May 14 Primary ballot set

The Hamilton County ballot for the May 14 Nebraska Primary Election has now been officially set. With the filing deadline of March 1 for candidates in certain local offices now past, only a three-way race for one seat on the county commission and three local ballot issues will appear on the May ballot along with the national presidential primaries and primaries for the state’s U.S. House and Senate seats. 
With incumbent District 3 County Commissioner John Thomas of Aurora not having thrown his hat in the ring for another term, there is a trio of candidates vying for his position. The candidates who will face off in the primary are Republicans Jessie Merkel, Troy Holloway and Tanner Holloway. The addresses listed by the three men show that they all live within a mile of each other along North K Road northwest of Aurora. The winner of that race will advance to the General Election in November. No Democrats have filed for seats on the County Commission. 
The only other local issues appearing on the May ballot will include a 1-1/2 percent sales tax for the City of Aurora, the Giltner School District’s $11.4 million bond issue for renovations to the school and a proposal by the Village of Giltner to add a one percent municipal sales tax. 
According to Resolution 2024-01 passed by the Village Board on Feb. 12, the rationale for the local option tax is to “shift some of the burden of financing the municipality from the real estate and personal property tax to the sales and use tax.” 
The resolution also states that a vote of “yes” is for the sales tax and a “no” vote is against the sales tax.
The filing deadline for non-incumbents to vie for positions on the Hamilton County Commission, Aurora City Council, the Aurora Airport Authority Board and local school boards was March 1. (Incumbants had until Feb. 15 to file for re-election.) 
In the days leading up to the filing deadline the only other candidate to file was newcomer Chad Carlson of Aurora, who is seeking one of the three open seats on the Aurora 4R School Board. Incumbent board members Daniel Pachta and Brock Wyatt are seeking re-election, current board vice president Scott Schuster is not running again.

The final field
With the latest filings, the number of candidates who have filed for local offices in Hamilton County now totals 27 and following is the complete list of current candidates: 
Hamilton County Commissioners: Incumbent Nancy Salmon, Dist. 4, Republican; Jessie Merkel, Troy Holloway and Tanner Holloway, Dist. 3, Republican.
City of Aurora: Incumbent Wayne Roblee, Ward 1; incumbent Nancy Lorhrmeyer, Ward 2 (write-in) and incumbent Mark Dunn, Ward 3. All are four-year terms. 
Aurora Airport Authority Board: Former board member Ross Beins and incumbent Kasey Wessels (write-in), vying for one six-year term. 
Aurora 4R School Board: Incumbents Daniel Pachta and Brock Wyatt and newcomer Chad Carlson. (Three four-year terms). 
Giltner School Board: Incumbents Bradley Schutt, Joseph Happold and Michael Wilson challenged by Amanda Eastman (Two four-year terms).
Hampton School Board: Incumbents Megan Faller, Tamara Wiens and Derek Klute challenged by Mitchell Fagan for three four-year seats.

Village boards
For village board trustee positions, incumbents have until July 15 to file and the filing deadline for non-incumbents is Aug. 1. Those races will also be decided in the November General Election. 

The candidates who have filed for village board seats to date include: 
Hampton Village Board: Incumbents Dylan Bamesberger and Jared Rjewski (four-year terms).
Marquette Village Board: William Gfeller, Jerry Jervah Jr. and Kenny Aerni Jr. (All non-incumbents) are running for two open four-year terms. 
Stockham Village Board: Lewis Schlekopf has filed for one of two open four-year seats on the board.  

The Aurora News-Register will feature articles in the weeks leading up to the primary related to both the candidates and the ballot issues.