Wanders And Parker Leading In Votes For County Supervisor Positions
Steve Parker (left) and Steve Wanders (right) shake hands after the results came in on Tuesday night.
Four outstanding absentee votes remain.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The race for the Republican nod for county supervisor is a nail-biter.
Steve Wanders is the top vote-getter with 1170 votes, while Steve Parker and Paul De Geest are separated by two votes, 1113 and 1111 respectively.
The four outstanding absentee ballots must have been postmarked correctly in order to be valid for the Monday canvas of the election, that will name the primary winners.
Wanders spoke with Oskaloosa News after the results came in. “I think the people voted. I think they showed up.”
Going forward, Wanders says he’s looking forward to November when the general election would take place. If no contenders from Mahaska County Democrats or Independent candidates join the ballot, Wanders would more than likely be voted in as Supervisor.
Wanders says the campaign has “been a blast. I’m glad to see the voters take the bull by the horns and get ‘er done.”
“We went into here to have fun, and it’s been fun and enjoyable and I’ve met a lot of great people and campaigning is more fun than I thought it would be,” added Wanders. “You just don’t ever have enough time to do it like you want to.”
For Steve Parker, the wait continues until Monday to find out his campaign’s future.
He currently leads Paul De Geest by two votes, one of the narrowest margins in recent memory.
“It was a good close race and it was clean,” said Parker.
Meeting people was one of those things Parker also enjoyed while on the campaign trail. “[Meeting] people I’ve never saw before. Lived in the same county for 60 some years and never knew who they was. I really enjoyed talking to them.”
For Parker, the airport issue, “I can’t believe it’s tore families apart. 70-year-olds use to spend time together don’t anymore because of this. One’s on one side of the issue and the other’s on the other side of the issue.”
Oskaloosa News asked if Parker had a plan in place to help people heal those feelings going forward. “I’d like to see us get together and talk some things out, because, like I’ve said, I don’t believe the airport is needed. We’ve got an airport.”
Incumbent Willie Van Weelden had the least amount of votes with 1025, and had no comment after the results came in.
Paul De Geest was not at the courthouse for a comment as of press time.
Update to this story. De Geest is trailing Parker by a single vote as of Friday, June 8th, and has asked for a recount of the votes. Superviosors will certify the election on Monday, June 11th, 2018.
