The ballot is set for November’s Municipal Election for the city of Warsaw.
At this point the only contested race will be for the city council at-large seat between Republicans Cindy Dobbins and Jack Wilhite, and Democrat David Baumgartner.
Lynn Christiansen, who was opposed in the primary by Larry Ladd on the Republican ticket, appears to be unopposed in the general election. There was no Democrat candidate for this position.
Clerk-Treasurer’s Race
Christiansen defeated Ladd with 64.82 percent of the vote to Ladd’s 35.18 percent.
“I’m really humbled,” said Christiansen. “It was a nerve wracking ordeal. I’m glad the citizens think that I’ve been doing a good job. Hopefully, I will keep their confidence.” She plans on continuing to do what is required of her for that office.
Christiansen carried all 15 precincts, however she won by a narrow margin in Warsaw 2-2. There was a 9.34 percent difference between the candidates in that precinct.
City Council At-Large Race
Dobbins and Wilhite were clear winners on the Republican ticket. Once all votes were tabulated, Dobbins received 34.50 percent of the vote and Wilhite received 26.24 percent.
Their opponents split the remaining votes. Juergen L. Voss received 15.09 percent, Connie Fribley received 14.75 percent, Justin Risner received 5.11 percent and Patrick Loebs received 4.32 percent.
“I’m elated,” said Dobbins. “I know there is a battle in the fall though, because the Democrats have a pretty strong contender in Dave Baumgartner, he’s well respected and well liked.” Dobbins admitted she was “very, very worried because I know there were a lot of good candidates.” She stated, “When Elaine (Call) decided to give up her seat, obviously someone else was going to get that seat. But as it turned out we had six people running. I’m pretty excited.”
Wilhite found the experience a “very, very interesting process the whole time.” About his win: “I feel really good. It was very interesting getting to know the voters and talk to them one on one.” He stated Dobbins and himself did a neighborhood meet and greet, with him doing another one on his own, “just listening to them, what they cared about, taking notes and taking it back with me.” Regarding the race he stated, “There were quite a few in the race. It was surprising at first so many people did jump in. There were probably a few issues over the past few years that got people riled up a little bit. I think some of those issues drove some of that.”
Dobbins received over 30 percent of the votes in all but one precinct. Wilhite carried that precinct with 32.69 percent to Dobbins 28.85 percent in Plain 5. In one case Dobbins had 50 percent of the votes.
Wilhite received over 21.37 percent of the votes in all but two of the remaining precincts. Wilhite was defeated in Warsaw 3-3 by Voss who received 33.33 percent of the vote to Wilhites 16.67 percent and Warsaw 4-2, where Voss received 26.87 percent to Wilhite’s 23.88 percent.
The races for mayor and city council seats in District 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 were uncontested, with the incumbents going on to have their names placed on the November ballot.
To view individual precincts see City Election Results.