Allamakee County voters pretty much stay in line with statewide and districtwide candidate support in June 7 Primary results

Helping decide who will square off in the November General Election later this year, Allamakee County voters joined others statewide in casting their decisions in the Tuesday, June 7 Primary Election. Allamakee County Commissioner of Elections Denise Beyer reports that 15.35% of Allamakee County’s 9,753 registered voters took part in this year’s Primary Election, one of the higher percentages for a mid-term Primary Election in recent memory, with 10.5% of Allamakee County voters participating in 2018 and just nine percent in the 2014 midterm Primary. Across the state of Iowa, 16.13% of registered voters cast a ballot this year.

A further breakdown of those voting statistics shows that registered Republicans in Allamakee County cast their vote by a nearly two-to-one margin over registered Democrats. A total of 990 Republican ballots were cast in this year’s Primary, vs. 507 by Democrats.

CONTESTED RACES
Th U.S. Senate Primary race was the lone race to feature a contest of multiple declared candidates on both the Republican and Democratic ballots. On the Republican ballot, incumbent Charles Grassley easily outdistanced challenger Jim Carlin in the overall race with 73.3% of the Republican vote (143,289 vs. 51,755 votes). Grassley’s support was somewhat less among Allamakee County Republicans, as he garnered just 62.8% of their votes, 621 vs. 368 for Carlin.

On the Democratic ballot, a similar trend played out, as Michael Franken received 55.2% of the statewide vote (86,372 votes) to top Abby Finkenauer’s 39.9% (62,498) and Glenn Hurst’s 4.8% of the Democratic vote (7,562). Although still less than Franken overall, Finkenauer did receive more support from Allamakee County voters in comparison to statewide percentages, as she garnered 44.9% of their vote total (227 votes), while both Franken (52.5%-265 votes) and Hurst (2.6%-13 votes) received less of the overall local Democratic support than they did statewide. Franken and Grassley will now square off in the November General Election.

The only other contested races on each ballot were at the State level of government in different offices. The contested Democratic race for the Secretary of State nomination saw Joel Miller receive nearly the same level of support locally as he did statewide in defeating Eric Van Lancker. Miller’s statewide support of 71.6% (97,883 votes) of the Democratic vote was slightly higher among Allamakee County voters (72.4%-330 votes), while Van Lancker’s 28.2% of the statewide vote (38,598 votes) was less locally at 27.6% (126 votes).

Miller will now square off against uncontested Republican incumbent Paul Pate in November’s General Election. Pate received a nearly equal level of support in local voting (99.9%-910 votes) as he did statewide (99.7%-174,090 votes).

On the opposite spectrum, the contested State of Iowa race on the Republican ballot was for the nomination of Auditor of State between Todd Halbur and Mary Ann Hanusa. Although vote percentages hovered right around the 50% for both candidates at both the local and state levels, more Allamakee County voters chose Hanusa (425 votes-50.78%) than Halbur (410 votes-48.98%). Those totals, however, did not prevent Halbur from winning the overall nomination, as he garnered 51.1% of the statewide vote total (83,776 votes) in contrast to Hanusa’s 48.7% of statewide Republicans (79,847 votes).

Halbur will now square off against uncontested Democratic incumbent Rob Sand in November’s General Election. Sand was just as popular locally as he was statewide in winning 99.8% of both votes, garnering 480 Allamakee County votes in his statewide total of 144,933.

NO CONTESTS IN COUNTY RACES
Republican voters saw a pair of declared candidates on their June 7 Primary ballot for Allamakee County Supervisor, with both able to be nominated as two Board of Supervisors seats will be up for election in the November General Election. Both incumbent Larry Schellhammer and Dennis Keatley were listed on the Republican June 7 Primary ballot, and both moved on to the General Election with vote totals of 736 votes for Keatley (50.6%) and 714 votes for Schellhammer (49.1%), with five write-in votes also being cast.

On the Democratic ballot, incumbent Dan Byrnes was the only candidate declared for ballot listing in that Supervisors Primary race, with a write-in space also available for a second Democratic candidate to also possibly be nominated for the November General Election seeking to fill the seats up for election this year that are currently occupied by Schellhammer and Byrnes. Byrnes received 98.9% of the Democratic vote (482 votes), with five write-in votes also being cast, not enough to nominate a write-in candidate for the General Election.

The three other Allamakee County government offices up for election this year did not feature any contested Primary races, as Republican incumbents Jennifer O’Neill and Anthony Gericke won the nomination to their Allamakee County Treasurer and Attorney offices unopposed, respectively. O’Neill’s 935 votes included all but one of this year’s votes cast, with that one other vote being a write-in. Similarly, Gericke received 877 of the 884 votes cast in his race, with seven write-in votes being cast as well.

There were no declared candidates for either of those County offices on the Democratic ballot. However, both the Treasurer and Attorney races received 15 write-in votes each on that Democratic ballot, although none of those received a vote total large enough to win nomination to the General Election.

In seeking the office of Allamakee County Recorder unopposed on the Republican Primary ballot, Karen Kay Mathis received 922 votes, with three write-in votes also being cast. There was also no declared candidate on the Democrat Primary ballot for that office, with nine write-in votes being cast.

None of the write-in names from any of this year’s Allamakee County ballots received the required 35% of the votes cast needed to win nomination to the General Election ballot, according to party and office specifics of that 35% rule. Any write-in candidates who received at least five percent of the votes cast in each race will be listed in the official canvass of the final vote totals. In races where there is no nominated candidate following the Primary, a political party could still nominate a candidate for the General Election through the upcoming convention process.

UNCONTESTED STATE AND FEDERAL RACES
The most local of the State level races on this year’s Primary ballot was for District 64 (formerly District 56 prior to recent post-Census redistricting), where incumbent Anne Osmundson received similar support locally and districtwide, which also includes Clayton County voters. Receiving 99.8% of votes cast at both levels, Osmundson garnered 919 Allamakee County votes in her districtwide total of 2,206 votes, with three write-in votes also being cast districtwide and including one such vote from Allamakee County. Osmundson will currently be running unopposed in the November General Election, as there was no declared Democratic candidate on this year’s Primary ballot and none of the 18 write-in votes by Democratic voters received enough votes to meet the 35% requirement to win nomination.

Four other State of Iowa races featured uncontested candidates on each Primary ballot, with three of those races featuring the same level of support locally as the uncontested candidates received statewide. In the Iowa Governor’s race, incumbent Republican Kim Reynolds received a higher level of support locally (99.8%) with her 937 Allamakee County votes than she did statewide with just 99.0% of that overall vote total (184,866). On the Democratic ballot, Deidre DeJear received the same level of support (99.5%) both locally (464 votes) and statewide (145,316 votes). Reynolds and DeJear will face off in the November General Election.

In the remaining three State of Iowa races, all candidates on both the Republican and Democratic ballots received the same level of support from Allamakee County voters as they did locally, all within the upper 99-percent range approaching 100%. State Treasurer Democratic incumbent Mike Fitzgerald received 477 Allamakee County votes in his overall total of 145,689 statewide. His opponent in November’s General Election, Republican Roby Smith, received 855 votes in Allamakee County as part of his state total of 163,819 votes.

Iowa Attorney General incumbent Democrat Tom Miller garnered 480 Allamakee County votes in his statewide total of 146,058 votes, with his November opponent, Republican Brenna Bird, receiving 852 votes in Allamakee County to help compile her statewide total of 162,742 votes. Secretary of Agriculture Republican incumbent Mike Naig received 894 Allamakee County votes in his statewide total of 171,240 votes, while his Democratic opponent in November, John Norwood, received 461 votes from Allamakee County in his 139,499 state of Iowa votes.

The only other race on either ballot was for U.S. Representative District 2 (formerly District 1 prior to the recent post-Census redistricting that took place in Iowa). Republican incumbent (currently serving the same area in District 1) Ashley Hinson received the same support at both the local and districtwide level (99.3% of the Republican vote) in garnering 912 Allamakee County votes in her districtwide total of 39,896 votes, and Democrat Liz Mathis did likewise with her 99.5% level of support at both levels in tallying 482 Allamakee County votes to further compile 40,736 votes statewide.