The lone contested local race in Greene County came down to a few votes Tuesday.
According to the Greene County Auditor’s office, three challengers were vying for the Republican nomination for Greene County Supervisor District Three and Dan Benitz unofficially defeated James Hedges and Cassie George, 311 to 305 and 104 respectively. There were 50 undervotes, which means 50 people did not vote in that race. Benitz will take on Democrat Mike Holden, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary in the November general election.
The other Republican contested races were state or federal. Incumbent US Senator Chuck Grassley won against challenger Jim Carlin with 74-percent of the vote in Greene County, and Greene County Republicans also selected Zach Nunn over Nicole Hasso and Gary Leffler for US House District Four. The contested state Republican race was for State Auditor, where Greene County voters chose Todd Halbur over Mary Ann Hanusa.
Greene County residents who voted in the Democratic primary chose Mike Franken over Abby Finkenauer and Glenn Hurst with 75-percent of the vote. The other Democrat contested race was for Secretary of State, with Greene County voters selecting Joel Miller over Eric Van Lancker.
All other local races were unopposed in each of the primaries and will not have an opposing candidate from either Republican or Democrat in the November general election. Those candidates include Republican incumbents Dawn Rudolph for Greene County Supervisor District Two, and County Treasurer Katlynn Mechaelsen, along with Democrat incumbent Deb McDonald for County Recorder. Incumbent County Attorney Thomas Laehn will appear on the general election ballot, but is a registered Libertarian and was not included in the primary as the Libertarian Party does not have major party status in Iowa.
The election results remain unofficial until the Greene County Supervisors canvas the votes at their regular meeting on Monday. Click the link below to see the full unofficial results.