Auburn Mayor Pete Lewis filed for re-election to his third term Monday as filing week for public office opened across the state.

By 5 p.m. Friday, the final list of candidates who hope to unseat the City’s two-term mayor was made up of Councilmember and frequent Lewis critic Virginia Haugen, Shelley Erickson, owner of Shelley’s Total Body Works, and Frank Lonergan. The large number of mayoral candidates sets up an Aug. 18 primary contest to winnow the field to two for the Nov. 3 general election.

Running unopposed will be Auburn City Council members Rich Wagner and Nancy Backus. Councilman Gene Cerino will be opposed in the general election by John T. Partridge, the city’s former fire and police chaplain.

Auburn Municipal Court Judge Patrick Burns will run for reelection unopposed.

All of these are non partisan offices.

For the second time since the U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld the Top 2 Primary system adopted by citizen initiative in 2004, the declaration of candidacy form allowed candidates across the state to self-describe their political preference, but this does not mean that a party has nominated or supports that candidate.

The regulations don’t rule out candidates trying to wedge in additional information about themselves, such as “Anti-war Dem” or “Pro-life G.O.P”, “Evans Republican” or “Jackson Democrat.” But Secretary of State Sam Reed, the state’s chief elections officer, said he hopes candidates simply will list the actual name of a political party and resist the temptation to cram in personal or political information.

Candidates are free to publicize party endorsements, their incumbency or other descriptions in their campaigns and in voters’ pamphlet statements, but the actual ballot will be free of this material.

Parties are no longer allowed to fill any vacancies, because there are no more major party tickets in a Top 2 Primary. All candidates are treated the same. A race can be reopened for a special filing period if nobody files during the regular filing period.

In the Aug. 18 primary election, voters will choose their favorite for each office without regard to party, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. As approved by the voters and upheld last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Top 2 Primary is a winnowing election to narrow the field for the November general election, and not a nominating election. Parties may hold their own nominating conventions to pick a favorite for each office. That information won’t go on the ballot for the state-run primary or general elections. All counties but Pierce County are voting entirely by mail and ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 18.

Candidates for other local offices as of noon Wednesday:

• City of Algona

Council Position No. 2: Lynda L. Osborn

Council Position No. 4: No Candidates

• City of Pacific

Council Position No. 2: John C. Jones

Council Position No. 4: Leanne Guier

Council Position No. 5: James McMahan

Council Position No. 7: Tren Walker

• Auburn School District No. 408

Director District No. 3: Janice Nelson

Director District No. 5: Lisa Connors; Clarissa Ruston