Dozens of seats remain unfilled across Nobles County as deadline looms

With the filing deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday, there's a lack of candidates for local elected offices across Nobles County through the end of the business day Friday.

Across the county's 11 municipalities, leadership vacancies range from contested races to empty ballots. In Worthington, incumbent Mayor Rick von Holdt and incumbent Ward 2 Councilman Mike Kuhle have each filed for re-election. Each, however, has no challenger, and the Ward 1 Council seat remained open without a declared candidate.

In Rushmore, meanwhile, there are three candidates — Ben DeVries, Tyann Prins and Nicole Reiter — vying for two open council seats. The mayoral seat, however, remains open.

Dundee has candidates for each office up for election, as Tony Vanden Bosch has filed for mayor alongside Marcie M. Ash and Dawn Van Den Bosch for council. In Brewster, Michael Heidelberger and Monica McCoy have filed for council; the mayoral seat remains open. In Ellsworth, Dillion Hoiland and Rhonda Groen have filed for the two council seats; no one has filed for mayor there as well.  

Boards of education for regional school districts are also lacking in candidate filings as Tuesday's deadline approached. In Worthington Independent School District 518, voters have the opportunity to elect three individuals in November. By the end of the day Friday, only one person had filed — current board member Adam Blume.