Primary Victory for Andrade, Hixson and Schnabel

Prowers County Unofficial Primary Results

Early voting and tabulation helped speed the June 26 primary vote count for Prowers County Clerk and Recorder Jana Coen and the election judges. Shortly after the polls had closed, by 9:25pm, the unofficial results were made available to the public.

For District 1, Democrat challenger Don Seufer of Holly will go against incumbent commissioner Henry Schnabel of Bristol in the November general election. Schnabel defeated challenger Mike Parker 749 to 574 for the victory.

There were two races for the District III primary election. Most eyes were focused on the close GOP contest between Lamar Mayor Roger Stagner and Wendy Buxton- Andrade, made possible in part because incumbent commissioner Gene Millbrand declined to run for another term.

Andrade defeated Stagner by a vote of 713 to 610, and will meet her Democrat challenger for the commissioner’s seat in November. Jillane Hixson defeated write-in candidate, Doug Thrall by a vote of 299 to 24. Hixson received 80% of her party’s votes in the county caucus and Thrall received 20% which forced him to become a write-in candidate when he decided to remain on the ballot. The contest in November will be notable as it guarantees that for the first time in Prowers County history, a woman will become a county commissioner, regardless of who wins that contest. Hixson had stated early in her campaign that her great-great grandfather was one of the first Prowers County Commissioners, so for her victory in the primary, the win is a full circle completion.

Polling precincts were set up for live voting today in Holly, Granada and Wiley and in Lamar at the LCC Wellness Center. Early balloting had been conducted June 18 through the 22 at the Lamar Senior Center and over 2,000 ballots had been mailed to eligible voters in June as well. Of those 2,000, only 1405 were returned and counted. Additional election details will be available in a follow-up article in The Prowers Journal.

By Russ Baldwin