Here's Your Slate of Spring 2016 Candidates

V1 Staff |

Six candidates, including four incumbents, will vie for five at-large seats on the Eau Claire City Council this spring. As of the Jan. 5 filing deadline, incumbent council members Catherine Emmanuelle, Eric Larsen, David Strobel, and Michael Xiong had filed paperwork to run for re-election on April 5. (Another incumbent, Monica Lewis, decided not to seek another term.) Two challengers, Kate Beaton and Jody Thompson, will also be on the ballot. Voters citywide will be able to vote for as many as five of the six candidates.

A special election will also be held April 5 for the District 1 seat on the council, which represents much of Eau Claire’s north side. In June, Tim Tewalt was chosen by the City Council to fill the District 1 seat left vacant last spring by the death of longtime Councilman David Duax. Now, he will run against Heather DeLuka for the chance to serve the remaining two years of Duax’s term.

Meanwhile, candidates also filed to run for all 29 districts on the Eau Claire County Board, although there will only be five contested races. They are: District 10 (parts of the town of Washington and Eau Claire’s south side), incumbent Mike Conlin vs. challenger Robert Hooper; District 11 (part of Altoona), incumbent Ray Henning vs. challenger Dave Elvig; District 14 (part of Eau Claire southwest side), incumbent Jean Schlieve vs. challenger Judy Gatlin; District 16 (around Water Street and Randall Park), Kasey Grams vs. David Mortimer (incumbent Joel Mikelson isn’t seeking re-election); and District 24 (the “planets” neighborhood on Eau Claire’s north side), Heather DeLuka vs. Joshua Sterling (incumbent John Manydeeds isn’t seeking re-election).

Finally, four Eau Claire school board seats will be on the ballot. Competing for them will be incumbents Rich Spindler (the board’s president) and Chris Hambuch-Boyle as well as challengers Carolyn Gabrielsen Barstad, Aaron Harder, and Jennifer Fager. Two other incumbents, Chue Xiong and Wendy Sue Johnson, aren’t seeking re-election.