Additional candidates for the Lawrence City Commission and Lawrence school board have until noon today to come forward or the city will be without a primary election for the first time in more than 25 years.

In the school board race, at least one more candidate must file or voters won’t have a choice at all in that election.

The school board will have three open seats, but as of Monday afternoon only three candidates — Craig Grant, John Mitchell and incumbent Linda Robinson — had filed.

“I wish more people were willing, but I think people realize it is a pretty big job to undertake,” said Austin Turney, a school board member who after two four-year terms is not seeking re-election. “There is no pay for the position, and you have to raise $5,000 to $6,000 to have a successful campaign.”

City commissioners are paid $9,000 per year.

In that race, five candidates have filed for the three at-large positions up for election. That’s enough to ensure voters will have a choice at the polls, but unless at least two more candidates file by today’s deadline there won’t be a primary election.

That’s a rarity for Lawrence city government. The last time voters didn’t have to whittle the field of City Commission candidates was in 1979. Many political observers are baffled by the small number of candidates thus far.

“I’m a little surprised by it,” said City Commissioner David Dunfield, who after six years on the commission will not seek re-election. “Usually we have one or two special-interest candidates, and that hasn’t happened yet. I would have expected somebody to make a special-issue campaign out of the smoking ban.”

City Commission candidates who had filed by Monday were incumbents Sue Hack and David Schauner, along with downtown barber and former Mayor Mike Amyx, school district administrator Tom Bracciano and attorney Jim Carpenter.

More stories in Election 2005

The school board race also must have a total of seven or more candidates to force a primary election. The last time the school board election didn’t produce a primary was in 1999.

Should a primary election be necessary, it would be March 1. The general election will be April 5.

Today’s filing deadline also applies to city and school district candidates in Baldwin, Eudora and Lecompton. Many of those races don’t have enough candidates to fill the number of seats up for election.

The Baldwin City Council has three seats open but only two candidates filed. The Eudora City Council has attracted only one candidate for two seats. The Eudora school board has three seats but only two candidates. In Lecompton, the City Council has two seats but only one candidate.

If enough candidates don’t step forward in those races, winners could be determined by write-in votes during the general election, according to officials at the Douglas County Clerk’s Office.

Candidates seeking to file for any position other than the Lawrence City Commission can do so at the county clerk’s office, which is on the ground floor of the courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets. Lawrence City Commission candidates must file at the city clerk’s office at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.