Hulslander wins four-man race for Elmwood mayor

By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post

Without a hotly contested presidential duel to fuel turnout, Tuesday’s consolidated election saw light voter turnout at most polling places and very few contested races in central Illinois.
But there were still some races of interest, particularly in Elmwood, which was a relative hotbed for contested elections – a fact reflected in voter turnout that topped 41 percent in the city.
Among the races taht voters decided was the four-man runoff to be mayor of Elmwood.
John “JD” Hulslander won the election with 242 of 595 votes cast or 40.7 percent of the total ballots. Dave Ramsay was second with 178 votes and 29.9 percent, Brandon Butler was third with 115 votes for 19.3 percent and Dave Courson received 60 votes and 10.1 percent.
This will be Hulslander’s third term as mayor, a position he held previously from 2009-2017.
Elmwood Township also had two contested races. In the election for Elmwood Township Supervisor, Connie Davis won after receiving 344 of 622 votes cast for 55.3 percent. Tammy J. McCoy got 278 votes and 44.7 percent.
In the election for Elmwood Township trustee, the four winners were:
• Robert E. Shoop (419 votes, 22.9 percent),
• Brian Windish (408, 22.3),
• Gene Gibson (356, 19.45) and,
• Bill L. Atwood (345, 18.85).
Wyatt McCoy had 302 votes.
School board elections were also contested in Elmwood and in Farmington.
Five candidates were running for three, four-year seats for the school board for Elmwood School District #322.
Unofficial results, which do not include votes cast in one Knox County precinct, show the three leaders as:
• Katie Vaughan (506 votes, 27.7 percent of those case in Peoria County),
• incumbent Mark Davis (403, 22.1 percent) and,
• Kevin Windish (321, 17.6 percent).
Thomas M. Maier was next at 310 votes and 17.0 percent and Brett W. Powers had 285 votes for 15.6 percent.
The Knox County election results showed only “N/A” next to the names of the Elmwood school board candidates at press time.
Five candidates were also running for three, four-year school board seats in Farmington CUSD No. 265. The three winners, with votes tabulated from Fulton, Peoria and Knox counties, were:
• Keith Deppermann, 528 votes,
• Daniel Gorsuch, 487 votes,
• Dustin Blunier, 405 votes.
Incumbents Ron Zessin (372 votes) and B.J. Oldfield (302 votes) rounded out the race.
Still to be determined for the Farmington School Board is how the board will handle selecting someone to serve a two-year seat, since nobody ran in that election, which was also on the ballot.
In Farmington, David Black won as Ward 3 Alderman with 78 votes and 56.1 percent to Jeni Crusen’s 61 votes and 43.9 percent of ballots cast.
The Farmington Township Highway Commissioner election went to Democrat Travis Mahr, who collected 236 votes and 62.4 percent of ballots cast to top Steven G. Black, who was at 142 votes and 37.6 percent.
In the race for Salem Township Highway Commissioner, Blake Clark won with 105 votes and 52.2 percent of ballots cast against write-in candidate John Woodcock, who collected 96 votes and 47.8 percent of the unofficial tally, although his name was not listed on the Knox County election results website.
In Yates City, two write-in candidates faced off to be village president, with incumbent Leslie Gavelys facing Ken Vallas. But the Knox County election results page showed only that 103 write-in votes had been cast in the election, and did not provide a breakdown.
Vallas said he had not heard a result, either.
Also unclear is the final result in the race for two seats for a two-year term for Yates City Village Trustee. Seth Lekies won one of the seats with 103 votes and 70.1 percent of ballots, but the write-in votes for David Mahr and George M. Murphy were not broken down on the Knox County election results website.