlier

** Most crowded ballots: Dayton has eight candidates for four school board spots. In Washington Twp., seven candidates are running for only two township trustee openings. There are also seven candidates on the ballot for Brookville city council (three seats), Valley View school board (three seats), and Riverside city council (four seats).

** No-drama races: More than two dozen races have no real competition – for example, three seats open and three candidates on the ballot. Those include the mayor races for Dayton, Germantown and Moraine; the city council races for Centerville, Clayton, Englewood, Germantown, Miamisburg, Moraine, Union and West Carrollton; municipal court judge races in Dayton, Miamisburg and Kettering, and the school board races in Brookville, Huber Heights, Miamisburg, New Lebanon, Northmont, Northridge, Oakwood, Vandalia-Butler and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center.

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