Shawnee County voters will have choices this year for the offices of county treasurer, county clerk and both county commission seats that are up for a vote.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Brian C. Hill, Register of Deeds Becky Nioce and District Attorney Mike Kagay are running unopposed, as no one filed to run against them prior to Monday's noon filing deadline.
Primary elections will be Aug. 6, with thegeneral electionon Nov. 5.
Who's running for the District 2 Shawnee County Commission seat?
Democrat Kevin Cook is seeking his fourth four-year term in the seat he has held since January 2013 representing commission District 2,which generally covers the north-central and northeast parts of the county.
Cook will run in the primary against fellow Democrat Robert Soria.
The winner will face off in the general election against Henry McClure, who told The Capital-Journal his focus is to recalibrate how economic development is looked at in the community.
“I really want the community from 10,000 feet to look at how can we do economic development and what do we really want to do different if we don't want to grow our population,” McClure said. “And we don't want to increase our tax base. But why don't we just redefine how we're doing it?"
Cook said there are many ongoing projects that he wants to see be completed.
"When we look at some of the road projects that are going on, some of the construction projects that are going on, changing how we operate and do some of our businesses in business operations in Shawnee County, there's a lot of really exciting things that have been undergoing in the last year," Cook told The Capital-Journal.
Projects involving recreational facilities, road work and adding amenities to current buildings are among efforts Cook looks forward to if re-elected.
Who is running for District 3 Shawnee County Commission?
Incumbent Aaron Mays and challenger Brett Blackburn, both Republicans, are facing off in the August primary for the commission seat representing District 3, which generally covers south-central and southeast Shawnee County.
Whoever wins the primary will run unopposed in the November general election.
Mays held southwest Topeka's District 7 seat on the Topeka City Council from January 2018 until Shawnee County Republican officials voted in September 2019 to appoint him to fill the unexpired term of the incumbent District 3 commissioner, the late Bob Archer, who had resigned while dealing with health concerns.
Blackburn held the District 7 seat on the city council from April 2005 to April 2009.
Mays said he feels like the county has "a lot of unfinished business," which he hopes to see through to its completion.
"I want to run for re-election simply so that I can see some of these projects through that we started, but then there's also a few things that I would like to see get done that haven't gotten done yet,"
One of those involves helping bring about the construction of a new Kansas Turnpike interchnage at Auburn, he said.
Blackburn said he filed to run because of the state of the county's property taxes.
"I think there's been a lot of issues with overspending, and my focus years ago when I was on the council was public safety and public infrastructure and things that are ancillary to that," Blackburn said.
Who are the Shawnee County treasurer candidates?
Democrat Susan Duffy and Republican Angus Tucker are running for the county treasurer's seat being vacated by Larry Mah, who is retiring after having been treasurer since January 2013.
Duffy, whom Mah is endorsing, promises to continue the innovative and customer service-oriented environment present at the treasurer's office.
Tucker wasn't available for comment this week but said he intends to share information about his candidacy later.
Who is running for Shawnee County clerk?
Republican Lisa Schmitt and Democrat Jonathan Smith will face off in November for the county clerk's seat being vacated by Republican Cyndi Beck, who has announced she is retiring after having held that position since 1997.
Smith said he enjoys being a resource for friends and family who struggle with maneuvering through local government decisions and choices.
"Over the past couple of years ... I did a lot of advocacy work, some of it through the ACLU, some of it through Loud Light, and I would meet with legislators at the state, or I would meet with local city and county elected officials," Smith told The Capital-Journal.
Schmitt said she believes people want an effective and efficient government and looks forward to the opportunity to work with other leaders to provide that to Shawnee County residents.
Schmitt is invested in our city, county, state and country and will work hard to continue building trust and confidence in all those she serves and represents, she told The Capital-Journal.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
Tim Hrenchir is the breaking news and trending news reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal He can be reached at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's who's running this year for Shawnee County elected offices
