Three Benton County cities will have leadership changes when councils take office next year.
In Foley, Brandon Voit was re-elected mayor, running uncontested with 785 votes (97.39%).
Incumbent Gary Swanson tallied 568 votes (41.52%) for one of two council positions, followed by Heather Brademan with 427 votes (31.21%) and Shelby Wurtz with 357 votes (26.1%), according to unofficial results posted to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website Nov. 4.
There were 21 write-in votes cast for mayor and 16 write-in votes for the city council in Foley.
“I was really excited because I think everybody was a great candidate, honestly,” Brademan said. “I’ve met Gary, and he seems really nice. I did not meet Shelby, but I’ve heard she’s nice as well.”
In Rice, Brian Skroch was re-elected mayor, running uncontested with 720 votes (97.17%).
Incumbent Paula Kampa received 497 votes (38.59%), challenger Andrew Duke 438 votes (34.01%), and incumbent Kenneth Nodo 340 votes (26.4%) for two open council seats.
There were 21 write-in votes cast for mayor and 13 write-in votes for city council in Rice.
“My goal really wasn’t to unseat anyone,” Duke said. “I just wanted to throw my hat into the ring. I have a desire to serve the community, and I wanted to make a difference. I would say no hard feelings to Ken. I appreciate everything he’s done with serving on the Rice City Council.”
In Sauk Rapids, Joe Kampa was the top vote-getter with 2,843 votes (37.06%), followed by incumbent Nick Sauer with 2,829 votes (36.87%) and challenger Christian Kirmeier with 1,958 votes (25.52%). There were 42 write-in votes for the two open Sauk Rapids council positions.
“The campaign signs that we put out did make an impact” Kampa said. “I did not do any social media, or very, very little. I think my name recognition growing up in the area and being the owner of Andy’s Towing probably helped, and I think that may have been a deciding factor.”
In Gilman, Adam Muller was re-elected mayor, running uncontested with 95 votes (87.96%).
Incumbents Andy Schommer, 93 votes (38.91%), and Chad Scapanski, 81 votes (33.89%), were re-elected to the Gilman City Council; challenger Terry Templin received 62 votes (25.94%). There were 13 write-in votes cast for Gilman mayor and three write-in votes cast for two council seats.
Glorene Rose Weisser ran unopposed in a special Gilman City Council election, receiving 72 votes (64.29%). There were 40 write-in votes (35.71%) cast in the special election.
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