Election updates

Final update, with advanced ballots:
Washington County Sheriff – Dickson 855, Mueller 574
Senate – Moran 1066, Tiahrt 361
1st District – Barnett 466, Huelskamp 426, Mann 257, Wasinger 201
Governor – Brownback 1207, Heffington 200
Sec. of State – Claeys 495, Kobach 458, Ensley 372
Attorney General – Schmidt 902, DeZago 278

8:50 p.m. (all precincts reporting, advanced still remains)
Washington County Sheriff – Dickson 737, Mueller 508.
Senate – Moran 937, Tiahrt 307
First district congress – Barnett 407, Huelskamp 366, Mann 222, Wasinger 180, Boldra 41, Cobb 18
Governor – Brownback 1053, Heffington 174
Secretary of State – Claeys 452, Kobach 376, Ensley 328
Attorney General – Schmidt 798, De Zago 241

8:16 p.m.
Just four Democrats have voted so far in those seven precincts.

8:16 p.m.
Washington County Sheriff – Dickson 125, Mueller 71
First district congress – Barnett 59, Huelskamp 58, Wasinger 36, Mann 35, Cobb 3, Boldra 1
Senate – Moran 160, Tiahrt 38
7 precincts reporting (Charleston, Coleman, Farmington, Highland, Logan, Mill Creek, Washington Twsp) There are 26 precincts (Washington City is the 26th), plus advance.

7:43 p.m.
Washington City results are being walked over. I’ll head over to get results and come back right away. They have to input them first, but it should be quick.

7:36 p.m.
No results yet available.

7:22 p.m.
No results yet available.

Election results

I will be posting election results, as they come in tonight, on here and on the Washington County News Facebook page.

The polls close at 7 p.m., and generally the first results are the advance voting results soon after. Then the county clerk office staff (which I think does a fantastic job, by the way) waits as results come in from the different polling places.

So as they arrive and get entered, I will update the totals. Generally, the final results are complete between 9:30-10 p.m. unless there is an issue.

We will only have Washington County results for the state races, so I’ll try to pull info from state sites on those races.

For the county sheriff race, if the results are real close, it may take until Monday’s provisional ballots to firmly determine a winner. We will know tonight how many provisional ballots there are.

Wasinger for Congress

There are six Republican candidates running for Congressman Moran’s first district seat (since Moran is running for the U.S. Senate.)
Several of the candidates seem to have almost equal qualifications and similar views on the issues. It is not easy to separate one from the other if you are just looking at voting records or bullet points on campaign websites. So at that point, you have to use other reasons to choose a candidate.
The first district is a large, diverse district with a wide array of issues affecting its constituents. What we need in a Congressman is someone who knows the issues that affect Washington Countians, but also knows how to get work done on those issues in Washington, D.C.
Rob Wasinger is that candidate.
Wasinger is from Hays originally and now lives in Cottonwood Falls (gotta like the choice to live in a small town.)
He has visited Washington County four times during his campaign, more than any other candidate running for Congress (or any elected office for that matter.) He is familiar with the issues that are important to us, because he has knocked on more than 25,000 doors during the campaign and has heard loud and clear what is important to us.
When elected, he would be able to hit the ground running in Washington, D.C., because he has spent plenty of time working there, most recently as Senator Sam Brownback’s Chief of Staff.
With the declining population base we have in rural Kansas, and therefore declining representation on the national stage, we can’t afford to elect someone who needs a learning curve at Washington, D.C. The next two years are far too important for Kansas, for the Republican Party and for the nation.
He is the conservative candidate that can get the job done for us in Washington, D.C., and he is ready to fight for us. As it says on his web site:
“Kansas values are worth fighting for.
Small town America is worth fighting for.
The people of Kansas are worth fighting for.”
And in my opinion, Rob Wasinger is worth voting for.
Please vote for Rob Wasinger in Tuesday’s Republican Primary Election.

Moran for Senate

There is a reason Congressman Jerry Moran is the most popularly re-elected Congressman in the nation – he represents his constituents well because he is one of us. As our first district congressman since 1997, Moran has made a point to be close and connected to the people of Kansas he represents. He has made more stops in Washington County than I can count in the 10 years I’ve been here, and he knows well the issues that affect small towns and agriculture. If you have any interest in politics at all, you’ve probably met him and you know he is as “one of us” as you can be as an elected official.
He has not been a party robot, willing to follow Republican demands no matter what. Sometimes what the party wants is not what is in the best interest for Kansans like you and me, so he would go against the party power brokers and serve us with his votes instead. Why would we want it any other way?
He has a conservative record, despite what you may have heard from his mud-slinging opponent. And he has that record because those values are important to us as Kansans. He’s doing this for us, not for his own ego.
He knows agriculture and small town issues far better than his opponent. He knows us as rural Kansas citizens (and knows many of us by name). He will represent all of Kansas with honor. We need him to represent us as the next Senator from Kansas. Please vote for Jerry Moran for Senate in Tuesday’s Republican Primary Election.
–Dan

Primary elections

Don’t forget that the primary elections are next Tuesday. I’ll be printing my endorsements in this week’s paper. If anyone out there would like to use this forum to support their candidate, go right ahead. (Just remember an endorsement from an anonymous person wouldn’t be much of an endorsement, in my opinion.)

Washington County Fair 2010

So were you able to make it to this year’s Washington County Fair? If not, I think you missed out.
The carnival was large and entertaining. The kids seemed to enjoy the variety of rides.
The mud drags were new and seemed to draw a large crowd for a first time event.
Livestock entries in the fair were up in almost every division, while foods and garden stuff seemed down.
The food stand seemed to be a hit for the Chamber of Commerce, but most folks felt bad for the night Immanuel Lutheran Church hosted it because it was super hot that day and the storm rolled in that evening, making the crowd almost non-existent.
There were several people who thought this was one of the best fairs in a while.
What did you think? The fair board constantly looks for improvements that could be made for the next year’s fair. Do you think anything needs to be added, changed or removed?
I still would like to see a non-country concert once, just to see if it would draw a bigger crowd than has been showing up for the country acts. Otherwise, I’m just rooting for a continued increase in participation from the public, both entering stuff in the fair or attending.

Road work

The pavement overlay project on Highway 15 is causing some major delays. I personally don’t know why they are doing the pilot car thing for such long stretches rather than just a 2-3 mile stretch. I waited for 20 minutes this morning on the way to my father-in-law’s funeral and finally turned around and took backroads.
I imagine many others will also be taking gravel roads to avoid the stoppages, so please drive carefully.

Sunsets

Is it just me, or have there been a lot of beautiful sunsets this year compared to other years? I took this pic tonight on my way to Washington to get a 365 picture.
Sorry I’ve been so quiet on here lately. Softball/baseball season was pretty much all-consuming for my family, followed by ball tournaments, then county fair, then my father-in-law passing. I hope to get back to some sort of routine again soon.

Hanover fires continue

Seven fire departments responded to a fire at the pallet factory in Hanover this morning, shortly before 5 a.m. The brick structure burned, except for the walls, including several wood pallets. More in this week’s Washington County News.

View from the southwest.

View from the north.

Livestock winners at the Washington County Fair

Large animals
Sheep – Logan Singular, Linn Livewires (repeat winner – 2008)
Goat – Levi Gauby, Busy Bee
Halter mare – Lindy Singular, Linn Livewires (repeat winner – 2007 and 2009)
Halter gelding – Gabryelle Gilliam, Farmington
Swine – Tyler Simmons, Happy Spirit
Dairy – Taylor Klipp, Happy Workers (repeat winner – 2009)
Beef – Gabryelle Gilliam, Farmington
Supreme breeding heifer – Kael Lange, Lucky 4
Bucket calf – Luke Gauby, Busy Bee

Small animals
Dog – Sydney Pralle, Hanover (repeat winner – 2009)
Rabbit – Samantha Wright, Stick-To-It (repeat winner – 2009)
Poultry – Trevor Klipp, Happy Workers (repeat winner – 2008)