Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
The most contested New Rockford-Sheyenne School Board election in recent memory took place on Tuesday, June 4, and several hundred residents showed up to vote.
According to the unofficial results released on Wednesday, at least 255 people participated in this year’s election, even more than last year’s turnout of 225.
It’s the second contested, high-turnout school board election in a row, which comes after seven years of uncontested races that usually saw just 20 or 30 ballots cast.
There were three seats up for grabs this year, each for a 3-year term on the school board.
The only contested race was for the school board seat for the former New Rockford district, which is currently held by Mary Kay Price who decided not to run for reelection.
Four individuals were running for the position, and it was Matt Pfeiffer who emerged with a clear victory.
Of the 255 votes cast, Pfeiffer received 185. Coming in second was Reece Thomas with 47, followed by Preston Meier – who ran a write-in campaign – with 18 votes, and Joseph Newman who got five votes.
Meanwhile, there were 241 votes cast in the race for the former Sheyenne district seat, which is currently held by Patti Larson, who also decided not to run for reelection.
LeAnn Drake was running unopposed for the position, and received 217 votes to claim the victory.
Matt Ystaas received 14 write-in votes, despite not running a write-in campaign, and there were 10 other write-in votes for various individuals.
The final school board race was for the at-large district seat currently held by School Board President Todd Allmaras, who ran unopposed in his reelection bid.
And as expected, Allmaras will retain his seat after receiving 230 votes of the 250 cast in that election.
Coming in second place with eight write-in votes was Preston Meier, despite his intention to run for the former New Rockford seat.
The results of the election will remain unofficial until the district's canvassing board meets on Monday, June 17 – at the school board's next regular meeting – to officially canvass the election.
