News
County sees good numbers at polls
Scott Wagar
11/11/2014
Bottineau County voters kept to the same line as the majority of voters in the state of North Dakota when it came to state offices and the eight measures that were on the ballot during the general election on Tuesday.
CONGRESS
When it came to the U.S. House, Rep. Kevin Cramer soundly defeated his democratic component, George Sinner, by a vote of 1,693 votes to 953 votes. Liberal candidate, Robert Seaman received 128 votes in the county.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
In state-wide offices, county voters elected republic candidates by 100 percent over their democratic opponents, which are as follows:
● Secretary of State: Alvin Jaeger – 1,912 votes; April Fairfield – 706 votes; Ronald Riemers (Lib) – 123 votes
● Attorney General: Wayne Stenehjem – 2,204 votes; Kiara Kraus-Parr – 540 votes;
● Agricultural Commissioner: Doug Goehring – 1,626 votes; Ryan Taylor – 1,135 votes
● Public Service Commissioner: Brian Kalk – 2,147 votes; Todd Reisenauer - 607 votes
● Public service Commissioner (two year term): Julie Fedorchak – 1,926; Tyler Axness – 783 votes
● Tax Commissioner: Ryan Rauschenberger – 1,768; Jason Astrup – 794; Anthony Mangnall (Lib) – 125 votes
JUDICIAL BRANCH
When it came to the state’s judicial branch, all three candidates ran unopposed with the following results:
Gerald W. Vandewalle: Justice of the Supreme Court – 2,457 votes; Michael G. Sturdevant: Judge of District Court No. 3 NE – 2,466 votes; Dovovan Foughty: Judge of District Court No. 4 NE – 2,355 votes.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
In Bottineau County, all three county commissioners ran unopposed with LeRoy Rude of District 1 receiving 472 votes, Daniel Marquardt of District 3 receiving 442 votes and Todd Streich receiving 482 votes.
COUNTY OFFICES
County office holders also had no opponents on the ballot against them and won their elections. Lisa Herbel, county auditor, received 2,507 votes; A. Swain Benson Sr., states attorney, received 2,473 votes; Bobbi Milbrath, county recorder, received 2,513 votes; Ann Monson, county treasurer, 2,499 votes; Steven Watson, county sheriff, received 2,365 votes.
SOIL CONSERVATION
In the vote for supervisor of Soil Conservation in the Mouse River District, Elaine Carson ran unimpeded and received 674 votes, while Martin Kitzman, who also ran unrestricted in the Turtle Mountain District, received 1,696 votes.
OFFICAL NEWSPAPER
The Bottineau Courant was the only newspaper on the ballot for the Official Newspaper of Bottineau County and received 2,389 votes.
MEASURES
Perhaps the biggest issues for Bottineau County voters were the eight measures on the ballot, with the following results:
● Measure 1, the right to life measure, was voted down with 2,459 no votes to 345 yes votes.
● Measure 2, the real estate tax measure, received 2,120 yes votes to 665 no votes.
● Measure 3, the state board of higher education measure, was voted down with 2,141 no votes to 600 yes votes.
● Measure 4, the spending mandates with the state constitution measure, received 1,196 yes votes to 1,503 no votes.
● Measure 5, the conservation measure, was easily defeated in the county with 2,459 no votes to 345 yes votes, or 88 percent of the vote.
● Measure 6, the shared parenting measure, was also heavily defeated with 1,860 no votes to 864 yes votes, or 68 percent of the vote.
● Measure 7, the pharmacy measure, was a close call with privately owned pharmacists winning in the measure over box stores owners which wanted to bring in pharmacies to the state on a vote of 1,710 no votes to 1,080 yes votes.
● Measure 8, the opening of schools after Labor Day, was defeated by a 3 percent margin with 1,422 no votes to 1,343 yes votes.
In county and city measures in Bottineau County, the following were the results:
● County Measure 1, the 9-1-1 fee measure, was approved 1,660 yes votes to 1,074 no votes.
● Bottineau City Measure 1, the tax exemption measure, received 485 no votes to 335 yes votes, which bans the city of Bottineau to grant property tax exemption for new or expanding business.
VOTER NUMBERS
According to Lisa Herbel, auditor for Bottineau County, Bottineau County saw 2,834 individuals, from five precincts, vote in the 2014 general election.
During the 2012 presidential election, Bottineau County saw 3,593 voters, while four years ago in the general election there were 2,998 county voters. Compared to 2010 in a non-presidential race, the election on Tuesday was down 155 voters, which Herbel feels are some good voting numbers for the county.
“I find this number remarkable considering we didn’t have any local contested races,” Herbel said. “I have to speculate that the measures motivated people to vote as I thought our turnout was excellent.”