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Gottman wins third term; Tish, Deal win Brownstown, St. Elmo posts

Rick Gottman garnered two-thirds of the vote on Tuesday in winning a third term as Vandalia’s mayor.

But residents of Brownstown and St. Elmo decided it was time for a change, unseating their incumbent leaders.

In Brownstown, Billy “B.J.” Deal defeated incumbent Chuck Fitch in the village president’s race, and in St. Elmo, incumbent Jayson Porter was beaten by challenger Larry Tish.

Also on Tuesday, residents of St. Elmo approved the consolidation of their school district with the Brownstown School District, but the measure failed because voters in Brownstown rejected the proposal.

In the race for a seat on the Vandalia Board of Education, incumbent Chris Palmer defeated challenger Braxton Denton.

And voters in Vandalia Township chose Republican Beverly Daniels to succeed her husband, Gene, as their supervisor.

Gottman, who began serving as Vandalia’s mayor after eight years as an alderman, won every precinct in receiving 886 votes on Tuesday.

Neil Clark finished second in the race, with 299 votes, and John D. Wehrle received 156 votes.

City Clerk Peggy Bowen, with 1,197 votes, and City Treasurer Marjorie Blythe, with 1,137 votes, were re-elected without opposition.

Tuesday’s election included only one race for an aldermanic seat. Dean Black, who was appointed to a Ward II seat late last year, won election to that seat.

Black received 202 votes, topping Roger Hill (89 votes) and Robert Bell (43 votes).

Other city aldermen were re-elected without opposition.

Jerry Swarm won another term in Ward I with 112 votes, Mike Hobler received 260 votes in winning another four-year term in Ward III, and Chad Feldpouch won re-election to a Ward IV seat with 411 votes. Lisa McNutt, who was appointed to a Ward III seat after her father, Von Duggins, moved out of the ward, received 216 votes in being elected to that seat for the next two years.

In Brownstown, Deal, who has been serving as a village trustee, received 152 votes to defeat Fitch (54 votes), who was running for a second term as village president.

Winning trustee seats were Tracie Reibel (128 votes), Donald Lovett (129) and Virginia Wilber (128).

In St. Elmo, Tish received 349 votes to defeat Porter, who was appointed to the mayoral seat in December 2007 after Randy Watson resigned. Porter has been serving as both the mayor and alderman since that time.

City Clerk Lynne Helsel (397 votes) and City Treasurer Mary Magnus (429 votes) were re-elected without opposition.

Winning aldermanic seats in St. Elmo were Michael D. McCall, Jaimee Blankenship and Chris Worman.

McCall (78 votes) defeated Rita Davis (32 votes) and James D. Russell (33 votes) for a Ward I seat. Blankenship ran unopposed in Ward II and received 132 votes.

In Ward III, former mayor Chris Worman defeated incumbent Stormy Dilley, 111-59.

In other Fayette County municipalities:

Bingham

Village President – Clifford R. Snider, 11.

Village Clerk – Patricia Whetstone, 10.

Trustees – Clifford E. Snider, 11; Larry M. Whetstone, 10; and Donald B. Snider, 8.

Farina

Village President – Butch Butts, 83; and Edward C. Blomberg, 50.

Trustees – Phillip Shumate, 102; and Ralph Whitt, 87. A third seat will be filled with an appointment.

Ramsey

Village President – John Adermann, 121.

Village Clerk – Heather Seaton, 129.

Trustees (three elected) – Roger Eller, 107; Anthony B. Eller, 60; Steven J. Marley, 84; Justin Fahringer, 19; and Jeffery W. Wright, 107.

St. Peter

Village President – John Lotz, 85.

Village Clerk – Glori Magnus, 86.

Trustees (three elected) – Douglas P. Schafer, 74; Jeff Lotz, 70; Matt Hoover, 63; and Matthew Benning, 57.

On the school consolidation issue, voters in St. Elmo approved the referendum by a sizeable margin, 622-370. The measure failed in Brownstown, 373-339.

Palmer won a second term on the Vandalia Board of Education by defeating Denton, 1,346-1,223.

Also winning re-election to the Vandalia School Board were J. Jay Carroll (1,438 votes) and Joe Lawson (1,637).

The board will fill a fourth vacancy through appointment. Tammy Woolsey chose not to seek re-election.

In Brownstown, Randy Mason defeated Kent Kistler, 436-335, for a seat on the board. Also elected were Katriena Kroll, 452; Teresa Barnick, 533; and Laura Willms, 593.

In St. Elmo, Andra Carson defeated Bruce Austin, 651-376, for a seat on the school board. Kevin Maxey (615 votes) and Chad Wilhour (513) outdistanced Debbie Parks (482) for two other available seats, and Douglas Aderman (641 votes) also was elected to the board.

In Ramsey, Jim Masset defeated Justin Fahringer, 320-53, for a two-year seat on the school board.

Winning four-year seats were Jeremy Kelly (325 votes), Shane Hadley (303), Brent Moreland (268) and Patrick Reiss (326).

Vandalia Township

Daniels edged Democrat Leon Bowen by just 12 votes, 812-800, to win the supervisor’s post that had been held by her husband for the past 20 years.

Clerk Boyd Ledbetter (1,408) and Assessor Don Bernhardt (1,336 votes) were unopposed in their bids for re-election. Both are Republicans.

In the highway commissioner race, Republican incumbent Tony Draege defeated Democratic challenger Cody Miller, 874-723.

Winning trustee seats were Republicans Gary Ehrat (834 votes) and Max Reuscher (717), and Democrats Randy Braun (822) and Deb Brantley (703).

Also running for trustee seats were Republicans Ron Blunt (693) and Michele Barker (680), and Democrats Jodi Craycroft (649) and Brian Donnals (669).

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