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Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, clerk-treasurer Elaine Call and most of the Warsaw city council were the first to file their candidacies for office at 8:15 a.m. this morning in the Justice Building.
All the seats are up for re-election in the May 6 primary.
Wiggins, Call, Joe Thallemer and Trish Brown, the current at-large representatives; Bill Rhoades of District 3; Jerry Patterson of District 4; and George Clemens of District 5, were the first filers.
Dewey Lawshe also declared his candidacy for an at-large council seat.
Wiggins seeks his second full term as mayor. He was chosen as Jeff Plank's replacement when Plank quit the post in 1997.
Call is seeking her fifth term as clerk-treasurer.
Winona Lake clerk-treasurer Retha Hicks and the town's councilmen also converged at the county clerk's counter declaring their candidacies: Ward I - Craig Snow; Ward II - Jerry Clevenger; Ward III - Rolly Ortega; Ward IV - David Delp; and Ward V - Jeff Carroll.
Craig Allebach filed his candidacy for the Warsaw mayor's post this morning, too.
All the candidates declared membership in the Republican Party.
Candidates have until noon Feb. 21 to file or withdraw a declaration of candidacy for a municipal primary election. Primaries will be held in Warsaw, Winona Lake and Syracuse. If there are no contested races, the municipalities can decide not to conduct a general election.
Filing has been open since Jan. 1 for the town clerk offices and council seats in Claypool, Etna Green, Mentone Milford, North Webster, Pierceton, Sidney and Silver Lake, although there have been no filings. These towns will hold a general election only. The filing period ends Aug. 1 at noon.
