Scholl wins Humboldt mayor contest

Humboldt’s First Ward Councilman Dan Scholl will be Humboldt’s new mayor beginning Jan. 1, 2016. Scholl won a three-way race, according to unofficial results released by the Humboldt County Auditor’s office after Tuesday’s vote. According to totals, Scholl polled nearly 79 percent of the total votes cast with 747, compared to 169 for incumbent Mayor Walter Jensen. Jensen has served as the city’s mayor since 2008, after having served on the Humboldt City Council several years prior to that. Barry Ellis was the other declared candidate for mayor and he received 31 votes. To fill Scholl’s seat as 1st Ward Councilman, voters chose a familiar face, former at-large Humboldt City Councilman Jim Vermeer. Vermeer received 70 of 114 votes cast. There were uncontested races for Humboldt’s Ward 2 and Ward 3 races, with incumbents John Sleiter (259 votes) and Joel Goodell (240 votes) both easily winning re-election. For the Humboldt Park Board Commissioner, incumbents Lance DeWinter, Mike Worthington and Tom Tecklenberg were all re-elected — Tecklenberg by write-in. In Gilmore City, the Gilmore City Council will be getting two new members, if unofficial election totals hold up. Five candidates were running for three seats. Incumbent Brittany Dickey received the most votes with 97, and will be retaining her seat. Challengers Paul J. Fields (66) and Denny Frederiksen (62) will be assuming council seats come January, knocking off incumbent Council members Lavonne Hoover (59) and Tim Smith (44). Gilmore City Mayor Dennis Miller was elected to another term, defeating David R. Miller, 89 votes to 20. There were no other contested races in the county. Write-in votes determined mayors in Livermore and Thor, a council member in Rutland and two council members in Renwick. As has become tradition, no one took out nomination papers for city offices in the towns of Bradgate, Pioneer and Ottosen. All of those offices were filled by write-in on Tuesday. According to the auditor's office, of the county's 4,646 registered voters, just 28.8 percent, or 1,338 people cast ballots. City elections typically have smaller turnouts that county/state/federal general elections. To read more about election coverage, see the Nov. 12 issue of the Humboldt Independent, your source for local news and sports. Subscribe by clicking on the link at the top of this page.