EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Republican Steve Helm is the first Seward County Commissioner to be re-elected of the five current commissioners.
Two years ago, Republican Scott Carr defeated incumbent Randy Malin, Republican Tammy Sutherland-Abbott defeated incumbent Nathan McCaffrey, and Republican Presephoni Fuller earned the seat previously held by Ada Linenbroker who did not seek re-election.
Republican Todd Stanton defeated 32-year incumbent CJ Wettstein, leaving Helm as the only successful incumbent.
Helm earned 209 votes, Bee Symons received 155, and Lamberto Flores had 52. This was the second election for Dist. 5 with a three-way split.
Wettstein has faced different challengers over the years and was able to retain his seat despite close elections until Tuesday, when Stanton earned 98 votes to 75 for Wettstein.
That makes Helm the only returning commissioner barring any write-in campaigns for the general election.
For the Register of Deeds position, Republican Karen Warden did not seek re-election, and that led to three Republican candidates seeking the office.
The votes were split, but Jill Garinger came out on top with 365 votes. Lina Hill was second with 334 votes, and Janet Thompson came in third with 212 votes.
Voter turnout was extremely low. Total ballots cast was 1,106, which was 9.33 percent of the 10,892 registered voters. Four years ago in the same primary, turnout was 1,890. In 2022, the primary had 2,765 ballots cast.
The general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 5, but barring a write-in challenge, and since there are no Democratic challengers, the only names on the ballots will be those who won the primary.
