Wednesday, October 21, 2026
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Filing deadline June 11 for municipal elections

KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 4 months AGO
by KRISTI NIEMEYER
Kristi Niemeyer learned her newspaper licks at weekly newspapers, beginning at the Mission Valley News in 1981, then at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Lake County Leader until 1993. She launched and co-published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly, before returning to the Leader in 2022, and serving as its editor until July 2026. Reach her at [email protected] | June 5, 2025 12:00 AM

Several seats remain unclaimed with the filing deadline for municipal elections in Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius next Wednesday. The general election will be held Nov. 4.

The position of mayor is open in all three communities; these posts are currently held by Eric Huffine (Polson), Chris Adler (Ronan) and Daren Incashola (St. Ignatius).

The City of Polson has seats open in wards 1, 2 and 3, currently held by Jake Holley, Laura Dever and Brodie Moll. All are four-year terms. 

Moll has announced that he plans to retire in December after serving two terms on the commission. On Monday, Tracy McDonald filed to run in Ward 3, and on Tuesday, Holley filed for reelection to Ward 1.

In Ronan, the terms that expire are those held by Ryan Corum (Ward 1), Lindsay Myers (Ward 2) and Marlene Melton (Ward 3). As of Tuesday, no candidates had filed.

In St. Ignatius, the two at-large seats are currently held by Daniel Thompson and Chris Heffern. The community continues to boast the most candidates, with Shay Farmer and incumbents Heffern and Thompson running for town council, and Incashola for mayor.

Both St. Ignatius and Ronan have openings for judges. Those seats are currently occupied by Mary Leishman in Mission and Allysen Jones in Ronan.

Polson also has an opening for the position of city judge, currently held by Michael Larson; applications are due today, June 6, and the commission will interview candidates this month.

To learn more about filing for office, visit https://www.lakemt.gov/170/Elections or call 406-406-883-7268.

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