(UPDATED) Voter turnout 81% in Hamilton County

Predictions of high voter turnout in Tuesday's General Election in Hamilton County turned out to be accurate, as 81 percent of registered voters voted by mail, drop off and at the polls. In all, 5,641 ballots were cast in the county out of a total of 6,963 registered voters. Turnout here was the second highest in the last 12 years. Only the presidential election of 2020 was higher with 82.3 percent of registered voters casting ballots. The lowest turnout (58 percent) was for the mid-term election of 2014. 
In the much-watched U.S. presidential race, county voters supported President Donald Trump's re-election in a big way, giving him 78 percent of the vote locally to just 19 percent for Vice President Kamala Harris. Nationally, Trump won 279 electoral votes to 223 for Harris. 
Meanwhile, in local races it appears that five of the six candidates on the ballot who faced challenges from write-in candidates have won their elections. In the race for Dist. 3 county commission, GOP primary winner Jessie Merkel garnered 63 percent of the vote while the total of write-in votes was just 16 percent (176 votes). It is unknown until write-in ballots are checked this morning how many of those votes will go to registered write-in candidate Ray Simmons. 
Also, two of the three Aurora city council races where there were write-in candidates, appear to have been won by the incumbents whose names appeared on the ballot. In Ward 1, incumbent Wayne Roblee received 44 percent of the vote compared with 40 percent for all write-ins for the seat, and in Ward 3 incumbent councilman Mark Dunn won re-election with 48 percent of the vote to 36 percent for all write-ins. 
The results of the race in Ward 2, where both candidates were running as write-ins, will not be known until write-in ballots have been checked by hand later today. Notably, only 382 total ballots were cast in that election versus more than 700 ballots for the other two wards. In Ward 2, incumbent Nancy Lohrmeyer was running as a write-in having missed the filing deadline for incumbents earlier in the year and was challenged by Esther Bergen who filed as a write-in along with two other candidates in the past few weeks. 
The other local election which included a write-in candidate was also won by the candidate whose name was on the ballot. Ross Beins appears to have been elected to the Aurora Airport Authority Board, having garnered 47 percent of the vote while the total of all write-ins was 34 percent. Beins was challenged in the election by incumbent board member Kasey Wessels who was running as a write-in candidate.

Elections for school and village boards were also decided in Tuesday's election with the following results:

Village Board Elections
Giltner Board of Trustees: Logan Eastman and Kelli Greathouse, who were both running unopposed to retain their seats on the board, received 151 and 208 votes respectively, to win re-election.
Hampton Board of Trustees: Current board members Dylan Bamesberger and Jared Rojewski each received 203 votes to win re-election. Both were running unopposed. 
Hordville Board of Trustees: Incumbents Rod Blase and Robert Anderson, along with newcomer Benjamin Blase were running for three open seats on the Hordville Board and all were elected. Rod Blase, who is the current chairman of the board, received 48 votes, Anderson had 51 votes and Benjamin Blase received 47 of the 150 total votes cast. 
Marquette Board of Trustees: In Marquette, where there were a total of seven candidates seeking just two seats on the board, the outcome of the election is uncertain pending a possible recount. Incumbent Dennis Saum appears to have lost his seat, while current board chairman Richard Archer is deadlocked with Jerry Jervah. Both candidates received 43 of the 214 votes cast in the election and are tied at 18.22 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, newcomer Vincent White was the top vote-getter with 45 votes for 19.07 percent. Other results included William Gfeller, 8 votes, 3.39 percent;  Kenny Aerni, 24 votes, 10.17 percent; Saum, 14 votes, 5.93 percent and Angela Pierce, 35 votes, 14.83 percent. 
Phillips Board of Trustees: Current board chairman Jim Crawford won his first election to board on Tuesday after filling out an unexpired term. Crawford was one of three candidates running for two open seats on the board. The other candidates were John Briseno and Deanna Weir. Briseno had the most votes with 130 (30 percent of the 357 votes cast) while Crawford came in second with 117 (27 percent) and Weir lost her bid after receiving 98 votes (23 percent). 
Stockham Board of Trustees: Lewis Schlekopf retained his seat on the board after receiving 25 of the 44 votes cast. He was running unopposed for one of three open seats on the board. The other two seats remain unfilled, however, there were 19 votes cast for various write-in candidates. 

School Board Elections
Aurora 4R School Board: All three candidates running for the three open seats on the Aurora School Board were elected on Tuesday. Incumbents Dan Pachta and Brock Wyatt received 2,850 and 2,569 votes respectively to win re-election and newcomer to the board, Chad Carlson received 2,752 votes. A total of 8,215 votes were cast in that election.
Giltner School Board: The three incumbents running for re-election to the school board all won their races. Brad Schutt got the most votes with 295 (21 percent), Joseph Happold came in second in the vote tally with 272 (20 percent) and Michael Wilson received 238 votes for 17 percent of the total votes cast. Challenger Amanda Eastman received 186 votes (14 percent). There were also 19 write-in votes in that election. 
Hampton School Board: The three incumbent members of the Hampton School Board all won re-election handily over challenger Mitchell Fagan. The vote totals and percentages were as follows: Derek Klute, 354 votes, 27 percent; Tamara Wiens, 266, 20 percent; Megan Faller, 242, 18 percent and Fagan, 176, 13 percent. A total of 1,044 votes were cast in the school board election with a total of six write-ins. 
 

Watch this space for more local election results coming soon.