General election sees large turnout in Muscatine County
While the numbers came close, the number of voters in Muscatine County this cycle did not beat the record number of people who voted in 2020.
According to the unofficial results of Tuesday's election, 19,947 people voted out of 29,190 registered voters. Of these 12,021 voted at the polls and 7,826 voted absentee. During the 2020 election, 20,807 people voted, with 8,641 people voting at the polls and 12,166 voting absentee. The 2020 election was held during the COVID-19 health crisis, which is why more people voted absentee.
"Everything went as planned," Muscatine County Auditor Tibe Vender Linden said of Tuesday's election. "We were able to tally results and get those to the website around 11 p.m."
The results of the election will be canvassed by the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors during a special meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13.
In the presidential race, Republican candidate Donald J. Trump won Muscatine County with 11,139 votes, beating Democrat Kamala Harris, who received 8,199 votes. Libertarian Chase Oliver got 87 votes. Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate Claudia De la Cruz got 26 votes. Socialist Party of America candidate William Stodden got 8 votes. We the People Party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. got 204 votes.
In the 1st Congressional District race in Muscatine County, Republican incumbent Mariannette Miller-Meeks won the county with 10,124 votes to Democrat challenger Christian Bohannan, who got 9,116 votes. Miller-Meeks was ahead by about 800 votes across the 20-county district as of midday Wednesday.
Republican incumbent Mark Lofgren, was reelected to his Senate Dist. 48 seat with 19,738 votes, beating Democratic challenger John Dabeet, who received 10,271 votes. In Muscatine County alone, Lofgren received 9,615 votes to Dabeet's 6,608.
In the Representative Dist. 82 race, Republican incumbent Bobby Kaufmann got 10,310 votes to Democrat Phil Wiese's 6,713 in Muscatine County. Kaufmann got 1,610 votes in Muscatine County, to Wiese's 1,506.
Republican State Rep. Taylor Collins was also reelected, with 11,280 votes to challenger Jeff Poulter's 4,519, including 1,536 votes for Collins in Muscatine County to 632 for Poulter.
In the District 96 Representative race, Republican incumbent Mark Cisneros won with 8,058 votes to challenger Mandy Moody's 5,643. The district is entirely within Muscatine County.
In the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors races, incumbent Republican Scott Sauer, kept his seat with 11,092 while challenger Libertarian Kim Schneider got 6,938. Incumbent Nathan Mather ran unopposed and got 14,799 votes.
Several Muscatine County officials ran for their offices unopposed. Muscatine County Auditor Tibe Vander Linden got 15,547 votes. Muscatine County Sheriff Quinn Riess got 15,323 votes. John Flake was elected Bloomington Township trustee with 1,148 votes. Bob Sywassink was elected Cedar Township trustee with 124 votes. Donald Briggs got 257 votes and Mark Yerrington got 253 to be named Fruitland Township trustees. Kerry Keller got 321 votes to fill a vacant seat with the Fruitland Township trustees. Dennis Price got 235 votes for Fulton Township trustee.
Donald Eichelberger got 226 votes and Clarnece Finchum got 149 votes to fill two Lake Township trustee spots. Marion Strong got 412 votes for Montpelier Township trustee. Robert Betty got 345 votes for Moscow Township trustee and John H. Brown got 334 votes to fill a vacancy. Jerry Murphy got 54 votes for Orono Township trustee and Terry Westaway got 57 votes to fill a vacancy. Andy Carter got 209 votes for Pike Township trustee.
Scott Eichelberger got 201 votes for Seventy-Six Township trustee and Matt Guldenpfennig got 118 to fill a vacancy. Richard Leach got 640 votes and Jody Connor got 635 votes for two Sweetland Township trustees. Brent Daufeldt got 453 votes for Wapsinonic Township trustee. Trent Barrett got 167 votes and Brent Longlett got 139 votes for two Wilton Township trustee positions.
In the Soil and Water Conservation District, Kurt Van Nice got 10,382 votes, Scott Eichelberger got 12,281 and Stacy Hansen got 10,678 votes for three positions.
In the race to fill four seats and one vacancy with the Muscatine County Ag Extension, Betty Collins got 11,347, Camile Maurer got 10,321, Chelsea Theobald got 10,646, Daleta Thurness got 9,446 and for the vacancy, Consuelo Castillas got 13,672.
Both constitutional amendments passed in statewide votes. In Muscatine County specifically, the first amendment on changes to the language on voter qualifications received 13,967 votes for and 3,671 against. The second amendment, on gubernatorial succession, received 14,277 yes votes and 3,104 no votes in Muscatine County.
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