Voters Elect New County Assessor

The Cheyenne County voters made their decision Tuesday, choosing a new name for county assessor.

Voters chose Melody Keller over Sybil Prosser by a margin of 860 to 479, according to the unofficial Primary Election results.

"It has been my honor to serve the citizens of Cheyenne County," Prosser said Wednesday afternoon. "The people have spoken and I deeply respect their decision. I congratulate Melody Keller and wish her the best."

Melody Keller, Cheyenne County Assessor elect, thanked voters for their support.

"It's amazing," she said after the election. "I thank God for great family and friends."

She takes office in January. Until then, she says she will be doing a lot of studying and learning.

In the Leyton School Board election, of the 10 candidates for board seats, Cary L. Linton earned the most votes with 155, Anne Rexroth came in second with 132 and Galen Bartling with 129. Seven candidates earned less than 100 votes each: Ryan Borges earned 96, Lloyd Searles 90, Jennifer Powell 81, Samuel Schumacher 79, Ryan Jenson 74 and Katherine Rieken 64.

In the Potter-Dix School Board election, Linda Shoemaker earned 113 votes, followed by Mike Rotert with 78, Joseph Niclas and Keri Rasmussen Mendoza with 76 each, Betsy Galloway-Carew with 59, Chandell Oleson with 31 and Bruce Juelfs with 25. On May 1, Juelfs contacted the Sun-Telegraph to say he "will not be able to accept a position on the school board since I have been asked to move back to Colorado for my job."

Cheyenne County voters in the Creek Valley School District chose Doug Mashek with 95 votes, followed by Roger Hodges with 66, Vickie Brown with 51, Troy Isenbart with 48, Julie Koenen with 31 and Travis Williams with 28. On May 7, Koenen contacted the Sun-Telegraph to say "due to extenuating circumstances, I will be pulling my name out of the race."

Deuel County voters in the Creek Valley School District supported Roger Hodges with 197 votes, Vickie Brown with 174 votes, Travis Williams with 156, Aaron Stegeman with 154, Troy Isenbart with 137, Doug Mashek with 118 and Julie Koenen with 90.

In the statewide race, Cheyenne County voters chose Pete Ricketts with 1,083 votes. The closest opponent was Krystal Gabel with 260 votes. Democratic candidates Bob Krist earned 97 votes, Vanessa Ward 62, and Tyler Davis 58.

Republican Bob Evnen lead the Secretary of State race locally with 682 votes, followed by Debra Perrell (Republican) with 459 and Spencer Danner (Democrat) with 197.

The local decision for State Treasurer is one of the closest in the Primary, decided by 71 votes. John Murante took the lead with 588 and Taylor Royal came in second with 517.

For the office of Attorney General, Republican Doug Peterson earned 1,097 and Democrat Evangelos Argyrakis earned 184.

For the office of State Auditor, Republican Charlie Janssen earned 1,058 votes and Jane Skinner earned 195.