Bentonville will have a new mayor and several City Council seats in Northwest Arkansas will be filled with fresh faces in November.
The filing period for nonpartisan, municipal candidates ended at noon Friday. About 250 residents entered races for city council, mayor, city attorney or city clerk in Benton and Washington counties. All forms had to be turned in to the county clerk's office.
Larry Forrester, a Washington County Sheriff's Office deputy and Greenland City Council member, came to the courthouse to pick up his payroll check and see the final list of candidates.
He stood at the counter and checked his watch. At 12:02 p.m., Forrester asked clerk employees if the filing period was officially over. It was. He acknowledged, with a laugh, his successful re-election campaign -- he'll go unopposed.
Many more races, however, will be contested.
Bentonville's mayoral race drew five candidates: Stephanie Orman, Terry Shannon, John Skaggs, Charlie Turner and Jim Webb. Mayor Bob McCaslin didn't seek re-election.
The pool of candidates serves a stark contrast to 2006, when McCaslin was first elected. He was the only candidate to challenge Mayor Terry Coberly. McCaslin was re-elected without opposition in 2010 and 2014.
All of Bentonville's City Council seats are up for grabs as well. One member, Orman, is vying for mayor. Webb stepped down from the council early this year after moving out of Ward 4. The other incumbents, Bill Burckhart, Chad Goss, Aubrey Patterson, Tim Robinson, Octavio Sanchez, Chris Sooter and Jonathan Terlouw, all filed for re-election.
Only Robinson and Terlouw will have opponents. Robert Carr Jr. filed to run against Robinson for the Ward 1, Position 1 seat, and Brian Lyew will try to unseat Terlouw for Ward 4, Position 2.
The other three major cities in Northwest Arkansas have half the council seats up this election cycle.
A crowded field will contend for the Ward 1, Position 1 seat in Rogers being vacated by Buddy Wright. Clint Hopper, Rick Stocker, Mandy McDonald Brashear and Wright's son, Shawn Wright, all filed. The other three seats on the council will have their incumbents return unopposed.
Each of Springdale's four council spots will have challengers facing off. Pete Lampros and Brian Powell will vye for the Ward 1 seat being vacated by Jim Reed. Ray Dotson is running against incumbent Mike Overton; Council Member Rick Culver will face Amelia Taldo-Williams and Mike Lawson drew a challenge from Eve Smith.
Fayetteville voters will have their choice of 11 candidates to fill four spots on the City Council. Mark Kinion, who has represented Ward 2 since 2010, will have two opponents in Martin Bemberg and Raymond Burks. Adam Fire Cat and Teresa Turk filed in Ward 4 to run against incumbent John La Tour.
Either Lucas Regnier or Sloan Scroggin will represent Ward 3. Council Member Justin Tennant didn't seek re-election. Sonia Gutierrez, Kris Paxton and Olivia Trimble will square off to replace Adella Gray, who didn't seek re-election, on the Ward 1, Position 1 seat.
Business will run as usual in some smaller cities. Tontitown, for example, will have all six council members and its mayor serve new terms unopposed.
Cave Springs, on the other hand, will have contested races for all but one of its six council spots. Two opponents, Randall Noblett and John Craig, seek to unseat Mayor Travis Lee, who filed for re-election Friday morning.
In West Fork, no one filed to replace Anita Lowry, who is stepping down from Ward 3, Position 2.
Cities with unfilled positions will have to declare a vacancy at the start of the new year and decide whether to appoint someone or hold a special election, said Jennifer Price, Washington County election coordinator.
Early voting begins Oct. 22. Election Day is Nov. 6.