Primaries to be held for mayor, District 4 alderman

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

Another alderman on the Rhinelander City Council has decided not to seek re-election this spring.

Mark Pelletier, who represents District 2 and chairs the Finance, Wage and Salary Committee among his committee assignments, has filed a declaration of non-candidacy with the city clerk’s office.

The only candidate to have filed nomination papers to run in District 2 was Andrew Larson, 1116 Pinos St.

District 8 on the City Council will have new representation after the April 3 spring general election as well with Tom Gleason also having filed a declaration of non-candidacy. Ryan Rossing, an Oneida County sheriff’s deputy, has filed nomination papers to run for that seat.

A primary will be held Feb. 20 in District 4 with three candidates having filed nomination papers by Tuesday’s deadline.  In addition to Tom Kelly seeking another four-year term, the challengers include Kyle Rogers, a former Northwoods River News reporter who now works at COLE Publishing in Three Lakes, and Matthew Wocelka.

In the District 6 seat held by Alex Young, who is running for mayor this spring and previously announced he wouldn’t be seeking re-election as an alderman, David Holt has filed nomination papers to run.

In this spring's mayoral race, in which incumbent Dick Johns decided not to seek another four-year term, the three candidates who are running include Young, former alderman Scott Counter and Chris Frederickson, a respiratory therapist and youth sports coach in the Rhinelander area. A primary will be held Feb. 20 to narrow the field of candidates to two.

The deadline to file nomination papers was 5 p.m. Tuesday. However, because Young didn’t file nomination papers for his City Council seat and also hadn’t filed a declaration of non-candidacy by the Dec. 22 deadline, others interested in running in District 6 will have until Friday at 5 p.m. to file nomination papers for that office.