Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Becky Stoltz wins H-M-S District 2 write-in campaign
A voter casts his ballot Tuesday at the Hartley Community Center.
The only contested race on local ballots had a photo finish Tuesday.
Incumbent Hartley City Council members Mary Westphalen and Ron Hengeveld, along with newcomer Nick Galm, won the three open seats on the ballot. They edged Greg Cotter and incumbent Council Member Brian Myers to secure four-year terms.
Incumbent Mayor Rodney Ahrenstorff was unopposed on Tuesday's ballot and won re-election. Unofficial vote totals for the five council candidates were: Westphalen, 194 (26.3 percent); Hengeveld, 156 (21.1 percent); Galm, 150 (20.3 percent); Cotter, 145 (19.7 percent); and Myers, 86 (11.7 percent). There were also seven write-in votes.
In the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school board election, both District 3 incumbent Chad Lyman and District 5 incumbent Scott Vollink won re-election. Both were unopposed, however, Andy Schierholz, of rural Hartley, received 50 write-in votes for the District 5 seat.
The open H-M-S District 2 seat went to write-in candidate Becky Stoltz, of Hartley, with 229 votes. Laura Lux, of Hartley, also stepped forward as a write-in candidate last week and received 38 votes. Nobody filed nomination papers for the District 2 seat, which is currently held by Dave Vander Broek.
In Everly, newcomers Denise Cook and Jeff Wiemann won city council seats along with incumbent Council Member Tracey Grigg-Schuver. All three ran unopposed. There were no candidates for mayor, however, Ron Thompson won his write-in campaign with 45 votes. Current Council Member Tara Patrick also received 10 votes, and there was a scattering of 16 others.
Royal incumbent Mayor Josh Toft was re-elected and newcomers Sara Ricke and Mitch Fahnlander also won council seats. All three were unopposed.
At Clay Central/Everly, incumbent board members Allison Goyette and Denny Dalen were unopposed and won re-election. District 5 was open, as current Board Member Steve Kracht did not run again. Barb Trierweiler received 4 write-in votes while Kracht received 2. There was a scattering of 11 other write-ins for the seat.
