By Sara QuamRock County Auditor-Treasurer Gloria Rolfs said she is proud of the county’s 95 percent voter turnout this election.That’s part of what kept her and other election workers at the courthouse until 4 a.m., one of the latest elections in her many years with the county."The turnout was about what we expected, but it’s great," she said. In all, 5,248 voters turned out for the election.Rock County voters favored Republicans in the national and state offices. President George W. Bush got 3,111 votes, compared to John Kerry’s 2000. Various other candidates for president got 80 votes. Bush is the national winner as well.Incumbent U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht got 3,011 votes, and Leigh Pomeroy received 1,630.In Rock County state representative Doug Magnus got 3,090 votes, and challenger Kathryn Ness received 1,997 votes.County offices went unopposed, so Ken Hoime, Ron Boyenga and Jane Wildung will have another term as county commissioners. Luverne city officesIncumbents were rejected at the polls Tuesday.Write-in candidate Esther Frakes started a late campaign, but she got enough votes to overcome Tom Martius. The end tally was 782 to 545 for the North Ward seat.Frakes said, "I felt the campaign had gone well because I had gotten good feedback, and I am gratified at the overwhelming support. I felt I had a good chance, but I also realized a write-in campaign would be a challenge, so I was prepared either way."Martius said he is proud of the work he did during his council term. "I have always believed in a majority rule, so if this is what people want, they should get it," he said.Martius said he had looked forward to another term. "I felt we were getting good things done," he said. "I’m just going to keep upbeat about everything and I don’t have regrets."Maynard Lafrenz challenged David Hauge for the South Ward alderman spot and won. There the votes were 568 and 447.Lafrenz said, "There’s going to be a lot of work to do, and I’ll have to learn as I go. But evidently people wanted a change." Luverne will also have a new mayor, with current Mayor Glen Gust not filing for office again. Both Andy Steensma and Alex Frick were new to run for the office. Steensma earned 1,832 votes, compared to Frick’s 621.Sunday liquorLocal bar and restaurant owners wanted the issue of Sunday liquor on the ballot.Luverne voters turned out against the question that would have allowed the city to permit bars and restaurants to serve liquor on Sundays. The tally was 1,023 to 1,433.Luverne schoolsThere will be a couple of new faces on the Luverne School Board, Laura Herman and Vicki Baartman.Colleen Deutsch will return to her seat on the board with 2,267 votes. Donald Bryan won’t serve another term, however, after getting 1,833.Another newcomer to the race was Tor Boen, who got 974 votes.Herman had 1,985 votes, and Baartman had 2,043.Beaver CreekMayor Al Blank got most of the votes, 141, compared to 19 write-ins.For the Beaver Creek Council, Jamie Dysthe got 133 votes, Carolyn DeBoer got 128, and a write-in got 34.Hills Mayor Jim Jellema got 262 votes and will remain mayor.Council member Dana Dahlquist was the only name on the ballot for the council and got 252 votes. An empty seat will be filled by Ross Metzger, who received the most write-ins, 53.HardwickThere was quite a race for two Hardwick City Council seats. Six ran for the two positions, and one of them will be settled "by lot" to break a tie.Steve Hanson got 47 votes; Virginia Wessels got 39 votes; Bob Heitman also got 39 votes; Greg Staeffler got 31 votes; Lois Kindt got 30 votes, and Lisa Rosin got 24 votes.Auditor-Treasurer Gloria Rolfs said the council may choose to flip a coin or draw straws to break the tie between Wessels and Heitman.The Hardwick mayor will be Bill DeBates, who got 92 votes.Kenneth Kenneth Mayor will again be Delbert Gangestad, who received 36 votes. The Council will have both Nora Halvorson, 29 votes, and David Groen, 40 votes.MagnoliaFabian Deutsch will be Magnolia’s mayor again, receiving 82 votes.Mary Smook, 76 votes, and Marinus Cross, 48 votes, will be council members. Others getting votes for council were Sheila Jones, 13, and some write-ins, 21.Steen Steen Mayor, Melvin Van Batavia, got 82 votes. The council seats will go to Marlin Elbers, 70 votes, and Rodney Scholten, 45 votes. Scott Kessler received 25 votes.
