Incumbents(+1) File for Charles City School Board, New Hampton School Board Candidates to Write-In Campaigns

In in addition to city/municipal elections and bond referendums (Cahrles City; Sumner-Fredericksburg), school board elections are also on the ballot in November.

Three seats on the Charles City School Board are up for election, with all three incumbents –  Kathryn Fox, Josh Mack, and David Schrodt – all filing nomination papers to seek re-election. Also throwing his hat in the ring is Steve Boucher.

Meanwhile, anyone seeking election to the New Hampton School Board this November will need to do so via a write-in campaign.

Seats up for election include those currently held by Timothy Denner, Adam Schwickerath, and Ryan Shawver. In the case of school board elections, the deadline for candidates to file nomination papers with the School Board secretary was 5 pm last Thursday (09.18). Those candidacy papers then needed to be submitted to the county auditor’s office by noon last Friday (09.19).

However, Gina Fangman, Elections Deputy for the Chickasaw County Auditor’s Office, says no candidates for the New Hampton Board of Director positions will appear on the ballot in November She notes that the required nomination paperwork was not filed with the Auditor’s Office by the statutory deadline, which renders all nomination applications invalid.

Thus, open positions will be listed on the ballot with a Write-In option only.

New Hampton Schools Superintendent Erik Smith has issued a statement explaining what transpired, noting that Denner, Shawver, and Schwickerath all completed and submitted board election paperwork to the district by the deadline. However, the paperwork was delivered to the auditor’s office about 15 minutes late on Friday. A fourth candidate, Kayla Smith, submitted her paperwork directly to the auditor’s office, however, the paperwork was to go directly to the board secretary first and so, her name also will not be included on the election ballot. 

Smith adds that all candidates are planning to run as ‘write-in’ candidates and the district will be sharing information about the four candidates that will include the fact that they’re running for election as a school board member.

Fangman says, “The Chickasaw County Auditor’s Office takes great care in upholding the integrity of our elections, which means we strictly follow Iowa law and election code. In this case, we applied the requirements of Iowa Code 277.4 regarding the late submission of School Board Nomination paperwork.”