Election time already?

While the general election is a year away, Douglas County’s significant Republican majority means most local partisan offices will be decided in the June primary, with early voting starting in May.

Filing for office begins in March, or just four months from now, and redistricting will have to be complete by the end of the year.

We’re not anticipating a big change in districts for county races. Paradoxically, districts in the county with the highest growth will shrink geographically. We expect Wes Rice’s Lake Tahoe district to add more of Carson Valley and John Engels district encompassing Minden and Gardnerville to shrink a bit. All that will be up to commissioners, though, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Redistricting also will affect the Douglas County School Board and the East Fork Fire Protection District Board.

Douglas might not be so fortunate when the Legislature meets on redistricting. With far greater growth in Clark and Washoe counties, we should expect outgoing Sen. James Settelmeyer’s District 17 seat to add some more ground. It already encompasses Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties. Assemblyman Jim Wheeler’s district currently includes all of Douglas and Storey counties and a slice of western Lyon County. According to the state, both districts are around 6.5 percent below the ideal.

With the first candidate announcement for Douglas County office and the potential for more, it’s time for us to discuss our letters policy for the upcoming season.

We will only publish one letter from a campaign per election. We generally advise candidates save that up to answer any issues raised about them during the course of the campaign, but that’s up to them. A campaign is defined as the candidate, family members and staff. We will attempt to contact a candidate to explain any accusations made about them in a letter to the editor. We welcome letters from residents about candidates.