Marcus Miller and Craig Dunstan move onto general election ballot in Topeka's District 6

Marcus D.L. Miller said he felt honored to have received the most votes, 436, in Tuesday's primary election for west-central Topeka's District 6 seat on the Topeka City Council.

"I'm humbled, and ready to keep going," Miller said.

Craig Dunstan said he felt pleased to have gotten 227 votes to place second and earn a spot on the Nov. 7 general election ballot for that seat but acknowledged he faces a big challenge.

"I think we'll probably do better in the general election — well, we've got to — but now the work begins," he said.

Miller and Dunstan outpaced Zachary Surritt, who received 143 votes, and Bob Beers, who got 85, said final, unofficial results released about 7:45 p.m. by Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell's office.

Tuesday's nonpartisan primary was held to narrow the number of candidates to two in District 6, where Councilwoman Hannah Naeger chose not to seek re-election.

Top vote-getter says he started late on the campaign trail

Miller, 39, is executive director of First Tee — Greater Topeka and president of the Shawnee County Police Athletic League.

Dunstan, 61, is a fifth-generation Kansan who has lived in Topeka most of the past 40 years and works as a computer software engineer.

Miller said he felt particularly pleased about the outcome of Tuesday's election, considering that he "kind of got started late on the campaign trail" and didn't start canvassing votes until last month.

"I'm glad that people came out and did their civic duty and voted," he said.

Voter turnout was 9.6% in Topeka primary election

Among Shawnee County residents, only voters in District 6 could cast ballots in Tuesday's election.

Miller and Dunstan said they wished voter turnout had been better.

Ballots were cast in Tuesday's election by 9.6% of eligible voters, Howell said.

That was just under the 9.7% who voted in Shawnee County in the August 2021 municipal and school board primary.

"I knew this would be a hard election to get people out to vote for, because we were the only election in town," Dunstan said. "It's hard to get people interested in just one district race."

Shawnee County's record low turnout for a municipal and school board primary is 4.4%, set on Feb. 26, 2013, a day that brought wintry weather to this area.

Lawmakers later moved municipal and school board primary elections to August.

Candidates were surprised at how quickly results were available

Dunstan, who identifies himself as being politically conservative, said he and Miller held their campaign watch parties Tuesday at Henry T's, 1521 S.W. 21st.

Both expressed surprise at how quickly final, unofficial voting results were available.

Howell said that happened in part because only 10 polling places were open for Tuesday's election.

"It was much quicker to upload 10 media sticks with only 10 polling places than it otherwise would be," he said. "It's a scale issue. When I have 95 polling places, it simply takes longer."

The quick results also came in part because the polling places in District 6 are fairly close to the election office location at 3420 S.W. Van Buren, reducing travel time for poll workers, Howell said.

Getting results back to that office takes longer if ballots are being cast in, for example, Auburn or Rossville, he said.

Additionally, Howell said, the election office doesn't see as many reporting requirements in municipal or school board elections as it does for other elections.

Here's more about the District 6 candidates

Miller has raised the most money so far among candidates in District 6, according to campaign finance reports made public last week.

Dunstan was third among the four District 6 candidates in fundraising. He said he didn't spend much time soliciting contributions because he was "busy knocking on doors."

Surritt, 25, is business development and marketing director for R&S Maintenance Services and former student body president at Washburn University.

Beers, 72, is an Elmhurst neighborhood resident who — while serving as a Nevada state assemblyman — was nominated for the JFK Profile in Courage award given out by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Results revealed in Topeka City Council District 6 primary election