Municipal races decided; voter turnout very low

Gainesville's municipal election Tuesday, with a price tag of about $2,040, had a per-vote cost of about $56 per voter of the 36 people who cast ballots.

"That's just unbelievable," said county clerk Lisa Hawkins.

Countywide, the turnout was still less than 10 percent, as a handful of school board and city races were on the ballot.

Lyndell Strong received one write-in vote for east ward alderman in Gainesville. It was enough to win.

Don Luna was the lone candidate for mayor, and received 42 votes. Richard Garlough and Guy W. Pace also were unopposed in the Gainesville west and center wards. Garlough had 12 votes while Pace picked up 22.

In Theodosia, five people were vying for two spots on the Lutie School Board. Winners were Ben Cook with 95 votes and Shirley A. Brown with 73.

In the race for Theodosia trustee, winners were Glen McNabb with 39 votes, Robert Bochert Jr. with 35 and James R. Brown with 29.

Over in Bakersfield, two spots were up for grabs on the school board, with Mike Scott (66 votes) and Scott Denton (50 votes) the winners.

Jodi Minkler (18 votes), Tony Johnson (16 votes) and Albert Gargione (11 votes) filled the three spots for Bakersfield city trustee.

See complete unofficial results in Wednesday's Ozark County Times.