http://www.lemarssentinel.com/story/1434116.html
Loutsch defeats Schneider in county supervisor race
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
By Amy Erickson
Republican challenger Mark Loutsch unseated incumbent John Schneider as the District 2 Plymouth County supervisor in Tuesday's primary election.
Based on unofficial numbers, Loutsch brought in 682 votes compared to Schneider's 386.
As he celebrated with family Tuesday night, Loutsch said he was surprised at the wide gap in the number of votes between himself and Schneider, but that the people had spoken.
"I thought it would be a close race because the incumbent generally has an edge," Loutsch said. "I'm kind of excited because I feel the people believe I can help the county improve."
Loutsch won eight of the 12 precincts pulling in the most votes from Remsen, Precinct 5, with 188 compared to Schneider's 10. Loutsch also overtook Schneider in absentee votes by 35.
Schneider, who is serving his first four-year term as supervisor, said he too was dismayed at the "lopsided" numbers.
"Apparently I didn't communicate my positions well enough to the public and how they would be a benefit to the community," Schneider said.
But, he said, it was a clean campaign and he wished Loutsch luck.
"I'm sure it's going to be a pretty steep learning curve for him, but I believe he has the ability to do it," Schneider said. "I wish Mark (Loutsch) all the best."
He also thanked his supporters in this election and four years ago, and said he has no immediate plans to run for future offices.
"You can never say never, but I have no plans at this time," Schneider said. "For the most part being a supervisor has been an enjoyable experience."
Voters in Tuesday's primary election also cast their votes on either a Republican ballot for incumbent Jim Henrich for the District 5 seat on the board of supervisors or on a Democrat ballot for challenger Bill Koopman.
Henrich brought in 838 votes and Koopman 128. The two will face off for the District 5 seat at the general election in November.
Also on the Republican ballot were Stacey Feldman, running unopposed for her first term as county auditor with 874 votes, and Mike VanOtterloo for his fifth term as Plymouth County's sheriff with 931 votes.
Feldman, who has worked 5 1/2 years in the auditor's office, said she decided to run for the position after K. Kae Meyer announced her decision to retire as auditor at the end of the year.
"My experience working in the office has lead me to run and I think it's the right fit for me," Feldman said. "I've worked with the board of supervisors, been mentoring under Kae and working with the public and that has prepared me for this position."
Although the total number of voters was unknown at press time, election officials estimate a little more than 1,000 people visited the polls. Based on that estimate about 5 percent of the 17,210 registered voters came out Tuesday.
There was also one race to choose a Republican nomination on the federal level in Tuesday's election. Republican voters chose Christopher Reed among three other challengers for the United States Senator nomination with 378 votes. He will face Democrat incumbent Tom Harkin in the general election.
Below is the breakdown of offices on both federal and state levels. See chart on page 8 for unofficial numbers for the full primary election.
Federal Offices:
*Republican incumbent Steve King ran unopposed for U.S. Representative District 5 seat and will face Democrat challenger Rob Hubler.
State offices:
*Republican incumbent Dan Huseman ran unopposed for state Representative District 53 and will face Democrat challenger Lori Sokolowski.
*Republican incumbent Chuck Soderberg ran unopposed for state Representative District 3 and will face Democrat challenger T.J. Templeton.
*Republican Randy Feenstra ran unopposed for state Senator District 2 and currently does not have a Democrat challenger.