By: Keith Norman, The Jamestown Sun

The local slate of candidates is final for the 2012 North Dakota primary election.

Candidates had until 4 p.m. Friday to file with local offices to place their names on the ballot. The names will officially be placed on the ballot for the June 12 election after review of the petition signatures.

Openings on the Jamestown City Council drew the most attention with six candidates filing for three openings.

Charlie Kourajian has filed for re-election while councilmen Pat Nygaard and Ken Schulz have declined to run again.

Challengers include Jodie Mjoen, Steve Brubakken, Dan Buchanan, Samuel Upton and Jacqueline Dotzenrod.

Mjoen, former mayor of Maxbass, N.D., is the supplier quality representative at Goodrich Corp. and has lived in Jamestown six years.

“The most rewarding things of my life are helping people,” he said. “I want to bring my experience in government to the community that is now my home.”

Brubakken said he is a 37-year resident of Jamestown with 30 years’ experience working for the state of North Dakota.

“I feel that experience will be useful for the city,” he said.

Dotzenrod is a 911-EMS dispatcher for Stutsman County who has lived in Jamestown about nine months.

“Snow removal, we should get some,” she said when asked why she was running. “I always have been interested in public office and this seems like the right time for me.”

Kourajian, Upton and Buchanan could not be reached for comment.

Two candidates have filed for two openings on the Board of Commissioners for the Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department.

Incumbent Mark Ukestad and challenger Ron Olson are seeking four-year terms. Wade Spitzer is not seeking re-election.

The Jamestown Public School Board will have four contested seats in the upcoming election. Terry Anderson and Melissa Gleason are vying for the one rural seat currently held by Gary Peterson.

The three Jamestown seats on the School Board have drawn four candidates. Incumbents Diane Hanson and Gail Martin are seeking re-election while challengers Roger Haut and Dina Laskowski have also filed. Current School Board member Rosemary McDougall is not seeking re-election.

City, parks and recreation and school board posts are decided at the June 12 election.

There is one contested local primary race also on the ballot.

Two candidates for the Republican nomination for the District 12 Senate seat have emerged: Bernie Satrom, president of Maranatha Custom Churches, in Jamestown and Dwaine Heinrich, owner of Heinrich and Company, an insurance-claim adjustment company in Jamestown.

The top vote-getter will advance to the general election in November as the Republican candidate for the seat.

Four candidates have announced for the two open seats on the Stutsman County Commission.

Incumbents Mark Klose and Dave Schwartz are being challenged by Nellie Degen and Dave Orr. All four candidates will advance to the November general election.

On the Republican ballot as uncontested candidates are Alex Looysen and Kenneth Hall for the District 12 House of Representatives.

On the Democratic side of the District 12 race all races are uncontested with John Grabinger running for the Senate and Rep. Lyle Hanson and Jessica Haak, both Jamestown, seeking the nominations as candidates for the House of Representatives.

District 12 is currently represented by Hanson, Sen. David Nething, R-Jamestown, and Rep. Joe Kroeber, D-Jamestown. Nething and Kroeber have both declined to seek re-election.

Absentee ballots will be delivered beginning May 3. Applications for absentee voting are available at the county website, http://www.co.stutsman.nd.us, or by calling the Stutsman County Auditor’s office at 252-9035.

Early voting is available at the courthouse from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning on May 29. Voting is also available from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday June 2 and June 9.

Polls open at 7 a.m. on June 12. The county will utilize a voting center at the Jamestown Civic Center where any eligible voter may cast their ballot. In addition, voters of Precinct 1 can vote in Pingree, Precinct 2 in Kensal and Precinct 5 in Medina.

Polls will close at 7 p.m. on June 12.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com