Henke Elected Mayor of Kenyon, K-W School Levy Defeated

Doug Henke was elected Mayor of Kenyon receiving nearly 73 percent of votes cast in the 2020 General Election Tuesday.

Jack Metcalf was also hoping to gain the office but fell short with just under 26 percent of the votes.

Henke got 715 votes, Metcalf 255. There were 12 write-in votes.

Henke took over the position when former mayor Mike Engel died unexpectedly on July 4, 2019.

Thomas Gard ran unopposed for an open seat on the council and got 856 votes.

Four people were competing for 3 seats on the Kenyon City Council.

Molly Ryan received the most votes, 581 with Mary Bailey coming in second with 554. Kelly Metcalf received 254 votes, Ryan Weingart 214 votes. About 982 votes were cast in Kenyon's Mayoral race with the number of registered voters as of 7:00 a.m. being 1,113.

Wanamingo Mayor Ryan Holmes was not opposed and received 615 votes.

Two people were running for two seats on the Wanamingo City Council. Jeremiah Flotterud got 491 votes, Stuart Ohr 469.

Pine Island Mayor is David Friese with 1, 242 votes compared to 754 for Terrilynn Twaddle.

Three people were running for two seats on the Pine Island City Council. Mike Hildenbrand garnered the most votes 1,368. Jonathan Pahl had 1,154 votes cast for him and Brandi Veith Staloch 738.

The Kenyon-Wanamingo School District 2172 was hoping to replace an existing operating levy but it was defeated.

1,940 people said no to the request while 1,192 people were in favor.

It was not favored in any of the 17 precincts. The cities of Kenyon and Wanamingo had resounding no votes prevail. In Kenyon 584 people said no, 382 yes. In Wanamingo the vote was 370 against, 235 in favor.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva requested to increase it's general education revenue by $560 per pupil for ten years. It was rejected 1,783 to 914.

It was defeated in every precinct. New Richland vote was 383 against, 228 in favor, Hartland was 100 opposed, 48 for it's passage. Ellendale totals were 193 against, 85 in favor. Geneva had 170 no votes cast, 91 yes.

Owatonna Public Schools had two questions on the ballot. One asked to retain the current expiring authorization of $482.90 per pupil, subject to an annual increase at the rate of inflation for ten years.

The second question asked to increase the district's referendum revenue by $300 per pupil 2022 through 2024 and another $300 per pupil for taxes payable 2025 through 2030. It would be in place for 9 years. It would also be subject to an annual increase at the rate of inflation.

The vote on the first question was 8,211 yes, 7,474 no. The second question was defeated 9,533 to 6,104.

Eight people were running for four seats on the Northfield Public School Board. The top four were: