Primary Election sees new county supervisors elected

Published by admin on Fri, 06/12/2020 - 8:35am

Voters came out on June 2 to vote in the Primary Election. Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, public safety measures were put in place to protect the poll workers and the voting public. Plexiglass partitions were installed in front of each worker. They also wore gloves and face shields the entire time. There were stickers on the floor to keep voters 6 feet apart for social distancing. (Photos by Kim Brooks)

Precinct official Anne Strittmatter reads a voter’s driver’s license as its held up against the plexiglass partition. This primary saw the highest voter turnout in both absentee ballots and in-person voting.
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Staff report

     Last Tuesday’s Primary Election in Iowa saw record turnout in the form of absentee ballots and in-person voting.

     Iowa’s Secretary of State, Paul Pate, said the June 2 election broke primary records after more than 500,000 voters cast their ballots.

     “The credit goes to Iowa voters, poll workers, and county auditors,” Pate said. “Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and protests going on across the state, Iowans made their voices heard in record numbers. I am so proud of everyone who participated and the people behind the scenes in all 99 counties that made it happen. I also want to thank Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the Iowa National Guard for delivering masks, gloves and hand sanitizer to the counties so Iowans could vote safely at the polls.”

     The previous high for a June primary was set in 1994 when 449,490 Iowans voted.

     Every county also conducted post-election audits in randomly selected precincts to help ensure the integrity of the vote. All results remain unofficial until canvassing is completed, and the results are certified later this month. The Jones County Supervisors will canvass results prior to their board meeting on June 9.

     The primary results saw some changes in Jones County, as voters saw two Republican races for Jones County Supervisor in Districts 1 and 5. John Schlarmann won District 1 and Jeff Swisher won District 5, both beating the incumbents.

     Schlarmann secured 1,063 votes (54.10 percent) to Supervisor Wayne Manternach’s 899 (45.75 percent).

     Swisher secured 1,541 votes (81.11 percent) to Supervisor Lloyd Eaken’s 357 votes (18.79 percent).

     In other county races:

     • Whitney Hein, Republican, running unopposed for County Auditor, received 1,668 votes. There were 32 write-ins.

     • Greg Graver, Republican, running for re-election for Sheriff, received 1,917 votes. There were 13 write-ins.

     • Joe Oswald, Democrat, was running for re-election for County Supervisor in District 1. Oswald ran unopposed. He received 1,247 votes.

     In state races:

     • Sen. Dan Zumbach, Republican, District 48, ran for re-election unopposed. He received 4,750 votes.

     • Rep. Lee Hein, Republican, District 96, ran for re-election. He received 2,396 votes.

     Hein’s opponent in the Nov. 3 election, Democrat Everett Chase, received 1,525 votes.

     • Rep. Andy McKean, Democrat, District 58, ran for re-election. He received 3,249.

     McKean’s opponent in November, Republican Steven Bradley, received 2,796 votes.

     In congressional races:

     • Sen. Joni Ernst, Republican, received 223,700 votes in her run for re-election. Her opponent in November will be Democrat Theresa Greenfield, who secured 130,117 votes.

     The Democratic field for U.S. Senate had five candidates. The top three were Greenfield, Michael Franken with 68,080 votes, and Kimbery Graham with 40,833 votes.

     • Rep. Abby Finkenauer, Democrat, U.S. Representative District 1, received 71,786 votes in her run for re-election. Her opponent in November will be Republican Ashley Hinson, who received 38,274 votes.

     Hinson beat out Republic Thomas Hansen, who had 10,748 votes.

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