Commissioner field narrows by one

Voters will have a slightly easier decision to make at this May's primary.

There will only be six candidates running for the district 1 Kootenai County commissioner seat, instead of seven, the county clerk announced on Tuesday.

Steven Peter Benner's candidacy was discovered invalid, Clerk Cliff Hayes stated in a press release, because Benner resides in commissioner district 2, which is not up for election this year.

Idaho statute requires that commissioner candidates reside in the district for which they declare candidacy.

"Elections staff did not follow all our procedures when handling the candidacy declaration for Steven Peter Benner," Hayes explained. "We allowed Mr. Benner to file for county commissioner district 1 without verifying his residency within that district."

The clerk's office is re-evaluating its procedures to prevent the error from recurring.

Benner's name will not appear on the May 15 primary ballot.