Challengers win election to council seats

Voters in Buffalo Center and Thompson have selected new representatives to serve on their City Councils, as two incumbents lost their reelection bids in the city elections on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Buffalo Center will have three new council members filling the three seats that were up for election. Tanner Weaver registered the most votes to win his first term in office with 128 votes (24.76%). Jared Bechler received the second highest vote total with 118 (22.82%), and Ricardo Garcia rounds out the list of winning candidates as he received 93 votes (17.99%).

Missing the cut for election were newcomer Janell Martini, who received 89 votes (17.21%) and incumbent Deb Wirth, who received 88 votes (17.02%).

Buffalo Center Mayor John Davids won election to his 10th term in office, as he received 173 votes (97.19%) while running unopposed.

In Thompson, the three city council seats up for election went to one incumbent, one newcomer, and one former council member. Cara Chapman received the most votes with 92 (29.02%) to win her first term in office. Incumbent Stacy Willert and former councilman Troy Fleener each received 77 votes (24.29%) to win election. Incumbent Todd Hughes did not receive enough votes to win another term, as he placed fourth with 67 votes (21.14%).

Thompson Mayor Dan Swearingen won election to another term in office, as he weathered a challenge by current councilman Dan Newton, who ran for mayor rather than for reelection to the City Council. Swearingen won with 67 votes (54.92%), while Newton received 54 votes (44.26%).