Election results show that Seward County will have a new sheriff, Mike Vance.
Vance defeated incumbent Joe Yocum 3,907 votes to 3,090, winning just over 55 percent of the vote.
Vance said he was happy with the results and that his goals going into his new job in January will be the same as what he campaigned on.
“I want to establish community policing with the sheriff’s department with all the communities in the county,” he said. “School safety is still my priority, which goes into community policing. Establish deputies in county schools and doing some preventative police work for the communities instead of reactive.”
Yocum said the election was a way for people to give their opinions.
“It’s obviously less than what I hoped for, but it is the will of the people and that’s what this is all about,” he said. “The process is that the citizens vote for the person they feel is the most qualified candidate and they did that on Tuesday. I’m proud of the campaign that we conducted and I am ever so grateful for the support and the votes that I received from the citizens of Seward County. I can’t thank them enough.”
Yocum said he plans to continue teaching law enforcement courses at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Southeast Community College, while staying a resident of Seward County.
“It’s my home. I grew up here,” he said.
Yocum served as sheriff for 20 years after serving the county as a deputy for 10 years.
County Commission
In the race for county commission seats, Bob Vrbka won over incumbent Whitney Fleischman for the District 3 seat, and Ken Schmieding won over Corey Gray for the District 5 seat.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Vrbka said. “We hope to keep everything running smoothly without too much change.”
Fleischman said she was disappointed with the results of the election.
“I feel like having such an unexperienced board...is a disservice to the county,” she said.
Schmieding said he hopes to help broaden Seward County’s economic base and work toward making the county a better place for agricultural producers.
Gray said he believed the campaign went well, even though he didn’t get elected.
“It obviously wasn’t what we wanted,” Gray said. “I thought we ran a good race. Ken’s a good guy.”
City Council
Incumbent Ellen Beck beat out Amanda Whitney for Seward City Council Ward 1, and Alyssa Hendrix won over incumbent Richard Hans for Ward 3.
On the Milford City Council, Kelly Heser defeated Robert Engel to represent Ward 1. Ward 2 will be represented by Tony DeLong, who won as a write-in candidate.
In related news, Milford Mayor Nick Glanzer resigned at the council’s Nov. 6 meeting. In his resignation letter, Glanzer said his family is moving outside of the Milford city limits, making him ineligible to hold the office. Former Milford City Council President Patrick Kelley was sworn in Monday morning, Nov. 12, and will finish the last two years of Glanzer’s term.
Regional and statewide
Incumbent Mark Kolterman beat out Stephanie Nantkes to represent District 24 in the State Legislature.
In Seward County, Measure 427 (Medicaid Expansion) failed with 58 percent of voters voicing their opinion against the expansion. Statewide, though, the expansion passed.
The vote to continue Milford’s LB 840 Economic Development Program passed.
View official results for other Seward County races, including village boards and boards of education, here: http://files.countyofsewardne.com/clerk/election/GenResults.pdf.
Statewide results can be found here: http://www.sos.ne.gov/dyindex.html.
