Two of three seats up for grabs on the Mount Pleasant Village Board have so many candidates there will be a primary in February to determine who moves forward to the April general election.
Trustees Anna Marie Clausen and Rick McCluskey are facing two and three challengers, respectively, while Gary Feest has one challenger. He will not have a primary.
Running against Clausen are John Martini and Jon Hansen. McCluskey will face former Trustee Don Schulz, Ken Otwaska and Terri Isaacson.
Feest is being challenged by Jim Kusters
This is the first election during which candidates could file nomination papers for a specific board seat targeting a particular trustee. Last summer, trustees voted 6-1 to continue serving the village at large but to be elected by numbered seat.
The Village of Caledonia also elects trustees at-large but by numbered seat, and moving to a numbered system is a necessary step should Mount Pleasant officials ever decide to change the village’s definition to that of a city.
Voters will head to the polls Feb. 16 for the primary and April 7 for the general election.