Incumbents win Newton city, school elections
In Newton elections Nov. 2, incumbents were able to retain their seats on the city commission and the USD 373 Board of Education — winning five of six seats open between the two elections.
In the Newton commission race, incumebts ruled the night. Leroy Koehn (1,383) and Rod Kreie (1,224) each picked up a four-year term on the commission. Kathy Valentine (989) held off Lance Gormley (922) for the two-year term. Challengers Rebecca Barrett-Fox (832) and Eric Thompson (338) rounded out the race.
Early returns showed Leroy Koehn (412), Rebecca Barrett-Fox (364), Kathy Valentine (334) and Rod Kreie (333) opened up leads over Lance Gormley (254) and Eric Thompson (123) during mail and advance voting tallies.
In the Newton USD 373 Board of Education race it appeared incumbent Andy Ortiz (963, 27 percent of precincts reporting) would run away with the race early, paced by incumbent Dayna Steinmetz (802).
Both would earn terms on the board, Ortiz winning overall with 1,773 votes. Steinmetz finished second overall with 1,512 votes. The third seat went to Brenna Haines (1,458). Laura Garvin (1,019), Morgan Simmerling (1,015) and Reachel McLoud (760) rounded out the field.
In North Newton Dennis Campbell and Gregg A. Dick were tied (113) ahead of Ray Penner (98) and Mark Jenkins (88) following advance and mail ballot counts. Campbell (314) and Dick (290) parlayed that early lead into wins. The third seat went to Mark Jenkins (280) held off Ray Penner (260) for the third seat.
A look around the county city races
In Burrton there were two city elections, and everyone on the ballot was elected. Incumbent Rodney Redinger was unopposed for the Mayor's seat. In the city council race there were three seats open — only Joshua Greenhaw and Greg Robinson filed.
In Halstead Joseph Bryant Jr. (180) lost to incumbent Dennis Travis (194) -for the mayoral seat. In the city council race four candidates were vying for three seats — Josh Homewood (294) and Brody Flavin (237) picked up four-year terms. incumbent Michael Wallace (193) just beat out Incumbent Samuel G. Farmer (182) for a two year term. In 2019 Flavin missed a seat on the council by just three votes.
The Hesston race for mayor saw David Kauffman unopposed on the ballot. For city council, Brad Unruh (528) and Michael Wallace (393) finished ahead of Jason Jones (330) for the two open seats of the council.
The city council race was contested — three candidates for two seats. Jason Jones, Brad Unruh, Michael Wallace, Josh Homewood
In Sedgwick A. Bryan Champman left the mail and advance voting counts with an 11-1 lead over Shannon D. Catlin. He would not relinquish that lead, winning 213-30.
In the Sedgwick Council race voters needed to select two candidates — Daniel R. Hartman (144) and Kramer Siemens (134) defeated Randi Toliin (111).
In Walton Barry Wentz will again be mayor, running unopposed in the election. Reece Hiebert and Jessica Williams were the only candidates filed for two open seats on the Walton City council.
A look around the county school races
In the Burrton USD 369 Board of Education Race Anthony J. Schmitt (6), William J. Klein (6), Jonie Embree-Meinders (3) and Karl Matlack (3) were vying for three seats.
In Halstead 440, Joy Hoofer and Thomas Wise each ran unopposed for a seat on the board of education. Matthew Ayres (124) faced off against Tim Boese (282) in a contested race.
The Hesston 460 Board of Education race saw Layne Frick (555), Sara Jantz (518) and Susan Rostetter (532) won the three seats available. Zackerie Leford (416) fell just short.
For Goessel USD 411, where each of the three open seats were elected in separate elections, each seat had only one candidate file. Ben Schrage, Kelly Booton and Patrick Flaming will earn seats on the board.
In the Moundridge race — which is a school district split by county lines — Craig Galle (32), Rick Kohl (24), Ryan Koehn (19) and Brad Jantz (15) competed in the Harvey County portion of the voting. Three seats will be awarded.
In the Peabody Burns USD 398 race, Hannah B. Bourbon, Tiana Gaines and Mollie Partridge were the only candidates filed for the three open seats.
Sedgwick, also split by a county line, featured one contested seat for the board of education. Bryan Thompson (187) outpaced Dwight Wilkes (82) in Harvey County. Travis Francis ran unopposed for a seat, as did Beth Fields and Paulette Ware.
One other election
There was a Little Arkansas River Drainage District election Tuesday — David Friesen, Kent Mayfield and San Nikkel each earned a seat as the only filers for openings
Next on the calendar
County vote canvassing by the Harvey County Commission will be at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 9 in the community room of the Harvey County Courthouse. There are 50 Total provisional ballots to be canvassed
This article originally appeared on The Kansan: City, school elections hosted Nov. 2
