Campaign season underway

Five candidates filed for municipal positions on the first morning of filing for the 2011 election, including Portland’s mayor.
Incumbent Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier (R), 402 W. 12th St., Portland, announced Jan. 7 that he would seek a third term.
Also filing for a re-election bid was Portland District 4 city councilman Donald P. Gillespie (R), 134 E. Third St., Portland.
Two Democratic candidates filed for Dunkirk’s clerk-treasurer position to fill a vacancy left by Jane Kesler, who has announced she will not seek another term. Phonnie Wright, 242 E. Washington St., Dunkirk, and Ailesia Franklin, 407 N. Meridian St., Dunkirk, filed for the position.
Jack L. Robbins (D), 507 Blackford Ave., Dunkirk, also filed this morning for the Dunkirk City Council District 1.
In the Dunkirk mayoral race, incumbent mayor Ron Hunt and former city councilman and current county engineer Dan Watson both announced intent to run for the position, although neither had filed as of late morning.
In both Portland and Dunkirk, all council seats and the mayor and clerk-treasurer seats are up for election.
In Portland, incumbent clerk-treasurer Randy Geesaman, a Democrat, has not said definitively whether he plans to seek re-election. Republican Michelle Pensinger, who resigned last year as judge of Portland City Court, said she will seek her party’s nomination to the clerk-treasurer position.
Several other town offices will be on the ballot across the county and area.
Filing for the 2011 primary election cycle ends Friday, Feb. 18 at noon. The primary election will be held on Tuesday, May 3, with the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.[[In-content Ad]]