Newton candidates file for city council, mayor and school board elections

Four candidates for school board, three candidates for city council and one candidate for mayor have filed their paperwork before deadline this past week.

According to information obtained from the Jasper County Auditor’s Office, the school board candidates include incumbents Robyn Friedman, Travis Padget and Ray Whipple, as well as newcomer Hilary Foster, who frequents many school board meetings and has participated in a number of school-related endeavors.

Council member Melissa Dalton will be running for re-election to Ward 2. Dalton was elected in 2021 by a narrow margin of about 24 votes; her opponent, Ethan Haas, received 282 votes while she earned 306 votes. The seat previously belonged to Dean Stonner, who completed one term on the city council.

Amy Roth will be running for the Ward 4 seat on the city council, which is currently occupied by Steve Mullan. The Ward 4 seat had belonged to council member Vicki Wade, who announced in 2024 that she would be moving. Mullan, a former longtime council member, was appointed to fill the seat.

Jeff Holschuh — who previously ran for school board back in 2021 — is running for the at-large seat currently held by Randy Ervin, who was appointed to the position after Evelyn George won her mayoral race in 2023 and had to give it up. George announced in July she would not be running for re-election.

Ervin has finally decided that he will run for mayor once again. He ran a close mayoral race against George and Lonnie Appleby, losing to the former by only 13 votes. When George announced she would be stepping away, Ervin noted that he had been asked if he would run for mayor once again.

In August, Ervin said he still absolutely wants to be mayor but he did not want to get in a hurry. He also wanted to honor George’s long tenure serving the city before jumping in to the race. Ervin was first elected to the council in 2019 and has been one of the most vocal officials at the dais ever since.

So far all of the city and school board races are uncontested unless individuals launch their own write-in campaigns. Absentee voting begins in-person at the Jasper County Courthouse on Oct. 15, and the absentee ballots will also be mailed this day. The absentee ballot request deadline is 5 p.m. Oct. 20.

The final day to vote absentee in-person is Nov. 3, and Election Day will start the day after on Nov. 4 at various assigned precincts.