There were very few locally contested races during Tuesday’s General Election. One of the most watched in this area, was in Audubon County, where Sheriff Todd Johnson, a Republican, was re-elected to office, after defeating his challenger, Democrat Blake Asberry. Unofficial results show Johnson garnered 2,374 votes to Asberry’s 1,080. Another race in Audubon County, was for the Board of Supervisor’s, where four men were running for two open seats on the Board. Republican Todd M. Nelson received the most votes, at 1,817. The unofficial tally shows fellow Republican Duane Deist narrowly defeated Democrat Kent Grabill to take the other seat. Deist had 1,550 votes to Grabill’s 1,542. Those numbers aren’t official, however, and the actual race between the second and third-place finisher may change, because, according to the Auditor’s office, 43-absentee ballots remain in the mail system, and two provisional ballots will need to be examined by the absentee board. The board is set to meet at 10:00 a.m.  Friday to count the ballots that are received between now and November 9^th. They will also verify the post mark meets the cut-off deadline to be eligible for the count. The final results in Audubon County may not be known for nearly a week.

In Shelby County four people ran for two seats on the Board of Supervisors. Two Republicans, newcomers Charles Parkhurst and Steve Kenkel, defeated their Democrat challengers Jerry Hensheid and LaVon Christensen to earn a spot at the table. Kenkel had the most votes, at 4,191. Parkhurst had the second-highest total, at 3,282. Henschied garnered just over 2,000 votes, while Christensen barely cracked 1,780.

And, Iowa State Representative Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, defeated challenger Kasey Friedrichsen, a Democrat, 64-35 percent. Schultz represents the new District 18, which covers all of Shelby County and portions of Harrison and Crawford counties.

In Pottawattamie County, incumbent Republican Supervisor’s Lynne Grobe and Melvyn Houser easily defeated Brian Lund, who was nominated by petition. And, former deputy and acting Pottawattamie County Treasurer Lea Voss, a Republican, held-off a challenge from Democrat Paula Danker, to remain in office. Voss, who was selected as the acting treasurer after the death of long-time Treasurer Judy Miller, beat Danker by 21,608 votes to 17,915.

In Adams County, Democrat Merlin Dixson beat Republican Jerry Peckham, to take a single seat available on the Board of Supervisors in District 2. Also, Republican Becky Bissell defeated Democrat and Nominated By Petition challengers, and will take the title of Treasurer.

In Guthrie County, Democrat Jerome F. Caraher easily captured the one open seat on the Board of Supervisors in District 1, 585 to 454. And, in District 5, Republican Mike Dixson defeated Democratic challenger David Guisinger, 593 to 507.

The results will not be final, until the all the votes are canvassed.