Box Butte County saw an unusually high turnout for the midterm election on Nov. 8, with a total of 3,369 ballots cast, giving the county a 46.03 percent turnout rate, according to the unofficial results released on election night.
“Everything went wonderfully,” said Box Butte County Clerk Judy Messersmith. “We had more provisional ballots than normal due to people moving within the county, so that took a little longer to count those.
“We had an enormous amount of ballots, because it was two pages, and we haven’t had two pages for years,” said Messersmith. “It was busier than I think I’ve ever had a midterm election. I don’t recall ever having that many people vote for an election that wasn’t the President. So that’s an indication of what we might be expecting in two years.”
Messersmith said the Secretary of State implemented some changes this year for the election, which added to the time it took to count the ballots.
“One of the changes was the Secretary of State made all 93 counties hand count a precinct,” Messersmith said. “Then they randomly picked other counties, so Box Butte County got picked for two. So we hand counted two precincts, and that was done on Friday, on Veterans Day. It didn’t change anything. It was to just verify the counts and everything, so that worked out well. That was something new this year across the entire state.”
This year, each precinct saw new poll workers, Messersmith explained. She said she was grateful for all of their help in making this election run smoothly.
“It will run even more smoothly with the new County Clerk (Martie Burke) coming in because she’s so efficient,” said Messersmith. “We’re really grateful when young people come back to our county like that. We’re fortunate to have young people step up and have these kind of county offices.”
She noted that none of the races were close enough to trigger a mandatory recount. The state will certify the election results in December.
Official results for Box Butte County were not available as of press time. The following are the unofficial official results issued by the Box Butte County Clerk’s Office on election night:
Local/Regional Races:
Public Service Commission
Kevin Stocker 2,754
Write in Totals 39
Clerk of the District Court
Rep Kevin Horn 2,964
Write in Totals 46
County Assessor
Rep Michelle Robinson 2,837
Write in Totals 44
County Attorney
Rep Marissa Curtiss 2,864
Write in Totals 55
County Clerk
Rep Martie Burke 2,957
Write in Totals 26
County Commissioner
Rep Brett Ditsch 2,127
Rep Michael E. McGinnis 1,817
Dem Trish Johnston 1,301
Write in Totals 17
County Sheriff
Rep Tammy Mowry 2,992
Write in Totals 36
County Surveyor
Write in Totals 144
County Treasurer
Rep Valery Bell 2,950
Write in Totals 32
Public Defender
Rep Enet Somers-Dehaney 2,707
Write in Totals 23
Member of the State Board of Education
Elizabeth Tegtmeier 1,870
Robin Stevens 867
Write in Totals 11
Board of Regents
Kathy Wilmot 1,521
Matt Williams 1,208
Write in Totals 16
WNCC Board of Governors
Allan D. Kreman 2,441
Write in Totals 24
Upper Niobrara White NRD Subdistrict 1
Kevin Oligmueller 2,818
Write in Totals 12
Upper Niobrara White NRD Subdistrict 2
Mike Strasburger 2,602
Write in Totals 13
Upper Niobrara White NRD Subdistrict 3
David E. Kadlecek 2,510
Write in Totals 11
Upper Niobrara White NRD Subdistrict 4
Write in Totals 389
Upper Niobrara White NRD Subdistrict 5
Nancy Fisher 2,490
Write in Totals 13
Upper Niobrara White NRD At Large
Steven M. Sandberg 2,528
Write in Totals 14
ESU No. 13
Timothy C. Horn 1,131
Write in Totals 8
District 6 School Board Member
Edison Red Nest III 1,905
Tim Richey 1,713
Tim Kollars 1,646
Write in Totals 64
District 10 School Board Member Ward A
Micki Votruba 325
Troy A. Turek 250
Write in Totals 2
District 10 School Board Member Ward B
Justin Ansley 362
Joe Prochazka 216
Write in Totals 2
District 10 School Board Member Ward C
Blanche Randolph 514
Write in Totals 8
District 63 School Board Member
Jeffrey A. Pohl 4
James C. Lapaseotes 4
Justin Corman 2
Write in Totals 0
Member of Alliance City Council
Mara Andersen 1,510
Tearza L. Mashburn 1,282
Mike Dafney 1,245
Russell Saito 897
Evan F. Mehne 499
Write in Totals 34
Hemingford Village Board of Trustees
Will Mahony 215
Riki Hunter 193
Write in Totals 5
Statewide Races:
Rep in Congress
Rep Adrian Smith 2,523
Dem David J. Else 540
Lmn Mark Elworth Jr. 199
Write in Totals 4
Governor and Lt. Governor
Rep Jim Pillen and Joe Kelly 2,437
Dem Carol Blood and Al Davis 754
Lib Scott Zimmerman and Jason Blumenthal 116
Write in Totals 24
Secretary of State
Rep Bob Evnen 2,826
Write in Totals 41
State Treasurer
Rep John Murante 2,514
Lib Katrina Tomsen 624
Write in Totals 3
Attorney General
Rep Mike Hilgers 2,681
Lmn Larry Bolinger 497
Write in Totals 10
Auditor of Public Accounts
Rep Mike Foley 2,527
Lmn L. Leroy Lopez 335
Lib Gene Siadek 295
Write in Totals 3
Judicial Retention
Retain Judge Heavican
Yes 2,036
No 676
Retain Judge Freudenberg
Yes 2,001
No 690
Retain Judge Moore
Yes 1,966
No 668
Retain Judge Fridrich
Yes 1,961
No 677
Retain Judge Coe
Yes 1,948
No 681
Retain Judge Hoffert
Yes 1,941
No 677
Retain Judge Dobrovolny
Yes 2,316
No 550
Retain Judge Wess
Yes 2,084
No 637
Retain Judge Roland
Yes 1,984
No 667
Amendments and Initiatives:
Proposed Amendment No. 1
For 2,607
Against 511
Initiative Measure 432
For 2,587
Against 680
Initiative Measure 433
For 1,823
Against 1,452