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A calling: Calumet Township clerk running again

CALUMET TOWNSHIP – For Beth Salmela, being Calumet Township clerk is such an enjoyable job she wants to keep doing it, so she’s running for re-election in the August primary.

Salmela said she was appointed clerk in 2010 to fill out the term of the previous clerk, which ended in 2012.

“I just heard about it, and I thought it would be great,” she said.

She ran on her own in 2012 and was elected to her first four-year term.

Salmela said she had previous experience which would help her do the clerk’s job, including doing payroll for Wonder Bread in Davenport, Iowa, and doing billing at what was then Keweenaw Memorial Hospital, now Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital.

She keeps running for the township clerk position because she enjoys it very much, Salmela said.

“I love everything about it,” she said.

She even loves what may be the most difficult job for a clerk, Salmela said.

“I live to do elections,” she said. “I think it’s my calling in life.”

The number of township voters who go to the polls depends on the election, Salmela said, and she expects a good turnout for the November general election.

“This will be huge,” she said.

She acts as a trainer for polling place workers before elections for the township’s four precincts, Salmela said.

Although she’s the only candidate to file for the clerk position as of Thursday, Salmela said she does think about losing the election.

“That’s always a worry,” she said. “Every four years, you kind of cringe.”

The deadline to file for any position in the Aug. 2 primary is April 19.

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