It’s going to be an interesting election year in 2012, not only nationally but locally as well. Jan. 3 was the last day candidates vying for Oneida County supervisor seats, Rhinelander City Council and Rhinelander School Board could turn in their nomination papers. In addition, three candidates are running for an Oneida County Circuit Court Branch II judge position.

There will be some new names on the ballots for county supervisor seats and two districts, 9 and 18, will be having primaries. Those will be held Feb. 7 and the general election will be April 3.

In District 9, which includes wards in Pine Lake, current supervisor Matt Matteson will not be seeking office again. That race will include Nick Scholtes, Michael Skubal and Jack Sorenson. Peter Wolk in District 18, which includes wards in Minocqua and Woodruff, will also not be running for office again. Lance J. Krolczyk, Tom Granlund and Candace “Candy” Sorensen will be vying for that seat.

There are nine county board incumbents that will be running unopposed. Those include Sonny Paszak in District 1; Greg Berard representing District 2; Romelle Vandervest representing District 3; Carol Pederson in District 5; Paul Dean in District 8; Denny Thompson in District 12; David Hintz in District 13; Mike Timmons in District 16 and Ted Cushing in District 21. Board members deciding not to seek reelection include Dave O’Melia in District 4, John Hoffman in District 6 and Matt Matteson in District 9.

Two man candidate races will include Brian Dean and former Rhinelander Mayor Gerald “Jerry” Shidell in District 4; incumbent Tom Rudolph will run against Ben Loma in District 10; incumbent Jim Sharon will vie for a seat with Bob Mott in District 7; incumbent John Young will run against Bob Martini in District 11; incumbent Scott Holewinski will be running against John “Jack” Sparks Jr. in District 4; Bob Metropulos Sr. will be running against Michael Warekois in District 15 and incumbent Billy Fried will be running against Charles Wickman in District 17.

There are three seats opening up on the Rhinelander School board. Incumbents Ron Counter and Jim Winkler will seek election. David Holeprin and Chris Moran will also be vying for a seat. In addition, Jody Doro has stepped down from his position on the school board. This seat will be filled by appointment in February, as Doro’s term was not up.

There will also be a three man race for an Oneida County Circuit Court judge. Current District Attorney Mike Bloom is running, along with Rhinelander-area attorneys John O’Melia and Tim Vocke.

Rhinelander City Council seats for Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are all up for election in the spring. District 1 alderman Sonny Paszak declared his non-candidacy, but longtime Rhinelander businessman George Kirby filed candidacy papers for the seat by Tuesday’s deadline. He will run unopposed, as will the incumbents for Districts 3 and 5, Sherrie Belliveau and Joe Salzer. In District 7, there will be two candidates, incumbent Bill Freudenberg and Steve Sauer.

The spring primary (for races with three or more candidates) will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 21, while the Spring Election will be held Tuesday, April 3.