Second District Linn County Commission candidate Alison Hamilton will be the third woman to serve on the commission when she is sworn in in January. Incumbent Commissioner Jim Johnson will retain his 3rd District. Both candidates easily won over write-in challengers. (Journal file photos)
By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – There were few surprises on the outcome of major races after two Linn County Commissioners with the help of Public Works Administrator Shaun West canvassed the vote on Monday, Nov. 18. However, there are township races that still have not been decided.
The Republican presidential ticket of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance received 81% of the vote compared to the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who received nearly 17% of the votes. Across Kansas, the Trump ticket received 57% of the votes compared to 41% for Harris, according to the state Secretary of State’s office, which is still only showing unofficial results.
Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver received just 13 votes in Linn County and 1% across the state. Independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. received just over 1% of Linn County votes and 1% across the state.
Republican Derek Schmidt received nearly 78% of the ballots in the race for 2nd District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrat Nancy Boyda received almost 19%, and Libertarian John Hauer received less than 4%. Districtwide, Schmidt received 57% of the vote.
Parker Republican Caryn Tyson received nearly 87% of Linn County votes to be re-elected to the 12th District state senate seat, compared to less than 14% for Libertarian Cullene Lang. Districtwide, Tyson received 81% of the votes.
La Cygne Republican Rick James in his bid to be elected to the 4th District seat in the state House of Representatives received almost 98% of votes from Linn County voters. Across the district – which includes most of Linn County and northern Bourbon County – he received about 97% of the votes.
State Rep. Fred Gardner, who represents the Parker area and portions of three other counties in the Kansas House, also received 98% from Linn County voters.
Write-in bids to win county commission seats in both the 2nd and 3rd Districts fell far short.
Pleasanton Republican Alison Hamilton faced opposition from the opponents who lost to her in the August primary for the 2nd District commission seat. Hamilton received nearly 74% of the vote compared to 26% going to write-ins. Write-in candidate Vicki Leonard, a former commissioner, received 206 of the 383 write-in votes, and Rod Earnest receive 153 votes.
In the 3rd District commission race, incumbent Jim Johnson received 82% of the vote, and nearly 18% of the ballots had write-in candidates. Reina Kratzberg, who mounted a write-in campaign in October, received 208 of the 278 write-in votes that were cast.
Unopposed Republican candidates for other county offices – County Clerk David Lamb, Register of Deeds Kristy Schmitz, Justin Meeks for county attorney, Joannie Reed for county treasurer, and James Akes for sheriff – received more than 98% of the votes across the board.
In the township races, all of the candidates that were on the ballot won handily. That included trustee candidates Polly Ann Yates, Blue Mound; Karen Whitcomb, Centerville; Cheri Dunlop, Liberty; Mike Van Vlack, Lincoln; Gary Schmitz, Mound City; Tel-lea Cox, Potosi; Carmen Self, Paris; and Ann Garrett, Valley.
In races for township treasurer, all declared candidates received as much as 99% of the vote.
That included Brenda Beth, Blue Mound; Brenda Conner, Centerville; Barbara Hines, Liberty; Mendi Cyr, Lincoln; Carol Wood, Mound City; Steve Ellis, Potosi; Jean Peterson, Paris; and Wayne Cox, Valley.
There were no declared candidates for either the trustee or treasurer posts for Scott, Sheridan, and Staton townships. Those races have yet to be decided, according to County Clerk Lamb.
“We have Township races in three townships that were all write-ins,” Lamb wrote in an email on Wednesday. “Most of them are tied between multiple people. We will have to break the ties on Monday (Nov. 25).”
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