Washington County Elections Heating Up As Candidates Step Forward

"The government that has the most effect on your daily life is your local government, so you should pay attention to who's running -- the candidates," -- a wise man once said.

It's declaration week in Utah, where citizens in the local cities have the opportunity to file for candidacy for the open city positions. Most positions have a small fee attached to the filing, but for $100 (mayor) or $50 (city council) you could end up representing your neighbors as mayor or a city councilperson.

Read More Here: Randall wins battle with Hughes; new mayors on tap for Washington City, Hurricane

The filing deadline in all cities and towns in Washington County is Friday (Jun. 6) at 5 p.m.

In the county's largest city, St. George, only two people have filed to run for mayor -- current mayor Michele Randall and current city councilman Jimmie Hughes.

Hughes's city council seat is not up for reelection, so if he does not win mayor, he will remain as a member of the city council.

If even one more person files for the mayoral election, there will have to be a primary (held in August) to whittle the field down to two candidates.

There are also two seats available on the St. George City Council.

Natalie Larsen and Michelle Tanner have both filed as incumbents to return to the city council. Three additional potentials have filed as well -- Greg Aldred, Jami Leavitt and Brian Theriot.

The open positions are four-year council seats.

Here are the requirements to file:

• Be a resident of the City of St. George, or a territory which was annexed into the City of St. George, for twelve (12) consecutive months immediately before the date of the election .
• Maintain residency within the City of St. George during term of office .
• Cannot be declared mentally incompetent, convicted of a felony, convicted of treason or a crime relating to elections, until the right to hold elective office is restored .
• Pay the $50 filing fee for City Council ($100 filing fee for Mayor)

Washington City has the mayor and two council seats open. Mayor Kress Staheli has re-filed and will be the incumbent. Kim Casperson and Bret Henderson have also filed for reelection on the city council.

Hurricane has the mayor and two council seats. Mayor Nanette Billings has already filed as has Kevin Thomas for council. Three newcomers have filed as of Thursday afternoon -- Shavene Butler, Cindy Charlton-Matejka and Katheryne Knight. As of Thursday afternoon, David Hirschi had not filed to be reelected.

In Santa Clara, Mayor Rick Rosenburg has announced he will not run again and already filing to fill his spot are councilmen Jarett Waite and Ben Shakespeare. Filing for city council in Santa Clara are Jimi Kestin, Mark Henrickson and Christa Hinton.

Ivins Mayor Chris Hart is not running again. City councilman Kevin Smith has filed for that spot. Potential city council candidates are Shad Johnsen, Wayne Pennington and Dillon Hurt, none of which are currently on the city council.

Enterprise, Leeds, LaVerkin. Springdale and other small towns around the county also have open positions.

Look for a full list of all the candidates who have filed on this website Monday.

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