Although the deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions to run for county offices is more than a month away, as of this week seven Leelanau County residents had filed to run for six offices in the Aug. 5 Primary Election.

Officially, the only “race” so far – between two candidates who hope to fill the District No. 3 County Commissioner’s seat – isn’t really a race yet.

One of the candidates, incumbent commissioner William J. Bunek, is a Republican. His challenger, Suttons Bay Village Council trustee Jackie Freeman, is a Democrat.

During the Aug. 5 Primary, voters will select their party’s nominee to run in the Nov. 4 General Election when the race between nominees from opposing parties will be decided.

In a Republican-dominated county such as Leelanau, however, many races are decided in the Primary Election because – in recent history, at least – few Democrats have run for county office; and Republican nominees frequently run unopposed in the General Election.

In fact, all seven of the incumbent Republican county commissioners ran unopposed for their seats in the November 2006 General Election. Only one of them, incumbent District No. 2 commissioner Mark Walter, was challenged by a fellow Republican in the August 2006 Primary Election, but won.

Incumbent District No. 5 county commissioner Mary Tonneberger, a Republican, was among the six commissioners who went unchallenged throughout the 2006 election cycle. This year, she was the very first person to visit the County Clerk’s office to file a nominating petition for re-election, which she did on Feb. 25. So far, Tonneberger remains unopposed by anyone from any party.

Similarly, Leelanau County Road Commissioner John J. Popa, also a Republican, filed his nominating petition at the clerk’s office on March 4 and remains unopposed so far for the six-year seat. He defeated a Republican challenger in the 2002 Primary.

Also, Leelanau County Drain Commissioner Steven R. Christensen, a Republican, filed a nominating petition on March 27, and remains unopposed.

On Tuesday, Leelanau County Prosecutor Joseph T. Hubbell, a Republican, filed a nominating petition for his party’s nomination in the Aug. 4 Primary Election. If Hubbell receives the Republican nomination and is re-elected, he will be the first Leelanau County Prosecutor to serve more than one consecutive term since Joseph E. Deegan left the post in 1988 to run, successfully, for Probate Court Judge.

Leelanau County Sheriff Michael Oltersdorf filed his nominating petition for re-election on March 24. Although District No. 2 county commissioner Mark Walter has declared his intent to run against Oltersdorf for the Republican nomination for sheriff, Walter has not yet filed a nominating petition with the County Clerk.

The current terms of the incumbent County Clerk, Treasurer and Register of Deeds will all expire at the end of the year; but none of the incumbents has yet filed a nominating petition for reelection, nor have any challengers. Aside from the candidates for the District No. 3 and District No. 5 seats on the County Board of Commissioners, no other candidates for the county board have yet filed nominating petitions.

The deadline to submit nominating petitions is May 13. Anyone interested in running may obtain more information from the County Clerk’s office in Suite 103 of the county Government Center in Suttons Bay Township, or phone 256-9824.