Dimmitt defeats Hamilton in supervisor race

FAIRFIELD – Lee Dimmitt will resume his role as a Jefferson County Supervisor after defeating incumbent Daryn Hamilton Tuesday.

Dimmitt, a Republican who served on the board for 12 years before stepping down at the end of 2020, received just over 51 percent of the votes cast in the race with 3,402 compared to Hamilton’s 3,153.

Dimmitt said that, as he learned of the results coming in at the Jefferson County Courthouse, he found himself in a 1,154-vote hole as the absentee ballots were tabulated first. However, he wasn’t worried, because he had been in the same position six years ago when he ran against Democratic challenger Margaret Dwyer, who had a similarly large lead after the absentee ballots were counted.

“It was familiar territory,” Dimmitt said. “The main difference this time was that Daryn was an incumbent, but Marg was not.”

Dimmitt said he felt confident about winning the townships and outlying towns in the county, perhaps with the exception of Maharishi Vedic City, he said. As more returns came in, Dimmitt could see that Republican candidates like Chuck Grassley were performing well, and he saw that as a good sign for Republican turnout, and for his chances of victory, too.

Hamilton thanked his supporters for putting their confidence in him to continue doing the job he started four years ago when he was elected to the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors. He thanked Dimmitt for running a good campaign, too.

“I hope he’s able to accomplish what he’s promised over the last three or four months when he takes office,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton thanked his fellow supervisors Susie Drish and Dee Sandquist, who he enjoyed working with. He said he was proud of having secured $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan funds for the county, the last payment for which just came in this week.

Before his tenure as a supervisor, Hamilton served on the Fairfield City Council. He said that, after 20 years in politics, he’s ready to hang up his spurs.

“I ran my last race,” he said. “I feel it’s time for some new blood.”

Dimmitt said that he’s excited to return to his role as a supervisor, and has many things he’d like to accomplish. He said one of the issues that came up often during this campaign was the supervisors’ decision to purchase the former First National Bank Building and turn it into county offices. Though it was paid for using federal dollars, Dimmitt said he did not think it was a wise decision, and hopes to convince the other supervisors to sell the building. He said the county doesn’t need a new building for its space needs, because it can move filing cabinets from the courthouse into the former Fairfield Clinic building.

Dimmitt said he wants the supervisors’ meetings to be a bit more casual than they’ve become, so the public feels they can ask questions during board discussions instead of having to wait for a designated public comment time.

Dimmitt hopes to be able to secure a county-run ambulance service just like neighboring counties have. He also wants to end the rift between the county and the city of Fairfield over how to pay for 911 dispatchers.

“I’ve got some ideas, and I think we can solve the issue,” he said. “I think we can work with the city to get our relationship back on track.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com