{"id":9254,"date":"2023-11-07T18:13:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=9254"},"modified":"2023-11-07T19:44:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T00:44:29","slug":"z-land-blog-municipal-election-night-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/11\/07\/z-land-blog-municipal-election-night-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Z-Land Blog: Municipal Election Night 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We have all your coverage of the election results for elections in the city of Decatur, along with the Town of Monroe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few numbers for reference from the 2019 election: 3304 ballots were cast in that election in Adams County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2023 election, just 1802 votes were cast, although it should be noted that there was an election in Berne in 2019, but none in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decatur City Council At-Large <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Dyer (R) defeated Jennifer Hitchcock (D) by a 970 to 654 margin. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the absentee vote, Dyer held a 371 to 313 lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an update at 7:13 by election officials, Dyer led by a 552-423 margin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 7:19 p.m., Dyer’s lead increased to 558-423.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dyer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dyer received over $15,000 in campaign contributions this year, with much of the money since the primary election coming from individuals donating less than $500 apiece. Hitchcock reported over $7000 in contributions in 2023 to her campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Dyer ran unopposed in 2019, he received 1589 votes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decatur City Council District 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenny Bowers-Shultz (D) defeated Gina Melcher (R), 225 to 192. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the absentee voting, Bowers-Shultz held a 99-83 lead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an update at 7:13 p.m. by election officials, Bowers-Shultz led by a slim 137-118 margin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowers-Shultz took in just over $3000 for her campaign, compared to $6000 by Melcher. Melcher defeated incumbent Wylie Sirk in May. Sirk ran unopposed in 2019 and received 380 votes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
One of the most contentious issues in this year’s election was the approval of the meat processing facility in Decatur. Several candidates stood by their decision to support the project, while others got into the race because of it. Pictured above, members of the Decatur City Council hold a meeting in front of a large crowd at the Riverside Center. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Gina Melcher is pictured on election night in May after defeating incumbent Wylie Sirk in the Republican Primary for District 3. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decatur City Council District 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyler Fullenkamp (D) defeated Leslie Reilly-Green (R), 209 to 181. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early voting count, Fullenkamp won 100-74. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When election officials updated the results at 7:13 p.m., Fullenkamp led 192 to 156. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Decatur City Councilman Tyler Fullenkamp is shown at a City Council Meeting along with outgoing Clerk-Treasurer Phyllis Whitright and Mayor Dan Rickord. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The incumbent Fullenkamp spent less than $750 on his campaign, while Leslie Reilly-Green received two large donations from individuals, taking in just shy of $2000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fullenkamp also faced a challenge in the last election when he was opposed by Republican Randy Colclasure. Fullenkamp won the race 296 to 215. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decatur City Council District 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abby Wilder (R) wins unopposed with 396 votes. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political newcomer Abby Wilder (R) ran unopposed after defeating incumbent Craig Coshow by just four votes in the primary in May. Coshow ran unopposed and received 484 votes in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Abby Wilder ran unopposed and received 396 votes in Tuesday’s election. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Decatur City Council District 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Murray wins unopposed with 253 votes. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incumbent Scott Murray (R) ran unopposed. He received 376 votes in the same race in the last election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Scott Murray is shown sitting between Matt Dyer and Tyler Fullenkamp at a recent City Council meeting. Both Dyer and Fullenkamp faced election battles in Tuesday’s municipal voting. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Political signs like the ones seen here have been everywhere in Decatur and the surrounding community for weeks. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other Decatur Races<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Running unopposed were mayor Dan Rickord (D) and Kevin Hackman (R), who was running for City Clerk\/Treasurer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rickord received 1157 votes, while Hackman received 1254. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Town of Monroe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Town Council (At-Large)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Geels (R) won with 102 votes; Joshua Geerken (R) won with 82 votes; David Bard (R) won with 62 votes. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Losing were Deb Giessler (D) with 59 votes and Clayton Lothridge (D) with 53 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 7:13 p.m., election officials reported the following results: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giessler-15 votes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geels-13 votes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geerken-13 votes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bard-11 votes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lothridge-9 votes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When results came in from Monroe at 7:19 p.m., the totals were at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geels 98, Geerken 79, Bard 59, Giessler 59, Lothridge 52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other Races<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rachel Tague (R) ran unopposed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have all your coverage of the election results for elections in the city of Decatur, along with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,15,61,21],"class_list":["post-9254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-decatur","tag-featured","tag-monroe","tag-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/82F70477F70F4D2AA46210AC620181F9.jpg?fit=960%2C501&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}