WALTER WINS FOR FREEMAN MAYOR, FRANSEN FOR SCHOOL BOARD

Michael Walter will be Freeman’s next mayor. 

The local businessman won the seat over Terry Waterman in the Freeman City/School Election held Tuesday in conjunction with the June 2 Primary Election. Walter drew 259 of the 400 votes — about half of which were filed by absentee voting — for 64.5%. He will take office next Monday, June 8. Voter turnout for the city election was at 45.5%, with 403 of the 886 registered voters living in the city of Freeman weighing in.

Also Tuesday night, voters living in the Freeman School District gave their nod to incumbent Cody Fransen, who defeated longtime school board member Kerry Hofer 294-233; Fransen drew 55.7% of the vote. 

Hofer has served on the school board since 2005, with many of those years as president.

Voter turnout for the school election was 31%, with 529 of the 1,717 registered voters in the district casting ballots. Of those, 292 were cast by absentee. 

Fransen will join the board at the July meeting.

DISTRICT 19

The June 2 Primary Election included a close race for state representative in District 19, which includes Hutchinson County. While the Secretary of State’s website Wednesday morning showed a possible recount, it appears incumbent Kent Peterson and challenger Jessica Bahmuller edged Marty Overweg for state office; Overweg had been appointed to a one-year term by Gov. Kristi Noem.

Peterson drew 1,881 votes, Bahmuller 1,741 and Overweg 1,721; that breaks down to 35%, 33% and 32%.

DISTRICT 17

There were also legislative races in District 17, which includes Turner County. In the contest for Senate, Arthur Rusch edged Nancy Rasmussen 1,002 to 996, with a possible recount. 

And in the race for the House, Sydney Davis and Richard Vasgaard won over Dan Werner and Charles Kludt. Voting totals were as follows:

Davis 1,272, Vasgaard 844, Werner 501 and Kludt 482.

Watch next week’s Courier for a full recap