By Seth Boyes,
County officials on Wednesday reviewed totals from last week’s general election as part of an official canvass of votes cast in Winneshiek County. Last week’s unofficial totals showed greater support for Democratic candidates among precincts in and near the city of Decorah, while other portions of Winneshiek County tended to support Republican candidates.
About 80 percent of the county’s 15,194 registered voters cast ballots this cycle, totaling more than 12,000 votes locally, according to totals from the Winneshiek County Auditor’s Office. Precinct 2 in northeastern Winneshiek County recorded the highest voter turnout per capita with 86 percent of its 1,733 registered voters participating in the election — Precinct 2 has the second highest number of registered voters in the county, behind Precint 11, which has 2,142.
Incumbent county supervisors held majorities in each district’s precincts
Incumbent Winneshiek County Supervisor Shirley Vermace’s reelection was the only Democratic victory among the local contested races. She was favored over Republican candidate Dan Hovden for the District 3 seat on the local board of supervisors. Vermace was the victor in all three precincts which fall within the bounds of the district. She topped Hovden by more than 35 percent in Precincts 6 and 7 in northern Decorah, but the Republican challenger was only six percent — or 47 votes — behind Vermace in Precinct 8, where he resides.
Republican Dan Langreck was also successful in his bid for reelection to the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors, overcoming no-party candidate Cheryl Wieseler in both of District 4’s precincts. Langreck was most successful close to home, earning about 78 percent of the vote in Precinct 10 — the southeastern
precinct which encompasses the city of Ossian. But Langreck was also able to top Wieseler by about 10 percent on her home turf in Precinct 9 — about 565 of the precinct’s 1,353 registered voters supported Langreck.
Klimesh favored in seven of 12 county precincts
Farther up the ballot, Republican State Sen. Mike Klimesh held majorities among voters in seven of Winneshiek County’s 12 precincts as he and Democratic candidate Brian Bruening of Elkader vied for the District 32 seat in Iowa’s Senate. The Republican incumbent saw his highest Winneshiek County totals in Precincts 10, 11 and 12, which largely make up the southern two rows of townships in the county, including Calmar Township where Klemish previously served as mayor of Spillville. Support for Klemish in those three precincts ranged from 74-77, percent. The totals for Klimesh were a little lower in northeastern Winneshiek County’s Precinct 2 as well as Precinct 9, which surrounds Decorah — the Republican earned about 63 percent in each. Bruening won by at least 30 percent in three precincts within Decorah, but he only won by about 6 percent in Precinct 8 — the Democrat fell behind Klimesh in each of the six counties which make up District 32, according to numbers from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. And Klimesh overtook Bruening by about 2 percent — or about 34 votes — in Precinct 3, which includes southern Decorah and other portions of that area.
Democrat Sarah Corkery was the top choice among a handful of Decorah precincts, but it was incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson whom Winneshiek County voters favored in the race for Iowa’s District 2 seat in the U.S. House. Corkery earned more than 65 percent in Precincts 4 through 7, and she squeaked by Hinson by 5 percent in Precinct 9 and lost Precinct 3 by about 3 percent — or about 46 votes. Elsewhere in the county, support for Hinson never dipped below 60 percent, reaching past 70 percent in southern and western portions of the county, with her greatest support from local voters being reported at 75 percent in Precinct 12. No-party candidate Jody Puffett failed to gain more than 3 percent in any of the county’s 12 precincts.
Precincts split 6-6 on presidential ticket
At the top of the ballot, third-party candidates tallied a few percentage points, and Winneshiek County’s 12 voting precincts were evenly split between the two major party candidates. President Donald Trump ultimately won Winneshiek County overall, but he and Vice President Kamala Harris each saw six Winneshiek County precincts vote in their favor last week. Precinct 10 was the most supportive of President-elect Trump, with about 73 percent of the ballots there favoring the Republican candidate — Precincts 1 and 12 weren’t far behind with 71 percent. Harris took the lead in several precincts near the county seat. The Democratic candidate earned about 70 percent support in at least three Decorah precincts, with her lowest Winneshiek County win marked at 52 percent in Precinct 3.
County support for school bond radiated from Decorah
The school bond measure which appeared on last week’s ballots wasn’t a partisan issue, but support for the $38 million bond proposed by Decorah Schools for the construction of a new elementary building was still concentrated in northern Decorah. The measure required 60 percent support for approval. It received 67 percent support overall — 5,087 votes to 2,536 — and the proposal saw no less than 73 percent approval from voters in any precinct within the city of Decorah. The bond received 66 percent support from voters in Precinct 9, which surrounds the Decorah. The measure maintained a majority across eastern Winneshiek County but dipped below the 60 percent threshold in Precincts 2 and 10 — overall, the measure received 67 percent support. Opposition to the bond only outnumbered support in two of the county’s 12 precincts. Precinct 1 saw about 80 more votes against the proposed bond than it did votes in support. Only a small portion of the Decorah School District crosses into Winneshiek County’s Precinct 12, which recorded only three votes on the proposed bond — two against the measure and one for it.
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Thank you for the coverage. The maps help me understand the voter turnouts.
Left leaning Decorah? Can you include the actual vote counts to support your opinion? Your paper is beyond left leaning, which is why we don’t subscribe. Liberal Luther College students are also allowed to vote, which you made sure to cover in another one of your articles——which are actually more like editorials. You’re not a legitimate newspaper, you’re more like MSNBC & CNN only you’re in sheltered little Decorah Iowa. Send me the vote counts and I’ll decide for myself, the numbers are what you should be printing, not “your take” on the numbers.
Hello, Audrey. Thanks for the feedback. The vote counts from the auditor’s office were incorporated into the maps as part of this article. You can see them by hovering your desktop cursor over any of the 12 precincts. If you’re using a mobile device, tapping on a precinct will bring up the numbers below the map.