HELENA — Wednesday was the last day for candidates to file for this year’s municipal elections in Montana. We now know five people are running for Helena mayor, after incumbent Mayor Wilmot Collins chose not to seek a third term.
The five candidates who filed with county election officials are current city commissioners Emily Dean and Andy Shirtliff, 2021 mayoral candidate Sonda Gaub, and new candidates Chris Riccardo and Braxton Hudson.
Helena has not had a mayoral race without an incumbent on the ballot in more than 20 years.
There will also be five candidates running for two seats on the Helena City Commission. Only one of them, Melinda Reed, is an incumbent. The others include Haley McKnight, Ben Rigby, Shawn White Wolf and Brenton Craggs.
Because there are so many candidates, Helena will be required to hold a primary election on Sept. 9. It will be the first municipal primary for the city in at least 15 years. The top two candidates for mayor and the top four candidates for commission will advance to the general election on Nov. 4.
The Sept. 9 primary will be the same day as the upcoming bond election for Helena Public Schools.
The city elections in East Helena will be much quieter. Mayor Kelly Harris and city council members Judy Leland and Don Dahl are all running for reelection, and all were the only candidates to file for their positions.
This year, the filing period for municipal candidates was disrupted by the Legislature and governor’s approval of House Bill 207, which shortened the window to file from 60 days to 15 days. Because the new law took effect immediately, it moved up the original deadline, from June 16 to June 11.
