Record voter turn-out for Nov. 3 election
By Shelia Tomkins
A record number of Iowans took part in the 2020 general election on Tuesday, Nov. 3, with approximately 77% of eligible voters casting ballots. Clayton County exceeded the state participation numbers with nearly 82% of the county's registered voters casting ballots— 9,636 voters out of 11,661 registered. County voting was almost evenly divided between absentee voters (4,750) and Election Day voters (4,886).
At the Jefferson Township precinct voting site at the Guttenberg Municipal Building, election officials saw a steady stream of voters from the time the polls opened at 7 a.m. until they closed in the evening, with a count of 834 in-person voters by the end of the day. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of those voting wore masks, and the floor was marked off every six feet to stay in compliance with social distancing recommendations.
County races will be confirmed following an official canvass of votes by the Clayton County Board of Supervisors.
After days of waiting and nationwide ballot counting, major news outlets projected on Saturday that Joe Biden/Kamala Harris won the contest over the incumbent ticket of President Donald Trump/Michael Pence. In other races, Joni Ernst was declared the winner of the U.S. Senate race, and Ashley Hinson won the race for U. S. Representative in District 1. In state races of local interest, Michael Bergan and Anne Osmundson were re-elected to the Iowa House and Mike Klimesh won the state senate race.
County voting results
In unofficial results released by the Clayton County Auditor last week, Clayton County voters in 14 precincts chose the following candidates:
County offices
Board of Supervisors: Ray Peterson 6,169, Lester Simons 2,949.
County Auditor: Jennifer Garms, 7,078 (unopposed)
County Sheriff: Michael Tschirgi 8,398 (unopposed)
County Attorney: Zach Herrmann 8,000 (unopposed)
Township Trustee: The following in The Press readership area were elected to township trustee offices: Buena Vista, Kevin Hefel; Clayton, Michael Oberbroeckling; Garnavillo, James Meier; Jefferson, Jeff Burr; Mallory, Dennis Walthart; Volga, Kris Lau; Millville, Michael Finnegan; township clerk, Volga, Una Groth.
Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioner: Vote for no more than 3 — Gerry Ommen 3,179, Tina Troester 3,615, Robert Sass 4,114, Peter Kerns 2,367, Mary Collins 2,135, Charlie Carroll 1,904.
Clayton County Agricultural Extension Council: Vote for no more than 4 - Aaron Hamann 4,189, Cynthia Petsche 3,465, Ben Wikner 4,538, Emily Amundson 4,023, Julie Bergan 4,662.
Judicial ballot
Clayton County residents voted in favor of retaining all current judges on the ballot. They voted no on an amendment to the state constitution asking if there should be a convention to revise the current constitution.
State candidates
State Senator District 28: Mike Klimesh 5,957; Matt Tapscott 3,252.
State Representative District 55: Michael Bergan 689, Kayla Koether 595
State Representative District 56: Anne Osmundson 5,525, Angela Reed 2,396
Federal offices
U.S. Senator: Joni Ernst 5,844; Theresa Greenfield 3,433. U.S. Representative District 1: Ashley Hinson 5,894; Abby Finkenauer 3,589.
President and Vice-President: Donald Trump and Michael Pence captured a wide majority of Clayton County votes with 6,105; Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris tallied 3,339.
