Mahaska County Voters Select Candidates
Republican Mike Vander Molen watches as results are written on the large blackboard at the Courthouse Tuesday evening.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Voter turnout was considered low for the primary vote which was filled with emotions and controversy that surrounded one candidate and saw the emergence of some unknown candidates.
In the end, Mike Vander Molen defeated incumbent Henry ‘Willie’ VanWeelden and Alven Meppelink to receive the Republican nomination for Mahaska County Supervisor. On the Democrat side, State Senator Tom Rielly defeated Denis Currier for the nomination.
While the votes continued to come in, VanWeelden acknowledged things didn’t look good for his re-election after having served the county for 12 years. VanWeelden said he believed that the publicity and trial over fraud charges hurt his chances at being re-elected.
Republican nominee Mike Vander Molen thanked VanWeelden first thing saying, “I want to thank Willie for his 12 years of service. He’s got a strong record and put in a lot of hard work and he definitely needs to be commended for that. Going forward, there’s a lot that separates me from my opponent [Tom Rielly] in November. Mainly, I’m somebody who truly wants to be county supervisor. I’m not looking to fill this role to stay in political office. I truly want to help the people of Mahaska County.”
Vander Molen says that he’s looking forward to knowing the residents of Mahaska County better in the next few months, “having conversations with them about the future of the county. I can’t wait to get started tomorrow.”
Mikes opponent in the general election will be Tom Rielly, who has a record as Mayor of Oskaloosa and also a State Senator. “Well I think the results tonight show that I can beat somebody who has a lot of name recognition. The results kind of speak for themselves. I won’t be outworked and I’m going to get to know every single person in Oskaloosa and Mahaska County and I’m going to get very personal with them and we’re going to talk truly about the future of the county and where we’re headed. It’s about time we had that conversation.”
VanWeelden congratulated Vander Molen in front of the blackboard that displayed the results from the days vote.
VanWeelden said, “It is what it is.” VanWeelden says he doesn’t have any particular plans in mind after his time as Supervisor is over. “I’ve got a lot of work to do out there [his home] that I’ve let go.”
Comments from both Currier and Rielly were unavailable when this article was published. The unofficial results for the entire evening are listed below:
U.S. Representative District 2 – Republican
John Archer – 745
Dan Dolan – 511
Write-In – 2
U.S. Representative District 2 – Democrat
Dave Loebsack – 196
Joe M. Seng – 47
State Senate District 40 – Republican
Ken Rozenboom – 1249
Write-In – 15
State Senate District 40 – Democrat
Write-In – 18
State Representative Distinct 79 – Republican
Guy Vander Linden – 994
Write-In – 7
State Representative District 79 – Democrat
Chris Wilson – 176
Write-In – 1
State Representative District 80 – Republican
Larry Sheets – 221
State Representative District 80 – Democrat
Joseph Judge – 40
Mahaska County Supervisor – Republican
Alven Meppelink – 113
Michael Vander Molen – 722
Henry W. Van Weelden – 547
Write-In – 3
Mahaska County Supervisor – Democrat
Denis Currier – 28
Tom Rielly – 244
Write-In – 1
Mahaska County Auditor – Republican
Susan L. Brown – 1182
Write-In – 7
Mahaska County Auditor – Democrat
Write-In – 5
Mahaska County Sheriff – Republican
Write-In – 71
Mahaska County Sheriff – Democrat
Paul R. DeGeest – 255
Write-In – 5
