Bryant & Kerr re-elected to Stockton City Commission

The 2023 General Election for cities/schools in Rooks County was held last Tuesday, November 7.

Due to the large number of write-in votes, Rooks County election officer Laurie Montgomery provided a complete list of the results on Thursday afternoon, November 9.

“I can’t remember an election where so many write-ins,” said Montgomery.

“We counted a total of 469 write-in votes,” she continued.

Counting votes (excluding write-ins) ran close to 10:00 p.m. Tuesday evening last week. Initially, Montgomery thought the write-ins would be available by 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 8.

Rooks County had a 27.35% voter turnout with 1,001 of the county’s registered voters casting a ballot. This total is just slightly less than the 29% voter turnout two years ago.

Stockton had 334 of 1,365 registered voters checking in for 24.47%, while Plainville had 514 of 1,527 for 33.66%.

Following the canvassing of votes on Monday morning, November 13, the following totals are now official.

Of interest locally were the two open seats on the Stockton City Commission. Incumbents Adam Bryant and Jesica Kerr were re-elected by a wide margin over Loren Trowbridge. Vote totals are as follows: Adam Bryant, 238; Jesica Kerr, 236; and Loren Trowbridge, 24.

Other contested races included the Plainville City Mayor’s race and the four At-Large positions on USD 270-Plainville.

Quentin Meyers was reelected as Mayor of Plainville, over Bret Greenwood, by a vote of 269 to 165.

Six individuals ran for the four At-Large open seats on the USD 270-Plainville Board of Education. Vote totals include Azarel Molina, 413; Lori Austin, 315; Marlene Whitney, 312; Cassandra Meyers, 289; Nathan Grebowiec, 252; and Lenee Horting, 222.

The remaining races listed were candidates who ran unopposed or were decided by write-ins.

Four individuals ran uncontested for four At-Large positions on the Stockton School Board. Vote totals are as follows: Jessica Maddy, 285; Michael Carpenter, 277; Ginger Riffel, 257; and Thelma Berland, 205.

For Woodston City Mayor, April Yakish received 11 votes.

For Woodston City Council (three positions), William Dibble received nine votes, followed by Thomas Yakish with 8, and write-in Charles O’Neil with 6.

For Plainville City Council (three positions), Ryan Weltmer received 307 votes, followed by Frank Austin with 283 and Matt Whitney with 268. Just prior to the election, Colton Wise decided to run as a write-in and received 96 votes.

For Palco City Council (three positions), Brandon Kuhn received 39 votes, followed by write-ins Jamilla Keller and Kyle Karlin with 11 and 6, respectively.

For Palco City Mayor, write-in Kyle Karlin received the most votes with 7, followed by write-ins John Keller with 6, Gregory Whisman 5, and Monte Keller with 4.

For Damar City Mayor—Brian Newell received 13 votes.

For Damar City Council (two positions), Tyler Normandin received 15 votes and Kenton Newell 13.

For Zurich City Mayor, Shane Maddox received 17 votes.

For Zurich City Council (two four-year positions), Stephanie Maddox received 15 votes and Jan M. Jones 12.

Getting the most votes for the three two-year positions on the Zurich City Council were Andrew Dopita, Shawn Clark, and KC Wilkerson, all write-ins, each receiving three votes apiece.

Regarding the two positions for Phillips-Rooks Extension District, write-ins Dana Pieper and Stephen Bigge received 18 and 15 votes, respectively. Sixty-three other individuals received write-in votes.

According to Rooks County Election Officer Laurie Montgomery, ties are broken by the county commissioners drawing a name from a hat. If the person drawn doesn’t accept the position, the particular board for which the position they are running, appoints a person to fill it. It doesn’t necessarily go to the person who received the same or the next highest number of votes.

A voting chart can be seen on Page 7A in this week’s edition of the Sentinel.