V Hugh Lewis II/Jefferson Jimplecute
Marion County’s May 6 General Election saw only 9% of voters turned out to choose the next JISD School Board and City Alderman positions. A total of 571 ballots were cast.
Leah Cooper, who ran unopposed for JISD Board Trustee Place 4, received 458 votes.
The race for JISD Board Trustee Place 5 was between Rusty Mauldin and Douglas Hurst. Both were newcomers for the position as Kevin Godfrey resigned the position earlier this year. Mauldin came out on top with 312, or 59.77% of the vote. Hurst received 210, or 40.23%.
Mauldin and Cooper were sworn in at Tuesday nights JISD School Board meeting.
The City of Jefferson saw two three-way races for Alderman positions.
The Ward 1 Alderman race saw Charles “Bubba” Haggard come out on top with 126, or 62.07% of the vote. B.W. Brooks received 57, or 28.08% of the vote, and incumbent Jim Finstrom received 20, or 9.85%, of the ballots cast.
Ward 2 Alderman race was unopposed with Ray Hengst receiving 50 votes. The seat did not have an incumbent as the 2020 redistricting caused Alderman Richard Turner to no longer be residing in the ward. State law allows him to retain the seat however until the next election.
Ward 3 had the last three-way race, with incumbent Robin Moore retaining her seat on Council. Moore was also affected by redistricting, moving from Ward 2 to Ward 3. Moore received 37 votes. Rod Rodriguez received 26 votes, and Douglas Thompson received 17.
Marion County is now completely “wet” following voters in JP Pct. 1 approving the Local Option Liquor ballot. Several precincts were “dry,” or did not allow the sale of alcohol, and the effort spearheaded by Jeff Ellis changed that status. Voters approved the measure with 292 votes for, or 70.53%, and 122 votes against or 29.47%.
Commissioners will canvass the elections on the local option today. The City will canvass the results at their regular meeting on Tuesday.