District 14 incumbents survive primary challenge

In District 14, Republican incumbents in both the Senate and House spots faced primary competition.

Reps. Robin Weisz and Jon Nelson were challenged by Dennis Fred and Albert Krueger. Nelson received 36.7 percent of the vote, or 552 votes, while Weisz received 28.92 percent, or 435 votes. Fred received 17.69 percent while Krueger received 16.62 percent.

In November, Weisz and Nelson will face Democratic-Nonpartisan League party challengers Bonita Lindseth and Mark Nelson.

In the battle for a state Senate seat, incumbent Jerry Klein walked away with 75.71 percent of the vote, compared to challenger Glen Baltrusch’s 24.29 percent.

Klein will face Democratic-NPL challenger Dave Anderson in November.

Rugby city council, park board gain members

Two positions were filled with incumbents and two other positions on the Rugby City Council were filled with new blood Tuesday.

Bruce Allen Rheault was re-elected in Ward 1, with 88 votes or 100 percent of the votes cast.

In Ward 2, Gary Kraft was re-elected with 98.1 percent of the vote.

New members elected to the council were Timothy Bartsch, Sr., in Ward 3 with 99.18 percent of the vote, and Sue Steinke in Ward 4 with 100 percent of the vote.

The city council will hold a re-organization meeting on Tuesday, June 28.

Current park board members Mark Voeller and Tim Bartsch, Jr., were re-elected to terms on the Rugby Park District board with 55.27 percent and 44.28 percent, respectively. Tonia Dosch was elected to a two-year term with 98.87 percent of the vote.

Hoffert, Grove to face off in November

Two will advance to the November ballot in the race for the District 4 seat on the Pierce County Board of County Commissioners.

Terry Hoffert and Terry Grove beat out challengers Mike Black and Alan (Butch) Beaver. Hoffert secured 32.75 percent of the vote, and Grove had 27.87 percent of the vote.

In the race for District 2, incumbent Mike Christenson defeated challenger Brad Odden with 76.56 percent of the vote.

Measure 1 fails

Pierce County voters rejected a referred measure to change corporate farming laws in the state of North Dakota.

Referred Measure 1, also known as the North Dakota Corporate Dairy & Swine Farming Referendum, if passed would’ve upheld Senate Bill 2351, which allowed domestic corporations and limited liability companies to own and operate dairy farms and swine production facilities on no more than 640 acres of land. The bill would’ve also required the state ag commissioner to ensure compliance with the law through reporting and monitoring rules, including rules that dairy farms must have at least 50 cows and swine facilities must have at least 500 swine.

In Pierce County, 815 “no” votes were cast (79.9 percent) compared to 205 “yes” votes.

Rugby measures pass

Rugby voters approved all three local ballot measures Tuesday.

Measure 1, which dealt with the publication of city meeting minutes in the official city newspaper for the next four years, passed with 94.68 percent of the vote. (Full disclosure: The Pierce County Tribune is the official newspaper for Rugby.)

Measure 2 would’ve allowed for renewed support of the city’s public recreation system by a voter-approved tax not to exceed six mills for 10 years. The measure passed with 73.1 percent of the vote.

Measure 3 passed with nearly 75 percent of the votes cast. The measure allows the city to levy an additional tax above the mill levy limit of four mills, not exceeding seven, for maintaining hours of operation, avoiding cuts in service and programs, providing basic operational support and maintaining central support and outreach services at the Heart of America Library.

For more information on how Pierce County voters decided statewide races in Tuesday’s primary, see the primary election chart.

(Information based on results from the N.D. Secretary of State website.)

– Tribune Staff Report