Several municipal seats still open, others have multiple candidates
Less than 48 hours remain for candidates to file for political office in the 2022 Primary Election.
Filings for political office are set to close at 5 p.m. on Friday. As of Tuesday afternoon, some municipal seats will have a crowded field while others are still wide open.
The race for Carbon County Sheriff, meanwhile, may be more exciting than in past elections. And while the race for House District 47 caught statewide attention two years ago with a crowded field, it appears incumbent Representative Jerry Paxton will not be seeking re-election this year.
In Saratoga, neither the two four-year council terms nor the single two-year unexpired council seat has had anybody file to run. For the mayor seat, meanwhile, Chuck Davis has filed to run. Davis isn’t a stranger to running for the mayoral seat as he ran against then-incumbent John Zeiger in 2010.
Encampment, meanwhile, may have an interesting primary race as three people—so far—have filed to run for mayor. Incumbent Greg Salisbury is running for re-election and will be facing Matthew Wagy and Brad Hebig. Wagy ran for Encampment Town Council two years ago and Hebig ran against Salisbury in 2018. Nobody has filed to run for either of the two four-year council seats in Encampment.
Riverside is facing a dearth of candidates, looking at the list from the Carbon County Clerk’s Office and speaking with Jan Cook, the Riverside town clerk. The mayor seat, the two four-year council seats and the one two-year unexpired council seat have no candidates.
On the other end of the county, in Hanna, another interesting primary race for mayor seems to be shaping up. Both Sammy Sikes and Tracy Fowler, who are current council members, have filed to run for mayor. So has O.D. “Oats” Briggs, according to the candidate list provided by the Carbon County Clerk’s Office. The two four-year council seats do not have any candidates.
In Medicine Bow, Kate Standish has filed to run for one of the two four-year council seats. The mayor seat is wide open as of Tuesday. Elk Mountain, meanwhile, has the opposite problem with one person—incumbent Morgan Irene—running for mayor but nobody running for either the two four-year council seats or the single two-year unexpired council seat.
When it comes to the office of Carbon County Sheriff, Archie Roybal recently announced he will not be seeking re-election following a 32 year career with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. Five candidates, as of Tuesday, have filed to run. Alex Bakken, John Moore, Ben Opfar and Shawn Kelley have all filed to run as Republican candidates. Mike Morris, meanwhile, has filed as a Democratic candidate.
Two years ago, the primary race for House District 47 saw a total of four Republican candidates-incumbent Jerry Paxton, Julie McCallister, Joey Correnti IV and Dee Garrison-on the ballot. Paxton handily won his primary and went on to face the Libertarian candidate Lela Koneckny. This year, Bob Davis of Baggs is running as a Republican for the newly redistricted House District 47 while Lee Ann Stephenson of Riverside is running as a Democrat. Davis ran for Carbon County Commissioner four years ago after being appointed to the vacancy left by the retirement of Lindy Glode. Stephenson ran against Senator Larry Hicks of Baggs in 2018 to represent Senate District 11.
In speaking with county clerks in the Platte Valley, it seems almost common practice for residents to see who else will run—and for what—before they make the decision to file ahead of the deadline. As it stands, a number of municipal seats will likely have write-in candidates unless this happens.
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