Candidates representing local area express views on issues as November 6 election approaches

Voters will be heading to the polls Tuesday, November 6 for the 2012 General Election, with a wide variety of races being contested across the country at all levels of government. Polling information for Allamakee County is published to the right on this page.
The Standard has issued a questionnaire to each of the area candidates in the U.S. and Iowa House of Representatives and Iowa Senate races, as well as the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors and Auditor races, in an attempt to further educate voters on the views of the candidates in those contested races of local impact. Responses were received from all candidates in the above-mentioned races and are published throughout this week’s issue.

LANSING MAYOR RACE
Residents of the town of Lansing will also have a choice to make for Mayor, as current mayor, Joe Strobel, who was appointed to the position following the resignation of former mayor Don Peters earlier this year, is being challenged by city council member Deb Volker for the City's leadership position. A questionnaire has been issued to both Strobel and Volker, with their responses being published in the River Valley section.

COUNTY LEVEL
At the county level of government, two candidates are vying for one seat on the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors. Incumbent Democrat Lennie Burke of Dorchester is facing a challenge for re-election to his seat from Republican Dennis Koenig of Postville. The office of County Auditor has a three-way race between challengers Denise Beyer, Republican, and Janice Thorson, Democrat, and current Allamakee County Auditor Pam Benjegerdes, who lost the Republican primary to Beyer in June of this year but has since been nominated by petition. The office of Allamakee County Sheriff is also up for election, with Republican Clark Mellick running unopposed in the general election.
Additional area-only ballot items include choosing three local representatives for Soil and Water Conservation Directors and four members for the County Agricultural Extension Council. A series of retention possibilities for judges in Iowa's court system will also appear on this year's ballot, as will a number of township trustees throughout the county.

STATE LEVEL
The state level of government features a pair of contested races for this area in newly-created governing districts. In the new Iowa House of Representatives District 56, current District 16 Representative Bob Hager, a Republican from Dorchester, is up against Democrat Patti Ruff of McGregor. In the Iowa Senate, the new District 28 will feature former State Representative John Beard, a Democrat from Decorah, battling with Republican Michael Breitbach of Strawberry Point.

FEDERAL LEVEL
Races at the federal level for this year's general election obviously include the Presidential race, with the incumbent Democratic pair of Barack Obama and Joe Biden being challenged by the Republican duo of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, along with about half a dozen other candidate pairs not affiliated with this country's two major political parties.
The only other federal level race on the area ballot is for the seat of U.S. Representative District 1. Incumbent Democrat Bruce Braley faces a challenge from Republican Ben Lange, as well as Gregory Hughes and George Todd Krall, who were both nominated by petition.