
More than 3,600 write-in votes cast in Midd-West School Board race
MIDDLEBURG — The 3,666 write-in votes cast in the primary race for Midd-West School board in Snyder County have been tallied.
There are four four-year terms and one two-year term up for election in November.
The Republican nominations for the four-year seats were secured by Victor Abate, Elizabeth Canfield, Brian Black and Zachary Peterson.
The highest vote-getters to receive the Democratic nomination for the four-year seats were incumbent board member Christopher Nesbit, Heidi Stroup, Jarek Glenny and Abate.
Todd Hollenbach received the most write-in votes for the Republican and Democratic nominations for the two-year seat. A total of 553 votes were cast in the race for the two-year term.
Abate, the only candidate to file a petition seeking the Republican nomination in the May 20 primary, received 779 votes. He also received enough write-in votes to secure one of four Democratic nominations.
There were 2,940 write-in votes cast for the Republican nomination in the four-year seat race. Canfield received 477 votes; Black got 452 votes and Peterson received 442 votes.
A total of 173 write-in votes were cast for the Democratic nomination in the four-year seat race. The four top vote-getters were Nesbit, who received 46 votes; Stroup with 24 votes; Jarek received 21 votes and Abate with 19 votes.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans reject ranked choice voting nationwide. Why?
The conservative backlash against ranked choice voting grew to over one-third of U.S. states last week as Iowa became the 17th Republican-controlled legislature in less than four years to ban the alternative voting system. Besides Iowa, states prohibiting ranked choice voting this year include Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming. These states follow on the heels of Florida and Tennessee that turned against the once-popular voting system in 2022. Unlike Utah, none of these 17 states ever implemented ranked choice voting, which is marketed by its cheerleaders as a way to give voters more options, incentivize centrist election outcomes and turn down the temperature of political rhetoric. But the Beehive State, too, may be seeing enthusiasm wane for its experiment with ranked choice voting. Some municipalities that tested the unique process have reported unintuitive election results, voter confusion and decreased turnout. There is also a partisan element. Along with mail-in ballots and voter roll cleanup, ranked choice voting has been thrown into the middle of a nationwide debate over how to increase trust in election results. 'It's gotten caught in the political division that's in our country right now,' said Kelleen Potter, the executive director of Utah Ranked Choice Voting. Now, as the Utah Legislature's seven-year ranked choice voting pilot program comes to a close, Potter hopes lawmakers will allow local governments leaders who like the voting program to continue using it indefinitely. Over the past three municipal election cycles, two dozen Utah cities have used ranked choice voting. But after an initial burst of interest, the craze might be fizzling out. In 2019, two cities utilized ranked choice voting. In 2021, that number shot up to 23. In 2023, it fell to 12. And this year, only four cities plan to have ranked choice elections: Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Millcreek and Midvale. Ranked choice voting differs from America's traditional 'first-past-the-post' process, where each voter casts one ballot for one candidate. Instead, voters are asked to arrange candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated and ballots are redistributed based on subsequent rankings until a candidate receives a majority. Advocates argue the process encourages candidates to seek broad support, opens the door for third parties and removes the pressure to vote for the lesser of two evils. 'It's done exactly what it was supposed to do,' Potter said of the pilot program. 'Consistently in all the surveys that have been done, the majority of voters have liked using it.' A Utah Ranked Choice Voting poll in 2021 found that over 85% of voters who used ranked choice voting liked it. A Millcreek poll found that around 70% of voters also liked it. And a UVU analysis found support among around 60% of Utahns who had used ranked choice voting. But critics counter that in crowded contests, the process relies on an opaque algorithm that can be hard to understand, throws out incomplete ballots and fosters skepticism. Several years after Republicans brought ranked choice voting to Utah — former state GOP chair Stan Lockhart is a prominent proponent of the system — GOP lawmakers appear ready to ditch it. A 2025 bill that would have extended the voting program for another decade was killed before it ever came up for a vote. When bill sponsor Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, was asked whether he thought there was a desire among lawmakers to let cities continue using ranked choice voting, he said his last attempt showed the answer is 'a resounding 'NO.'' Even though some of this reaction is surely partisan — Trump has called ranked choice voting 'one of the greatest threats to democracy' — much of it is driven by legitimate concerns about introducing a novel election system during such a fraught political environment, according to Lisa Dixon, the executive director of the right-leaning Center for Election Confidence. 'People are seeing that, on the one hand, it introduces some new problems,' Dixon said. 'And then, on the flip side, we've also seen that it doesn't always deliver its promises of creating consensus candidates that are more in the middle.' Where it has been implemented statewide, it has sometimes produced 'unpredictable' outcomes, Dixon said, as in the case of Republican Sarah Palin's loss to Democrat Mary Peltola in Alaska's 2022 special at-large House race, where a large majority of voters preferred Republican representation. That same year, a ranked choice election for a school board seat in Oakland, California, declared the wrong candidate as the winner because of a programming glitch. But the wrong candidate was certified before a recount identified the error. And while the 2021 New York City mayoral race has been touted as an example of ranked choice voting electing a more moderate candidate — Mayor Eric Adams — this year, it appears that multiple progressive groups are attempting to game the system to elect a self-described socialist. 'Whatever the problem that we're trying to fix in our country, we shouldn't be abandoning what we currently do, and turning to a system that's going to introduce more problems,' Dixon said.
Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Los Angeles DA delivers scathing warning to violent protesters causing havoc: 'We're coming for you'
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman sent a strong warning Wednesday to those behind the recent riot violence: "We will track you down. We will arrest you. We will prosecute you. And we will punish you." Standing with LA Sheriff Robert Luna and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, Hochman announced felony charges against several rioters accused of attacking officers, looting stores and vandalizing public property. More arrests and charges are expected in the coming days. "Let me provide some bad news for you," Hochman said. "There's a tremendous amount of video out there through social media, and otherwise we will know who you are, who engaged in this conduct. … So, for people who've already engaged in this, in this illegal activity, we're coming for you." Ice Ramps Up Arrests Of Convicted Criminals As Riots Rage In Blue City: 'You Will Not Stop Us' Five criminal cases were detailed during the press conference. Juan Rodriguez of Gardena is accused of handing out and throwing commercial-grade fireworks at LAPD officers, injuring one. He faces over six years in prison. Randy Paul Ruiz and Georgina Rava-Yero allegedly drove motorcycles into a police line, injuring officers. Both face felony charges and over six years in prison. In a separate case, Timmy Paulk and Rayven Mitchell were charged with allegedly looting a Nike store downtown. They face up to three years in prison. Read On The Fox News App Senator Launches Investigation Into Democratic Org Over Potential Support For La Rioters Ulysses Sanchez, a three-strike felon, was charged with assault and gun possession after allegedly recklessly driving through downtown and injuring bystanders. He could face 25 years to life. Christopher Gonzalez and Yoselin Johnson were charged with felony vandalism after allegedly painting graffiti on the Hall of Justice. Deputies say they found paint buckets and a large roller pole in their car. "These are not protesters," said Sheriff Luna. "There's a big distinction between individuals that protest and demonstrate to violent, destructive, basically anarchist. ... What we're talking about are the individuals who don't care about the issue at hand." Luna praised the district attorney for taking fast action, assigning a special prosecutor to focus on crimes against law enforcement. He also noted help from federal agencies, with some suspects possibly facing federal charges. Chief McDonnell revealed some of the dangers officers have faced in recent days. He said officers have been targeted with fireworks, Molotov cocktails and even mortars. "This is no longer a protest when commercial-grade fireworks are being used as weapons, and our officers are under direct attack," he said. "That's not free speech. That's a felony. "We will facilitate all peaceful First Amendment activity," said Sheriff Luna. "But when you have people that are out here to commit acts of violence, against our deputy sheriffs or police officers or, just, they're destroying our city. We're going to stop it."Original article source: Los Angeles DA delivers scathing warning to violent protesters causing havoc: 'We're coming for you'

Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Poll shows low-profile New York City comptroller race narrowing in the home stretch
NEW YORK — A new poll shows the race for New York City comptroller tightening, with Justin Brannan narrowing the gap in a contest still led by Mark Levine. And with less than two weeks until the Democratic primary, nearly half of New Yorkers remain undecided in the race to be the city's top fiscal watchdog, according to the poll Brannan's team commissioned and shared in full with POLITICO. It was conducted by Public Policy Polling, and queried 573 likely primary voters between June 6 and 7, with a 4.1 percent margin of error. Levine, the Manhattan borough president, led Brannan — the City Council finance committee chair — 30 percent to 19 percent among likely Democratic voters, according to the poll. That same survey showed state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani leapfrogging Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary. The 11-point gap was smaller than a May 27 survey from Honan Strategy Group that had Levine at 38 percent and Brannan at 13 percent, a shift that left the Brooklyn lawmaker's team feeling bullish. Both surveys found 44 percent of likely voters undecided. 'A race that was once considered locked up is now anything but,' Brannan campaign adviser Alyssa Cass wrote in a campaign memo shared with POLITICO. 'As nearly half the electorate remains undecided, Brannan is the candidate with the most room to grow and the clearest path to an upset.' Brannan's team believes the tides will continue to shift in his favor. They cited the smaller gap that came after 10 days of going on air with a television ad along with a niche stat from their poll: Of voters who had seen Brannan's ads, they preferred him 40 percent to 37 percent. Those viewers, however, made up a small slice of the electorate at 23 percent. And it was unclear how many of those people knew of Levine or his campaign. Levine's camp countered that the polls have consistently shown him ahead of Brannan by double digits. And they touted the endorsement Wednesday night of a major municipal labor group. 'Mark has all the momentum in this race. We just earned the endorsement of the United Federation of Teachers, representing hundreds of thousands of NYC public school educators — adding to the 180-plus elected officials, faith leaders, labor unions and community groups backing our campaign,' Campaign Manager Matt Rubin said in a statement. 'Right now, we're focused on connecting with New Yorkers where they are — on the streets, at subway stops and at their doors.' A person on Levine's team also took issue with the survey methodology, suggesting it over sampled Brannan's home borough of Brooklyn — especially with affluent voters — and under sampled Black voters Levine is doing better with. The Public Policy Polling showed few New Yorkers have barely tuned into the contest: More than half of those surveyed had no opinion about the favorability of the two candidates, and around half of the likely Democratic primary voters had not seen an ad for either. Brannan and Levine were the only two comptroller candidates to qualify for a pair of televised debates, which mainly showcased how little they differ on policy. During their first meeting, they engaged in several back-and-forths over President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but had a conspicuous aversion to talking about Andrew Cuomo, who at the time had been leading the mayoral Democratic primary in every poll.