The window to file for candidacy in Petersburg’s upcoming local election closed Tuesday afternoon. In total, 24 people filed for the various positions.
There are 20 open seats among several boards slated for the October 7 ballot, including a mayoral race. That race is contested this year, as are the races for Petersburg Borough Assembly and the Public Safety Advisory Board.
Current assembly members Bob Lynn and Scott Newman are both running for mayor. Mayor Mark Jensen is not running for reelection, after nearly two decades serving in elected local office.
Newman’s assembly seat expires this year. If he loses the mayoral race, he will no longer serve alongside the assembly. Lynn’s assembly seat does not expire until 2027. If Lynn is elected mayor, the assembly will appoint someone to fill that vacant assembly seat for one year; letters of intent to fill that vacancy would need to be submitted after the election is canvassed in October.
Assembly member Donna Marsh is running for reelection to her expiring seat on the Petersburg Borough Assembly. Also in the race are Raliegh Cook, Bob Martin, Tony Vinson, and Jeff Meucci — a total of five candidates running for just two open assembly seats.
Two Public Safety Advisory Board seats are up for election. Both incumbents, John Lichtenberger and Devren Bennett, have filed to run again, and so has Stan Hjort.
There are three candidates running for three Hospital Board seats, including incumbents Cindi Lagoudakis and Joseph Stratman. Joni Johnson also entered the uncontested race. Kimberly Simbahon’s seat on the Hospital Board is expiring, but she did not file to run again.
Incumbents Barb Fish and Debra Dzijuksuk O’Gara are running for the two Library Advisory Board seats, uncontested.
Also on the ballot this fall will be two seats on the Harbor and Ports Advisory Board. Wally McDonald and Incumbent Casey Knight are running for them, uncontested. Otherwise, John Murgas’ term expires this year, and he did not file for reelection.
All but two of the 20 positions are 3-year terms. One of three seats on the Planning Commission and one of three on the Parks and Rec Advisory Board are 2-year terms.
Sunny Rice filed to run for the 2-year term seat on the Parks and Rec Advisory Board, and incumbents Chrystine Lynn and Michelle Pfundt are running for reelection. The third open seat on that board is held by Sarah Fine-Walsh, but she filed to run for the single 2-year term seat on the Planning Commission this year instead. Joshua Adams is also running for that seat. No candidates filed for either of the other open 3-year terms, which could result in two vacant seats on the Planning Commission. Jim Floyd, Phillip Meeks, and Donald Sperl’s terms on the Planning Commission are expiring, and none of them filed for reelection.
The school board has two seats up for election as Sarah Holmgrain and Niccole Olsen’s terms expire this year. Olsen decided not to run for another term. But Holmgrain, who is the longtime School Board president, has filed for reelection. No other candidates filed for the other open school board seat, which could also end up vacant.
Petersburg residents who wish to run for local office but didn’t file by Tuesday’s deadline can still submit their name as a write-in candidate. That window is now open, and requires the prospective write-in candidate to submit a letter of intent to the borough clerk by October 3. Write-in votes cast for an individual who did not file a letter of intent will not be counted.
The last day for candidates who did file, but want to withdraw from the election, is this Friday, August 29.
