Columbus, OH – Twenty U.S. Trotting Association membership director seats are scheduled for election on Tuesday, December 8, 2026. USTA members interested in seeking election to the Board of Directors may declare their candidacy by filing a written nomination petition with the USTA.
Petitions must be signed by at least 25 current USTA members in good standing from the district the candidate seeks to represent.
The deadline to file a nomination petition is Thursday, October 1, 2026.
Petitions may be submitted by email or postal mail. Petitions sent by postal mail must be sent by registered mail, return receipt requested, and will be considered filed as of the postmark date. Petitions submitted by any other method will be considered filed when they are received by the USTA office.
To be eligible for election, a candidate must be an individual member in good standing of the USTA. If elected, the director must maintain membership in good standing throughout the three-year term of office.
The director seats up for election are:
• District 1 – Roy Burns, Steve McCoy, Dr. John Mossbarger
• District 2A/2B – Sam Hedington (2B), Steve Oldford (2A), Cathy Webb (2B)
• District 3 – Sal DiMario
• District 4B – Cathy Dessert
• District 5 – Open seat*
• District 6A/6B – Dr. Andy Roberts (6B), Dein Spriggs (at-large)
• District 7 – Russell Williams
• District 8 – Mark Ford, Mike Torcello
• District 8A – Mark Loewe, Jordan Stratton
• District 9 – George Ducharme
• District 11 – Dan Bittle, Corey Callahan
• District 12 – Jeff Gregory
- The District 5 seat is open following Casey Leonard’s decision not to seek re-election.
To see which states are included in each district, click here. The at-large seat in District 6A/6B represents all states comprising Districts 6A and 6B.
The official USTA Director Nomination Petition is available here .
For questions or additional information, contact USTA Corporate Secretary Michele Kopiec at 614.224.2291, ext. 3294, or michele.kopiec@ustrotting.com.