44th District headed for recount?

Although Mark Christensen came in first the for the 44th District Legislature race with 2,482 votes, only five votes separated Frank Shoemaker and Jeff Tidyman for second place, apparently setting up an automatic recount.

Shoemaker came in at 2,239 votes and Tidyman at 2,234, with the top two candidates proceeding to the November election.

"It was a heartbreaker," Tidyman said this morning. He and Christensen were the top contenders for most of the night until the very end, he said, when Shoemaker appeared to overtake second place.

Tidyman also remarked that he had underestimated to amount of money his opponents would be spending in their campaign.

"I look forward to a fair and accurate tallying of votes cast," Shoemaker said in a statement issued today.

"I have confidence in the nine county clerks who oversee the elective process in the 44th District and as always, I respect the will of the voters."

"I've heard great stories from the people," he said Tuesday, adding that it was a learning experience and a "joy to be part of the process."

On the local level, the top six vote getters from the McCook School Board race were led by Greg Larson with 1,308 votes. He was followed by James Coady at 948, Brian Rokusek at 869, and Larry Shields and Brenda McMurtrey, both with 724 votes. Shane Messersmith came in sixth with 675 votes. They will advance to the general election.

Other candidates included Richard Stull with 660 votes, Gary Power with 523 and Brad Williams with 397.

"Voters must be saying we've done a good job," Coady said when he stopped by the courthouse to check results. "This is the best I've ever done -- usually I've trailed a distant third."

In the County Commissioners District Three race, Leigh Hoyt eclipsed challenger Reuben Hoff Jr. by 573 to 323. Earl McNutt, who was running unopposed for County Commissioner District One, gathered 601 votes.

Stopping by the courthouse, Hoff liken the anticipation of the commissioner race to Christmas morning.

"It's like waiting for the boxes to be opened," he said. "Either you're going to be happy or sad with what you get."

It was another close one in Red Willow County's Republican Senate race, with Pete Ricketts squeaking by Don Stenberg with 969 votes to 959 votes. State-wide, Ricketts led with 48 percent of the vote to Stenberg's 36 percent.

In the Third District Congressional race, John Hanson came in with the most votes in Red Willow County with 928, followed by Adrian Smith with 681 and Jay Vavricek with 429. However, Smith beat Hanson state-wide with 39 percent of the vote, with Hanson capturing 29 percent and Vavricek with 28 percent.

Scott Kleeb won the Democratic ticket with 487 votes in Red Willow County.

Voters in the county chose incumbent Gov. Dave Heineman over U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne in the governor's race, by 1193 to to 997. Dave Nabity came in with 69 votes and Barry Richard with four.

Heineman also won state-wide, with 50 percent of the vote compared to Osborne's 44 percent. Nabity garnered five percent of the state vote.

Shane Osborn led the State Treasurer's race in Red Willow County with 996 votes, with Ron Ross coming in second with 946. Osborn won the race statewide, with 63 percent of the vote compared to Ross's 37 percent.

Voters in the county decided against the proposed constitutional amendment that would raise senator salaries, by 1,834 to 1,083 votes. The measure also lost by ten percent state-wide, by 55 to 45 percent.

In uncontested County races, the final results include: Sandra Kotschwar as County Assessor with 1998 votes; Paul Wood as County Attorney with 1,821; Pauletta Gerver as County Clerk with 1,991; Beverly Dodge as Clerk of District Court with 1,979;Gene Mahon as County Sheriff with 1,873; Gary Dicenta as County Surveyor with 1,855; and Marleen Garcia as County Treasurer with 2,022.