By Shereen Siewert
UPDATED, 3:17 p.m. Tuesday
With just hours remaining until the deadline for candidates to file finance and nomination papers for Wausau City Council, two new challengers — both familiar names and faces in the community — have emerged in the spring election.
Christopher Norfleet, who announced in May his intention to run for mayor, filed all paperwork Tuesday to challenge Pat Peckham in District 1. Norfleet said he is continuing to gather signatures for his mayoral bid on Tuesday afternoon.
Longtime Dist. 3 council member David Nutting will also have a challenger. Tom Kilian, who has long been at the forefront of environmental issues in Wausau and is a frequent spokesman for Citizens for a Clean Wausau, submitted campaign paperwork Tuesday and will seek the Dist. 3 seat.
All but two council seats will be contested in the April 7 election. Becky McElhaney, in Dist. 6, and Dawn Herbst, in Dist. 9, are unopposed as of 3:17 p.m. Tuesday.
Current Dist. 10 Alder Mary Thao announced earlier in December she would not seek another term for the seat, representing a swath of the city’s west side. As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, three candidates have filed paperwork, which will force a primary: Donna Krause, Lou Larson and former Dist. 10 council member Sherry Abitz.
The Feb. 18 primary will narrow the field from three candidates to two in Dist. 10.
If Norfleet files his completed paperwork for the mayoral race by 5 p.m. Tuesday, that race will also require a primary. Current mayor Rob Mielke and challenger Katie Rosenberg have both filed campaign finance and nomination forms.
Here’s how the Wausau City Council election slate looks so far:
Dist. 1:
Pat Peckham (incumbent)
Christopher Norfleet
Dist. 2:
Michael Martens (incumbent)
Tiffany Rodriguez-Lee
Dist. 3:
David Nutting (incumbent)
Tom Kilian
Dist. 4:
Tom Neal (incumbent)
Judith Miller
Dist. 5:
Jim Wadzinski
Joel Lewis
Dist. 6:
Becky McElhaney (incumbent)
Dist. 7:
Lisa Rasmussen (incumbent)
Tracy Wheatley
Dist. 8:
Linda Lawrence (incumbent)
Sarah Watson
Dist. 9:
Dawn Herbst (incumbent)
Dist. 10:
Sherry Abitz
Donna Krause
Lou Larson
Dist. 11:
Debra Ryan
Patrick Bacher
