No surprises in Washington County municipal elections

After a series of contests with widely varying turnout and candidates to choose from, Washington County’s Nov. 2 city and school election results are in.

While some races were quiet re-elections, most were not, leaving most voters with a choice between candidates for at least one city official.

The unofficial results came in around 9:30 Tuesday night.

Washington

Washington was an outlier this election season, featuring a quiet race with no formal challengers to its incumbents, all of whom sought reelection. In fact, the city held its regular City Council meeting the same night, adjourning under an hour before polls closed at 8 p.m.

Mayor Jaron Rosien and Council Members Steve Gault, Fran Stigers and Elaine Moore all won another four years in their positions over virtually no opposition, with a total of 579 ballots cast.

Other city elections were more complicated.

Riverside

In Riverside, Councilpersons Tom Sexton and Kevin Mills, as well as Mayor Allen Schneider won in uncontested races, despite a write-in campaign evidenced by homemade yard signs around town. While write-ins garnered 25% of the vote, far more than normal in any election, the tally came in 20 votes short of a tie for the council seat.

The 2-year half-term seat was more competitive, but at the end of the night former Councilperson Kevin Kiene emerged with a plurality of votes, the final count coming in at 101 ballots, 48.1% of the race’s vote.

“I would like to thank every one that voted, especially the ones that voted for me, and all the poll workers that did 15-16 hour days to make this happen,” Kiene said. “I’ll be doing my homework and ready to hit the ground running for my first meeting.”

Kalona

The only city in Washington County without a mayoral race this year, Kalona saw four candidates competing for three city council seats.

The three victors: Incumbent Council Members Craig Spitzer, Joe Schmidt, and Henry Beisheim winning 276, 267, and 189 votes respectively, out of a total 855 votes cast.

“I’m thankful to be re-elected,” Schmidt said. “I’m certainly grateful for peoples’ support ... (I’m) looking forward to working with my fellow council members and Mayor Robe and keeping the progress going here in Kalona.”

Ainsworth

County officials called Ainsworth’s mayoral election for Incumbent Troy McCarthy, after a remarkably close 49-45 vote tally.

“I would just thank everybody that voted for me,” McCarthy said.

The city council race was less competitive, with current Council Members Timothy Bean and Jared Waters, as well as newcomer Devan Worthington-Bentley winning in uncontested races.

Wellman

In a landslide 139-11 decision, voters chose Incumbent Mayor Ryan Miller for another four years in office. The race was the only in the county with no write-ins.

“I appreciate the support and I’m looking forward to helping Wellman do some good things here in the next few years,” Miller said.

The city council race, meanwhile, saw uncontested wins for sitting Council Members Shannon McCain and Fern Bontrager.

Brighton

While Brighton Mayor Melvin Rich was re-elected in an uncontested race, the town’s city council members didn’t have it so easy.

Winning 36.87% and 24.58% of the vote respectively, David McArtor and Incumbent Rose Janes claimed the two available seats on the Brighton City Council, representing half of the four-person field.

“I’ve served on this city council for many years, and so I think the citizens all know me, and know that I will always represent them in a fair and honest manner,” Janes said. “I just want to thank them all for their votes.”

As a newcomer to the council, McArtor said he was excited to serve.

“I’m just here to serve the community, that’s the whole point of running for city council,” he said. “Hopefully, me being in there for four years will lead to good results so Brighton can go further in the future.”

Crawfordsville

Crawfordsville saw five candidates vying for three available city council seats. Of those, only one was an incumbent.

When the dust settled, Incumbent Sheila Baker came out on top with 33 votes. Candidates Jordan Hill and Tom Gerot also emerged victorious, with 31 and 30 votes, respectively.

Baker said she was pleased with the result.

“I'm thankful to those who placed a vote for me last night, their support in keeping on the council is highly appreciated,” she said. “Congratulations to everyone elected, I look forward to working with (them.)”

Hill expressed similar feelings.

“I really appreciate it and I’m looking forward to this opportunity of serving the community of Crawfordsville,” Hill said.

The mayoral race was an easier win for Mayor Craig Davey, who ran unopposed for another four years in the seat. Davey won 75% of the ballots cast Tuesday night, with the rest going to an array of write-in candidates.

West Chester

Former Council Member Vanessa Wasson is set to be the city’s newest mayor, after her unopposed campaign to replace current Mayor Steve Lippard, who declined to run again.

While no other candidates managed to get their names on the ballot before the September deadline, many seem to have successfully mounted write-in campaigns, with 68 write-in votes tallied Tuesday night, more than 62% of the votes.

Incumbent Council Members Ronald Carey and Justin Banks had their names on the ballot. Until the write-candidates are counted, it looks likely (but not guaranteed) that they’ll serve another two years.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com