BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle
Voters in Montgomery County will go to the polls next Tuesday for a primary election that will narrow the field of candidates for a variety of county, state and federal offices.
Polls will open at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
The election is a primary contest in which the top vote recipient in each political party contest will advance to the Nov. 4 general election.
However, two races for county offices will largely be decided next Tuesday when voters decide on the Republican nominee for county clerk and county commissioner, district 2.
The race for county clerk will pit three candidates: incumbent Charlotte Scott-Schmidt, Pat Alexander of Independence, and Tina Aldrich of Coffeyville.
Because there are no Democrat Party candidates for county clerk, the winner of the three-way race will be unopposed in the November general election. The winner will likely secure the rights to the county clerk seat, barring a write-in candidacy in that November election.
The same is true for the race for Montgomery County Commission, district 2. Incumbent Billie Lewark-Wood of rural Dearing is facing a challenge from Larry G. McManus of Independence for the Republican Party nomination. There are no Democrat Party candidates in that contest, meaning that the winner of the Lewark-Wood/McManus race will be unopposed in the November general election and will likely be sworn into office for a four-year term in January 2009.
There are several other contests pitting party candidates. In the race for county sheriff, the contest in the Republican Party will pit incumbent Stan Veach against former deputy sheriff Robert “Bobby” Dierks of Coffeyville. The winner of the Veach/Dierks race will advance to the November election to face former deputy sheriff Jerry Gilbert, the lone candidate on the Democrat ballot.
In the race for 14th Judicial District judge, Republican incumbent Russell D. Canaday of rural Independence is being challenged by Sedan attorney Gary House. The winner in the Canaday/House contest will then face Democrat Party candidate and Independence attorney Robert Lattin in the November general election.
The 14th Judicial District includes all areas of Montgomery and Chautauqua counties.
A hotly-contested campaign for the Kansas Senate, 14th District, will feature two Republican Party candidates who are no strangers to the political stage. State Sen. Dwayne Umbarger, R-Thayer, is facing a challenge from fellow Thayer resident Iris M. VanMeter, a former member of the Kansas State Board of Education.
The Republican Party nominee emerging from the Umbarger/VanMeter campaign will advance to the November general election to face the lone Democrat Party candidate: David L. Miller of Parsons.
The 14th District of the Kansas Senate includes Cherokee and Parker townships in Montgomery County, including the city of Coffeyville. The district also includes all of Neosho and Labette counties as well as a portion of Cherokee County.
At the federal level, Democrat Party voters will have one contested race to pick on the Aug. 5 ballot. Former Kansas congressman Jim Slattery of Topeka and Lee Jones of Overland Park are seeking the Democrat Party nomination. The winner of that campaign will face incumbent Pat Roberts, the lone Republican candidate, of Dodge City.
There will be a host of other office selections on the Aug. 5 primary election ballot. However, many of the candidates for those offices are unopposed for their party’s nomination and will automatically advance to the Nov. 4 general election, barring a successful write-in campaign from another candidate.
Those candidates include:
• Derek Schmit, Independence: Republican candidate for Kansas Senate, 15th district.
• Virgil Peck Jr., Tyro: Republican candidate for Kansas House of Representatives, 11th District.
• Virgil O. Horn Jr., Coffeyville: Democrat candidate for Kansas House of Representatives, 11th District.
• Jeff King, Independence: Republican candidate for Kansas House of Representatives, 12th District.
• Sandra K. Frisco, Independence: Democrat candidate for Kansas House of Representatives, 12th District.
• Fred M. Brown, Coffeyville: Democrat candidate for Montgomery County Commission, district 3.
• Nancy Clubine, Independence: Republican candidate for county treasurer.
• Larry Markle, Coffeyville: Republican candidate for county attorney.
• Marilyn Calhoun, Coffeyville: Republican candidate for register of deeds.
• Todd Tiahrt, Goddard: Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, 4th District.
• Donald Betts Jr., Wichita: Democraft candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, 4th District.
The Aug. 5 election ballot will also include the selection of precinct committeemen and committeewomen as well as township treasurers and trustees.
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Countywide sales tax issue on Tuesday ballot
Montgomery County voters will decide next Tuesday whether to adopt a one-fourth percent (0.25%) countywide sales tax to pay for an expansion of the Montgomery County Jail in Independence.
Sheriff Stan Veach has said the daily jail census in recent years has almost doubled above what the jail was designed to hold when it was constructed in 1990. The jail was designed to hold about 80 inmates; daily census numbers show the jail census between 140-150 inmates.
Veach said Montgomery County often sends inmates to jails in other counties due to lack of space in the Montgomery County Jail.
If approved, the countywide sales tax would build a jail addition to include 40 new cells, or enough room for an additional 80 inmates.
If approved, the collection of the countywide sales tax would not go into effect until Jan. 1, 2009.
The proposed jail expansion was the solution offered by a citizens’ committee appointed by the Montgomery County Commission to investigate the costs of a jail expansion.
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Results from the Aug. 5 primary election can be heard on radio station KGGF 690 AM next Tuesday evening, beginning at about 7:30 p.m.
Chronicle editor Andy Taylor will provide live election results from the Montgomery County Courthouse throughout the evening. Results also will be posted at www.taylornews.org.
