Mechaley, Hindle, Sorenson win commission seats

The Custer County Commission will have a new face, a relatively new face, and a familiar face come January.
Incumbent Craig Hindle retained his seat on the commission during yesterday’s Primary Election, and will be joined by current but soon-to-be-retired Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley on the commission, along with former commissioner Jesse Sorenson.
Mechaley was the top vote-getter, with 1,263 votes, while Hindle had 840 votes. Sorenson pulled in 823 votes. The three will serve a four-year term.
Incumbent Mike Linde finished in fourth with 792 votes, followed by Shannon Shields with 626 votes, Eric Lewis with 557 votes, Nathan Chowning with 453 votes and Mark Sullivan at 418 votes. This race was marked for a possible recount, and all results are unofficial until canvassing.
In the District 30 legislative races incumbent Reps. Tim Goodwin and Trish Ladner were victorious with 3,708 and 3,450 votes, respectively, while fellow Republican challenger Steve Saint was at 2,313 votes. Goodwin and Ladner will face Democrat Brett Swanson in  the general election in November.
In the District 30 Senate race, incumbent Amber Hulse easily defeated Julie Frye-Mueller by a vote count of 4,139 to 2,084.
The three incumbents will hang on to their seats on the Custer School District Board of Education , with Travis Hartshorn pulling in 1,428 votes, followed by Sara Barrick at 1,390 and Larry Baker at 1,175. Mark Perrenoud was at 869 votes. Three seats were open for three-year terms.
The Fire Fund opt-out passed by a 55 to 45 percent margin, with 1,280 voting yes on the opt-out and 1,042 voting no.
The creation of an East Custer Ambulance District easily passed, as 529 voted in favor of creating the district, while 131 voted against the creation of the district.
The Town of Hermosa will see a new board member, as challenger Elizabeth Miller received the most votes for one of two seats available on that town’s board, as she picked up 109 votes, while incumbent Donna Ferguson will retain her seat with 100. Current town board president Kelburn Koontz finished with 48 votes. Miller and Ferguson will serve three-year terms.
Hermosa citizens also soundly voted to repeal Commercial and Sewer Improvement Tax Increment Finance District No. 2, as well as a proposed bond to finance improvements to the town’s drinking water system, including a new well project. The votes on those were 107-29 to repleal the TIF and 103-52 to reject the water project bond.
The creation of an East Custer Ambulance District passed overwhelmingly, with 529 votes in favor of creating the district, compared to 131 votes against.
In the race for two seats on the Elk Mountain School District Board of Education, both incumbents Jason Bradeen and Kevin Rosse won three-year terms, receiving 74 and 63 votes, respectively, while Terri Janssen received 54.
In Buffalo Gap, Steve Jensen defeated Herman Wells for a three-year term on that town’s board. Jensen won by a 36-30 vote count.
There will be a runoff in the race for the Republican spot in the November General Election Toby Doeden received the most votes with 41,791 votes, good for 31 percent. Larry Rhoden had 34,379, while Dusty Johnson was at 31,925 and Jon Hansen was at 28,390. The July 28 runoff will feature Doeden and Rhoden since neither candidate reached the 35 percent threshold required by state law.
Finally, Marty Jackley and Mike Rounds easily won their primaries in the U.S. House and Senate races.