Voters support new clerk, sheriff, mayor

by Mark Dykes

The results are in — at least the unofficial ones — for the Primary election in Hot Springs County. Of the 1,996 ballots cast, 1,818 were Republican, 138 were Democratic and 40 were Nonpartisan.

Looking at the local races, Jeremie Kraushaar won for Hot Springs County Sheriff with 544 votes. Other candidates in the running were: Pat Cornwell with 400; Daniel Pebbles with 372; Michael Nelson with 245 and Tom Christensen with 215. There were also 49 write in votes.

For Hot Springs County Clerk, Rosemary DeSeyn won with 1,071 votes, beating out incumbent Nina Webber, who had 406, and Joe Martinez, who had 305. There were 10 write ins.

In the Republican voting for Hot Springs County Commission the top two were incumbent Tom Ryan with 1,111 votes, and newcomer Jack Baird with 815. Other candidates were Michael Liesch with 578 and Steven Shay with 533. There were 25 write in votes.

As for Democratic candidates for commissioner, Sonja Becker will move on to the General Election with 112 votes. Though he had withdrawn from the Primary, Carl Leyba still received 36 votes and there were four write in votes.

In the mayoral race, Mike Chimenti won with 449 votes, compared to Forrest Coleman-Weisz’s 246, incumbent Mike Mortimore’s 273 and Bradyn Harvey’s 125. There were three write in votes.

As for Thermopolis Town Council, incumbents John Dorman Sr. and Tony Larson will retain their seats, as Dorman received 584 votes and Larson received 451. Other candidates were: Krista Raymond with 339; John Fish with 284 and Joshua Brown with 259. There were four write in votes.

Other positions decided in Hot Springs County were for East Thermopolis and Kirby. David Peake won the East Thermop mayoral race with 37 votes, though there were 28 write-ins.

For East Thermopolis Town Council Debra Lackey and Dolores Bush won the two seats, Lackey with 50 and Bush with 39. Candidate Sybil Hannah had 31 votes.

As for Kirby, Sam Mead was elected mayor with 13 votes, though there were five write-ins. Kimberly Graham and Cory Walk won the two four-year seats on the Kirby Town Council — Graham with 14 votes and Walk with 12 — and Alberta Hurley won the two-year seat with 16 votes. There were four write in votes for the four-year seat and one for the two-year.

Several races were uncontested, including; County Treasurer, with Julie Mortimore at 1,610 votes and 23 write-ins; County Assessor, with Daniel Webber at 1,541 votes and 15 write-ins; Clerk of District Court, with Terri Cornella at 1,529 votes and 19 write-ins; Coroner, with Mark Mortimore at 1,510 votes and 35 write-ins; and County Attorney, with Jerry Williams at 1,017 and 408 write-ins.

In the Republican race for House District 28 Representative, John Winter won Hot Springs County with 907 votes compared to Tim Morrison’s 703. There were 13 write-ins. Winter also won at the state level, with 54 percent of the vote. Democratic candidate Howie Samelson was unopposed and took 116 votes, and will move on to the General Election as well.

Though Nathan Winters beat out Kristi Racines in the Republican race for State Auditor at the county level, 1,031 votes to 740, Racines won the state with 59.6 percent of the vote — 57,477 — compared to the 40.4 percent —39,000 — Winters took.

In state races, John Barrasso won on the Republican ticket for Senator with 1,279 votes in the county, compared to Dave Dodson’s 386, John Holtz’s 39, Charlie Hardy’s 30, Roque De La Fuente’s 20 and Anthony Van Risseghem’s 10. There were four write in votes.

Barrasso won at the state level with 72,646, compared to Dodson’s 31.538, Holtz’s 2,935, Hardy’s 2,311, De La Fuente’s 1,279 and Van Rissegham’s 864.

On the Democractic ticket for Senator, Gary Trauner is moving on to the General with 114. There were two write-ins.

Republican U. S. Representative candidate Liz Cheney is moving forward to the General with 1,203 votes in the county, compared to 293 for Rod Miller and 205 for Blake Stanley. There were six write in votes. At the state level, Cheney won 73,136 votes, compared to Miller’s 21,499 and Stanley’s 12,987.

Democratic U.S. Representative candidate Greg Hunter is going forward, with 66 votes compared to Travis Helm’s 48 in the county. Hunter had 10,051 votes in the state, compared to Helm’s 6,347

In the Democratic Governor race, Mary Throne won the county with 90 votes, compared to Michael Green’s 22, Kenneth Casner’s eight and Rex Wilde’s five. There was one write-in. At the state level, Throne had 12,566 votes, compared to Green’s 2,375, Casner’s 1,318 and Wilde’s 1,175.

Mark Gordon won the Republican Governor race in the county with 582 votes, compared to Harriet Hageman’s 484, Foster Friess’ 361, Sam Galeotos’ 280, Taylor Haynes’ 71 and Bill Dahlin’s 16. There were two write-ins. At the state level, Gordon won with 37,766 votes, compared to Friess’ 29,785, Hageman’s 24,377, Galeotos’ 14,238, Haynes’ 6,445 and Dahlin’s 2,050.

For a full report of election results for Hot Springs County, go online to the county clerk's website, available through hscounty.com