Area election results

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Thirteen incorporated communities across Fayette County held city elections on Tuesday, Nov. 7. All those elected or re-elected will take office as of Jan. 1, 2018. 

There were no surprises in West Union. The candidates running for the mayoral position and two city council seats were running unopposed, and all three were elected. 

Adam Keller is the new mayor of West Union. Taking over for Kent Halverson, he was elected with 177 votes against 36 write-in votes among a scattering of different people. Isaiah Stansbery received 165 votes for his at-large council seat to 29 write-in votes. Neal Bentley will be a newcomer to city government, winning Ward 1 with 81 votes. He takes Keller’s seat as Keller moves to mayor. 

West Union also had a public measure on the ballot. The Hotel-Motel Tax, which is a tax that is placed on the bills of patrons of the motel in town, passed 184 to 34. 

In total, 219 of the 1,420 registered voters (15 percent) in West Union voted on Tuesday. 

In Arlington, incumbent mayor Don Handel was re-elected with 25 votes, while incumbent City Councilmen Lyle Meisner and Christopher Henry each received 25 votes. Alan Schaffer was elected to fill a vacancy on the council with 26 votes. In Arlington, 27 of the 239 registered voters (11 percent) cast ballots in the local election. 

Clermont had a bit of a surprise when write-in candidate Roger Craig won election to the city council. Craig campaigned door-to-door the weekend before the election to drum up the 80 votes he received. Incumbents Sharon Harris and Bruce Lehmann were re-elected to the city council with 78 and 121 votes, respectively. Jim Matt was also re-elected as mayor with 121 votes. Incumbent William Ashby was not re-elected, having received only 46 votes. Also receiving votes was Randy Wiedenhoff with 14. On Tuesday, 132 of the 396 registered voters (33 percent) in town participated in the election. 

Elgin also has a new city council member. Aimee Hilgerson was the top vote-getter in the city election with 100 votes, while incumbent Jim Knobloch was re-elected with 72 votes. In an election in which city residents were to vote for two councilmembers, incumbent Sara Strong received 52 votes. William Pfister Jr. was re-elected as mayor with 91 votes. In Elgin, 124 of the 404 registered voters (31 percent) exercised their right to vote on Tuesday. 

Fayette was one of the more highly contested city council races with all five seats up for grabs. In an election in which residents were asked to vote for five candidates, challenger Matt Cowley — who had been on the council in the past — received the most votes with 170. The other four elected to the council were incumbents Nancy Wulfekuhle (141), Amy Tucker (135), Curtis Larson (112), and Patricia Nefzger (107). Incumbent Tiffany Kragnes’ re-election bid failed by two votes (105), and challenger Tiffany Stouffer received 90 votes. Mayor Andrew Wenthe was re-elected with 154 votes. In Fayette, 203 of the 799 registered voters (25 percent) participated in the election. 

Hawkeye has a new city councilman with Joshua Hanson receiving 77 votes. Incumbent John Campbell was re-elected to the council with 91 votes. Incumbent mayor Donald Kelly won re-election by nine votes over Jeremy Eickhoff, 65-56. The final of the three council seats open was won by incumbent Terry Buenzow by one vote over challenger Brent Ungerer, 63-62; Keith Kovarik received 52 votes. Of the 257 registered voters (47 percent) in the city, 122 turned out to the polls on Tuesday. 

Maynard saw all five candidates running unopposed in the mayoral and city council races be elected. Dan Howard will serve another term as mayor after receiving 40 votes. Incumbents Kelly Beacom (43), Rick Howard (40), Richard Scheffel (40) and Jennifer Conner (44) were also re-elected. In Maynard, 47 of the 312 registered voters (15 percent) participated in the election process. 

Oelwein saw Peggy Lee Sherrets re-elected to another term as mayor with 248 votes; newcomers Matthew Derifield and D. Warren Fisk were elected to the city council with 265 and 44 votes, respectively, and incumbent Renee Cantrell was re-elected to the city council with 92 votes. In Oelwein, 288 of the 3489 registered voters (8 percent) turned out to the polls.

Randalia held the smallest city election of any in Fayette County. With only 37 registered voters in the city, Mark Amos won re-election as mayor with 14 votes. Newcomer Guadalupe Jensen (15) and incumbent Shane Prochaska (13) will be on the city council. While the town might not have very many registered voters, 15 (41 percent) of them did head to their local polling location on Tuesday. 

In St. Lucas, incumbent mayor James Rausch won re-election with 38 votes, staving off a late push by write-in candidate Eric Dietzenbach, who received 24 votes. Incumbent city council member Janet Kuennen won re-election with 28 votes, the most of any city council candidate. Write-in candidate David Goerend (26) defeated incumbent Wilma Meyer (23) by three votes for her seat on the city council. Write-in candidate Terry Costigan also had 15 votes. St. Lucas had 69 of the 114 registered voters (61 percent) participate in this year’s election. 

Wadena won’t see any changes to its city government. Jared Kent was re-elected mayor with 47 votes while incumbent city council members Ronald Aylsworth and Loree Moyle received 40 and 36 votes, respectively. Challenger Brandi Jo Durnan had 14 votes. In Wadena, 47 of the 147 registered voters (32 percent) went to the polls. 

Waucoma had all six city government positions up for grabs on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Incumbent mayor David Klimesh was re-elected with 28 votes. Incumbent city council members Nick Lauer (33), Mark Schmitt (31) and Faye Winter (31) were all re-elected. With only three candidates on the ballot for five city council seats, write-in candidates Kevin Kleve (15) and Ben Schmitt (8) will be joining the city government. In Waucoma, 36 of the 137 registered voters (26 percent) cast ballots in this year’s election. 

Finally, Westgate has an intriguing race. With a vacancy on its council, four write-in candidates — Savannah Dudley, Bob Belden, Bev Bushaw, and Bill Smith — each received two votes for the position. The Fayette County Supervisors drew a name out of a hat at their regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 13. Bob Belden was the first name they drew; however, he refused the position. Savannah Dudley’s name was then drawn and she accepted. Incumbent mayor Gene Rubendall was re-elected with 30 votes while incumbent Harvey Richards and newcomer Mike Rover were elected to the city council with 37 and 30 votes, respectively. In Westgate, 39 of the 115 registered voters (34 percent) went to the polls.