UPDATED: New local candidates emerge as filing deadline arrives

There will be a contested Worthington City Council race on the November election ballot.

With the filing period for city office closing at 5 p.m. Tuesday, the city gained one additional candidate during the day as Mariajose Saenz filed in Ward 1. She will face current Ward 1 council member Amy Woitalewicz, who filed this past Friday.

Worthington's other open city races are unopposed. Mayor Rick von Holdt is seeking his second four-year term and has no challenger. Also running unopposed is current Ward 2 councilman Mike Kuhle.

Worthington Independent School District 518, meanwhile, has added two new candidates for its Board of Education over the last two days. Eugenio Lopez filed on Monday and Gretchen O'Donnell filed Tuesday. They join incumbent Adam Blume on the ballot; voters will elect three board members. Not filing for re-election were Lori Dudley and Erin Schutte Wadzkinski.

Outside of Worthington, two mayoral candidates filed in Rushmore after there were none last week. Coleen Gruis and Jim Werkman are both seeking the office. Three candidates — Ben DeVries, Tyann Prins and Nicole Reiter — are vying for two open council seats.

In Adrian, Benjamin A. Manigold has filed to run for mayor, while Steve Kellen, Dick Kruger and Kyle Strampe are competing for two seats on the city council. Brewster also had two candidates for mayor after none had filed last week: Eric Milbrath and Robert McNab are running. The number of individuals running for city council has grown to four as Michael Heidelberger, Monica McCoy, Lindsey Busch and Mike Thiner are seeking election to two open seats.

Ellsworth, meanwhile, now has three mayor candidates; they are Joel Farrell, Mark Perkins and Chad Schultz. Dillion Hoiland, Richard Gaul and Rhonda Groen have filed for the two open council seats. In Bigelow, Andrew Boneschans, Britany Boneschans and Marie Mehls are running for the two open city council seats, and Bryant Brandt is the lone candidate for mayor. There's also a city council race in Lismore as Chaz Kohorst, Austin Henning and Alex LeBrun are seeking two seats; Andrew Fodness is unopposed for mayor.

Among the area races for school district boards of education will be in the Fulda district, where eight individuals are seeking four seats following the conclusion of the filing period Tuesday. Loren Carlson, Doug Clarke, Lindsay Clausen, Randy Donahue, Nathan Getting, Nick Henning, Jordyn Meyeraan and Mitch Winter are each seeking election.

Another contested school board race is in the Adrian district, where six individuals -- Jake Diekmann, Matthew Kirchner, Robert Joseph Kunkel Jr., Brad Lonneman, Leslie Madison and Eric Marten — are seeking election to four open seats. The Edgerton school district, meanwhile, has four people seeking three seats. Those individuals are Loren Gunnink, Julie Ruiter, Ross Kreun and Ivan Vande Griend.

In the Luverne school district, five people -- Sara Bolt, Michael DeBates, Anita Marden, Zach Nolz and David Wrigg — are seeking four seats on the board of education. Other area school boards have the same number of candidates as seats up for election. Round Lake-Brewster has four individuals — Robert Bohn, Jerry Luinenburg, Kyle Wendland and Trevor Wintz — who are candidates. Running in Ellsworth are Casey Schilling, Emily Kruse and Ryan Heikes. Murray County Central board candidates are Heather Hoekman, Brent Miller and Michael Stelter. Seeking election in the Heron Lake-Okabena school district are Mark Fest, Annie Rasche and John Volk.