ALBION — Republicans in Noble County will have just two municipal races to decide this year as most of the ballot for the primary will remain uncontested.

This year’s primary on May 2 will feature only two contests — one for the District 2 council seat in Kendallville and a three-way race to pick two Republican candidates for Avilla Town Council.

Everything else is not contested this spring, although a few races are already set for November.

Filing closed as of noon Friday for candidates to declare for the May primary. The primary picks major-party nominees for office, with winners advancing to the fall general election.

Because Noble County is almost exclusively represented by Republicans, primaries can often be the more competitive and meaningful of the two annual elections, since often winners advance to a November remember with no opposition.

That being said, this year’s municipal ballot has limited competition with only two races.

In Kendallville, incumbent Shari Targgart is being challenged by Ron Stanley in District 2, which represents the area west of Main Street and north of Drake Road, as well as all of the area west of Riley Road north of U.S. 6.

Targgart was selected by caucus to fill the vacancy left when Steve Clouse resigned his seat in February 2021 to focus on his private practice before being appointed Noble Superior Court 1 judge. Targgart is facing her first election for her first full term but is being challenged by Stanley, an owner of R&T Monuments on Main Street.

Stanley was one of three candidates at the caucus in March 2021 when Republicans picked Targgart, but now the seat goes up before the general public instead of party leaders.

In Avilla, this May will bring a three-way race to pick two nominees for the Republican ballot. Longtime councilman and incumbent Paul Shepherd is in the pool with newcomers Annakarina Freeman and Andrew Uhl, who joined the race this week before the close of filing on Friday.

Voters will pick their top two candidates, with those two advancing on to November when it will be another three-way race for the two seats with longtime incumbent Democrat William Krock Jr. waiting for them.

The only other competition currently slated will come in November.

Former longtime Kendallville parks employee Brett Slone announced he’s running for mayor in the city, but is running as an independent so he doesn’t appear on the May filings listing. He’ll square off against Republican Lance Waters, the city’s current police chief, who was the only candidate seeking to replace Mayor Suzanne Handshoe when she retires from office after 20 years at the end of 2023.

Republican incumbent Corey Boese is unopposed for Kendallville’s District 4 council seat in May, but will have a challenge in Democrat Kimberly Murphy come this fall.

Other filings of note include:

• Earle Franklin as the only candidate to file to run for mayor in Ligonier to succeeed Patti Fisel, who is retiring after four terms.

• Chris Magnuson, who is seeking to return to the Albion Town Council in one of three at-large seats after moving out of Albion and giving up her seat last year, but she’s since moved back and is seeking to rejoin as John Morr opted not to run again.

• Ligonier City Council District 2, which had no one file. Longtime councilman Ken Schuman is not running again, and no one else filed to replace him.

In LaGrange County, there’s not much to the list, as most candidates are selected via town convention later in the summer, as opposed to the typical primary. Rome City also uses a town convention for its council nominess.

The only two traditional filings in LaGrange County were Republicans Laurie Miller for LaGrange clerk-treasurer and Adam Lambright for Topeka town council at-large.

Here’s the full list of candidates on the Noble County ballot:

Kendallville

Mayor — Lance Waters (R)

Clerk-treasurer — Kathren Ritchie (R)

City Council District 1 — Regan Ford (R)

City Council District 2 — Shari Targgart (R), Ron Stanley (R)

City Council District 3 — Amy Ballard (R)

City Council District 4 — Corey Boese (R), Kimberly Murphy (D)

City Council At-large — Tara Streb (R)

Ligonier

Mayor — Earle Franklin (R)

Clerk-treasurer — Barbara Hawn (R)

City Council District 1 — Christopher Fought (R)

City Council District 2 — no candidates

City Council District 3 — Doretta S. Wiegand (R)

City Council At-large (pick two) — David C. Cisney (R), Matthew Kreager (R)

Albion

Clerk-treasurer — Carol Selby (R)

Town council at-large (pick three) — Zane Gray (R), Donald Shultz (R), Christina Magnuson (R)

Avilla

Clerk-treasurer — Rita Grocock (R)

Town council at large (pick two) — Paul Shepherd (R), Annakarina Freeman (R), Andrew Uhl (R), William H. Krock Jr. (D)

Rome City

Clerk-treasurer — Heidi Lang

Cromwell

Clerk-treasurer — Kayla JB Pauley (R)

Town council at-large (pick two) — Tiffanie Gudakunst (R), Jerry L. Pauley (R)

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