News : Few voters go to polls for unchallenged school board races

All of the school board candidates for Vinton-Shellsburg, Benton Community and Belle Plaine were winners on Tuesday, as few voters made it to the polls to cast ballots in an election in which all the local races were uncontested.

In V-S, incumbents Kathy Van Steenhuyse and Brenda Bartz ran unopposed. Jason Hicok and Kyle Schminke also ran unopposed for seats vacated by Megan Rickels and Angela Hazen, who chose to not seek re-election.

Bartz and Hicok each received 69 votes; Van Steenhuyse, 82; and Schminke, 83. There were a handful of write-in votes but only a "scattering," as election officials say, not enough to change the outcome of any race.

In Benton Community, Roy J. Becker, Jr., Theresa Thompson, Matt Nolte and Theresa Ludeking all ran unopposed and won.

Belle Plaine had three candidates for the three at-large seats. Mike Bachelder, Bradley Cook and Marie Stratford, all incumbents, will serve on that board for another term.