There are no races for mayor or council  in the November 2019 Bluffton election – unless a write-in candidate files later this summer.

May 6 was the filing deadline for independent candidates for the Bluffton mayor and council races. No independents filed, according to the Allen County Board of Elections.

That means Richard Johnson (mayor)  and Joe Sehlhorst and Ben Stahl (council members) will run unopposed. Those three filed to be on the ballot in February.

This is a significant switch as 10 candidates were on the 2017 ballot for four council seats. That represented the largest number of council candidates in a Bluffton election in nearly a quarter of a century.

Ben Stahl, who was the fifth highest vote getter in 2017, was appointed to the council vacancy, which opened when council member Richard Johnson became mayor in late December 2018 following the resignation of Judy Augsburger as mayor. Johnson was council president at the time.