GREEN RIVER – The votes have been tallied and the local boards of education will have several new faces following Tuesday’s election. In total, 16,816 ballots were cast by Sweetwater County voters. The official results won’t be known until they’re certified.
For the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, incumbents Carol Jelaco and Stephanie Thompson lost their re-election bids according to unofficial election results, with Cole Wright being the only current member out of the three who will continue serving on the board. He will be joined by Dr. Chad Franks and Cole Seppie. Matthew Gardner won election as the Farson-Eden area representative, while Josh Sorenson won election to a special two-year term he was unopposed for. Complete unofficial results are as follows:
- Cole Seppie – 4,821
- Dr. Chad Franks – 4,640
- Cole Wright – 3,306
- Clay Jarvie – 2,747
- Stephanie Thompson – 2,101
- Shari Moran – 1,659
- Carol Jelaco – 1,644
- Dana Eddy – 1,463
- Jennifer Clerkin – 1,010
- Matthew Gardner – 5,293
- Wayne Stotts – 2,725
- Josh Sorensen – 8,348
For Sweetwater County School District No. 2, four new board members were elected after an eight-person race where none of the current board members opted to seek re-election. Candidates winning election to the board are Mandy Drinkle, Tommy Thoman, Tate Davis, and Michelle Foley. Full unofficial results are:
- Mandy Drinkle – 2,349
- Tommy Thoman – 2,177
- Tate Davis – 2,134
- Michelle Foley – 1,735
- Joshua Walker – 1,562
- Lenore Perry – 1,249
- Terrell Lance – 1,149
- Jennie Malonek – 1,116
For Western Wyoming Community College’s Board of Trustees, Tiffany Marshall and Ozzie Knezovich will join the board representing SCSD No. 1, while Robbie Lee was elected as the SCSD No. 2 representative. Board President James Jessen won an uncontested bid for a special two-year term. The unofficial results are:
- Tiffany Marshall – 8,337
- Ozzie Knezovich – 6,828
- Fernando Rodriguez – 4,481
- Robbie Lee – 7,545
- Gil German – 5,304
- James Jessen – 12,465
City and Town Councils
In Rock Springs, the sole contest for the Ward 1 Council seat was narrowly won by Rick Milonas, defeating incumbent Tim Robinson in 781 votes to 769 in such a narrow margin that it triggered an automatic recount. Rob Zotti and Larry Hickerson, both unopposed, will go on to serve another term on the Rock Springs City Council.
In Green River, George Jost will be replaced by Jessica Maser in Ward 2, defeating him 643 votes to 462. Incumbent Sherry Bushman won another term on the Green River City Council in Ward 1 after defeating former Councilman Mark Peterson 1,006 votes to 682.
For the county’s town councils, Vern Howey and Kimberly Nygaard won re-election bids in Granger in a four-person race. Howey received the most votes with 28, while Nygaard received 20, Jimi Frazier received 17, and Bradly McCollum received 15. In Superior, Sandra S. Merritt and Thomas McCune won their election bids in a race that only featured the two candidates, while a similar situation took place in Wamsutter where Joanne Davey and David C. Wolfe won positions on the Wamsutter Town Council. There were other town council elections without candidates listed and those results will not be known until the write-in votes are counted.
Sweetwater County Commissioners
Republicans Mary Thoman and Taylor Jones won their re-election bids to the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners, defeating Democrat Joyce Jansa Corcoran. Thoman received the most votes with 9,519, while Jones received 9,303 and Corcoran received 3,566.
