Kalispell has contested race in Ward 3

All four incumbents are seeking re-election to the Kalispell City Council, but a contested race has surfaced in Ward 3.

Filing opened for city elections April 20 and continues through June 19. The election will be held Nov. 7.

Longtime Kalispell Ward 3 council member Jim Atkinson, who has served on the council since 1988, is being challenged by Karlene Osario-Khor.

Osario-Khor ran unsuccessfully against Atkinson in 2013. She applied to fill Randy Kenyon’s Ward 3 seat in 2014 but lost that bid when Rod Kuntz was selected from a slate of 11 applicants.

In 2015 Osario-Khor ran unsuccessfully against Kuntz for the Ward 3 slot. Osario-Khor has served on several local government boards, including the Kalispell Planning Board and the city’s Impact Fee Committee.

Atkinson is retired. He worked as a teacher for many years and is a former director of the Flathead County Agency on Aging, where he still coordinates the senior mobile home repair program.

The Kalispell council has eight council members — two from each ward.

Kalispell council members seeking re-election include Sandy Carlson, Ward 1; Chad Graham, Ward 2; and Tim Kleusner, Ward 4.

Kalispell Mayor Mark Johnson and Municipal Judge Lori Adams also have filed for re-election.

In Whitefish there is a three-way race for the municipal judge position being vacated by retiring judge Bradley Johnson. Thomas Tornow, Kristi L. Curtis and William Hileman Jr. have filed for the municipal judge position.

No one has filed yet for three open seats on the Whitefish City Council. Terms are expiring for Pam Barberis, Jen Frandsen and Andy Feury. Barberis and Frandsen were elected to their first term in 2013. In addition to his current four-year term, Feury served on the council from 1991-98 and was mayor of Whitefish from 2000 to 2007.

In Columbia Falls, Jenny Lovering, who is completing her first four-year term, has filed for re-election. Stephen J. Duffy also has filed for a council seat.

Dave Petersen and Mike Shepard are Columbia Falls council incumbents whose seats are up for election this year. As of Tuesday neither had filed for re-election.

The Columbia Falls mayor position currently held by Don Barnhart is also open this year. Barnhart has served as mayor since 2009.

All city elected positions are for four-year terms.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.