January 6, 2009

Four City Council incumbents face challengers

The deadline to run for City Council is less than two hours away. Here's a rundown of the candidates, so far:

First District

Always a competitive race, incumbent Jeff Coe has three challengers this spring. Long-time nemesis Keith Fair and newcomers Renee Mullen and Mercedes Dzindzeleta (that's a great name for yard signs!) are also running to represent the Downtown district.

Third District
Michael Shields has a challenger for the third straight election. Shields lost to Tim Hermes four years ago, but reclaimed the seat in 2007. He'll take on newcomer Michael Guion this spring.

Fifth District
Save a last-minute challenger, David Maack will win another two-year term. He represents the Racine Zoo district.

Seventh District
Ray DeHahn also looks to be safe. No one has filed to run against him as of 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

Ninth District
First-term Alderman Terry McCarthy has another election on his hands. He's challenged this year by Christian Dejong. This is Pete Karas' old district in west Racine.

11th District
Greg Helding, who offers the occassional comment on RacinePost, has no challenger at the moment. He should be around for at least two more years.

13th District

Jim Spangenberg is running unopposed so far and looks to be a lock for two more years.

15th District

Incumbent Bob Mozol is facing an eager opponent. Newcomer William Leverson declared his candidacy on Aug. 8 and turned in his campaign papers on Dec. 3, a month before the deadline.

18 comments:

  1. Wish someone was running against Helding.

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  2. I hope Shields gets the boot again!

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  3. What happened to all the bloggers who were going to run against Helding? All talk but no action. Helding is a fine alderman who brings progressive ideas to nthe table. The naysayers on this blog have no credibility.

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  4. Anon 5:54 - is that you Alderman Helding or the Mrs??

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  5. i know of a young, leader of color, who may be running against David Maack

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  6. If they haven't turned in their papers yet I think it's too late.

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  7. Bets
    1st
    Cole. Mullen and Mercedes take votes from Fair. Post should look into the interesting help Fair is getting. Nothing illegal or anything just interesting.

    3nd If Gulion can build on the Shields flip flop he wins if not Sheilds easy

    9th Mc Carthy

    15 th Leverson. Mozol who?

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  8. anon 7:20 don't you mean Mozol's district?

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  9. "Anon 5:54 - is that you Alderman Helding or the Mrs??"

    Neither. I think I have shown by now that when I need to say something on a blog, I come on and identify myself.

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  10. Helding, you know darn well you blog under anonymous names, you told me so yourself.

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  11. Who cares if Greg Helding uses anonymous names to blog?

    Anyone who would take blog comments too seriously is out of touch with reality.

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  12. give helding a break. using an anonymous name is not as bad as if he used some fake name.

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  13. I am told that Mozol used to love overtime and a brand new squad car to jump in, yet, NOW he is concerned about overtime money and trying to make old squad cars last forever to save money?? I am all for trying to save the city money, but I do not like a "do as I say, not as I did" city govt. I will be voting for Leverson.

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  14. Rumor has it there is another 1st district candidate.

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  15. I wonder how many property owners in the first district just got stuck with horrendous increases in their tax bill? It certainly is an issue with everyone that I have talked with. No wonder downtown is not happening. Hopefully there will be a panel discussion for the crowded field here and residents and property owners will be able to query the candidates as to how they stand regarding the issues facing the first district and the city.

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  16. What will Fair do for downtown other then "support" troubled bars and fight RPD on anything they want to do to stop gangs.
    Should Becker go for Term Three (I hope he does) Becker would find Fair hard to deal with.
    Cole and Becker may not get along but Cole will work with anyone on projects he thinks is a good idea.

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  17. BEcker still has two years to go on his term and honestly I feel it's time for him to move on. I hope we get some really good mayoral candidates to choose from. I used to think Becker was ok but he's changed and the power has gone to his head.

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  18. Is it possible to be a politician and to either not start on a power trip or end on one? Isn't that part of the game?

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