A look at the 2012 elections calendar for local government seats

The highlight of 2012′s political calendar will certainly be the presidential election in November — but there are plenty of important local and state elections along the way.

The seat of local State Senator Terrie Huntington, who defended a primary challenge in 2010 as she sought to defend the seat she had taken over from David Wysong, will again be up for election, as will every member of the upper house of the state legislature. All members of the Kansas House of Representatives, including Kay Wolf and Barbara Bollier, will be up for election as well. The state primary elections will be Tuesday, Aug. 7, with the general elections Tuesday, Nov. 6.

In Prairie Village, six of the 12 city council seats will be up for election. The six incumbents — Al Herrera of Ward 1, Ruth Hopkins of Ward 2, Andrew Wang of Ward 3, Dale Beckerman of Ward 4, David Morrison of Ward 5, and Diana Ewy Sharp of Ward 6 — have all filed to run for new four-year terms. To date, no one has filed to challenge any of the incumbents. The filing deadline for the April 3 election is noon on Tuesday, Jan. 24. If three or more candidates file for any of the seats, a primary will be held Tuesday, Feb. 28.

There will not be city council or mayoral elections in either Mission Hills or Fairway, where the next scheduled local elections are in 2013.