Following the recent city/school election in Greene County, new individuals that received the most votes in their respective races will soon be in their new positions.
One of those new individuals is Jefferson City Council member-elect Luke Winkelman. According to the Greene County Auditor’s Office, of the 1,168 ballots that were cast in that contested race that saw six people running for three seats, two of which were incumbents who were also re-elected, Winkelman came out as the top vote-getter with 866. He explains his initial reaction when he learned he was elected to the Jefferson City Council as a wave of emotions.
“First one being disbelief. Second one obviously, quite a bite of excitement. I put a lot of work, footsteps, and hours just trying to be the best candidate that Jefferson needs and can be, and ensuring that I’m as educated as the city of Jefferson deserves. And then the third one was a very sobering realization that the city has placed a tremendous amount of trust in me and it’s now my responsibility to live up to that trust.”
Winkelman says he wanted to be on City Council to work toward the future where his children could grow up and continue to live in the community, along with having ideas for improvement within the city, as well as gaining the knowledge to explain to the public about the reasons behind the decisions that are made. Winkelman will be sworn in January, along with incumbents Harry Ahrenholtz and Darren Jackson.
As for the Greene County School Board, the top candidate was Megan Holz with 1,081 votes. The newcomer was humbled and honored that the majority of voters chose her to be on the School Board as she has this to say to those voters.
“I’d like to give them a big ‘thanks,’ especially anyone who did cast a vote for me. But I’d like to tell everyone regardless of if they voted for me or not, that I will strive everyday to make our school and community the best that it can be.”
Holz will officially take on her new role on the Greene County School Board later this month, along with fellow newcomer Katie Nelson and incumbent and current Board President Cindi Daubendiek.