Few candidates have filed so far for county elections

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The filing period for county offices has been open for about a month, with about another month to go before the March 12 deadline.

There are seven county positions up for election this year, and so far, few have filed, leaving may incumbents unchallenged for their positions.

Filing in county elections opens Jan. 11

The county positions on the November ballot include clerk and recorder, treasurer, sheriff, county attorney, justice of the peace, public administrator and commissioner for District 3.

The District 3 seat is currently held by Jane Weber and so far, no one has filed to challenge her.

On the first day of filing, Weber filed, as did Josh Racki.

He filed for county attorney, a position he was appointed to last year after John Parker was appointed as a district judge.

Rina Fontana Moore has filed for reelection as the clerk and recorder.

Jamie Bailey has filed for reelection as the county treasurer.

Gerald Boland has filed for reelection as public administrator.

Mary Jolley and Steve Fagenstrom have filed for reelection for justice of the peace.

Bob Rosipal and Jesse Slaughter have filed for sheriff. Current sheriff Bob Edwards told The Electric a few weeks ago that he hadn’t yet decided whether he’d run for reelection.

Rosipal files to run for Cascade County sheriff 

Rosipal has announced his undersheriff, if elected, would be Dan O’Fallon and his campaign treasurer is Eric Bailey.

Slaughter told The Electric that Bob Jones is his campaign treasurer but has not yet announced his selection for undersheriff. Jones is a former City Commissioner and chief of the Great Falls Police Department.

GFPD officer running for sheriff

There are approximately 47,000 voters in Cascade County, according to the elections office.

According to the county elections office, there will be a June primary regardless of whether any position has no challenger. Most candidates for positions on the November ballot must file between Jan. 11 and March 12. The only candidates that begin filing in June for the November ballot are those for the conservation district, according to the elections office.

The qualifications for most of these officers are candidates must live in Cascade County, be registered voters in the county and be 18 or older. For the commission seat, candidates must live in District 3. For the county attorney, a candidate for the position in counties with more than 30,000 people must have resided in the state for the two years immediately before taking office and have been admitted to the practice of law for at least five years before the date of election or appointment, according to state law.