The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors met in special session Tuesday morning for the election result canvassing from last Tuesday’s primary election.
The Supervisors received the final totals from the results from around the county and signed the official paperwork, making last Tuesday’s results official.
The most hotly contested races were on the Republican side for Mahaska County Sheriff and Supervisor. Russ Van Renterghem secured the sheriff nomination with over 49 percent of the vote, while Mark Groenendyk won the nomination for supervisor with just over 56 percent of the vote.
The election results around the state on primary night showed that the number of ballots was lower than anticipated after a record-breaking Iowa Caucus turnout, but Mahaska County still saw a large chunk of registered voters appear at the polls.
Mahaska County saw 3,551 ballots from both sides, with 692 being absentee ballots. 35 absentee ballots were not returned. Just over 24 percent of registered voters in Mahaska County participated in the primary.
That number is well over double of the roughly ten percent of voters that participated in Polk County, where the state capital of Des Moines is located. Primary voter turnout hinges heavily on competitive local races, and Mahaska County surely benefitted in that regard with the sheriff and supervisor races drawing so much local attention.
With the results of the primaries now official and no Democratic candidates running against the Republican winners, Van Renterghem and Groenendyk will await November 8th for the general election. The results will be a formality, as both will begin their tenure on their respective posts at the beginning of 2017.
For more election information, visit www.mahaskacounty.org.
