Gualtieri wins mayoral bid

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
In the general election race that probably drew the most interest in Newcastle in 2020, Mayor-elect Pam Gualtieri (823) was able to edge out Newcastle City Council President Don Steveson (550). Steveson lost election to former mayor Deb Piana in 2016, but has led the council since Piana resigned and vacated the mayor’s seat earlier this year. 
There will be newcomers to the Newcastle City Council as well, as Darren Downs was able to secure the most votes among council candidates with 764 unofficial votes. Incumbent Michael Alexander took the second seat with 613 votes and another newcomer, Tyrel Owens, secured the third open seat on the council with 609 votes. Incumbents Roger Hespe and Tom Voss will not continue to serve on the council after finishing fourth and fifth in the tally, with 564 votes and 594 votes respectively. 
The race for Upton Town Council was just as close with, incumbent Justin Norman receiving the most votes with 249 and write-in candidate Nick Trandahl securing the second seat with 201 votes. Write- in candidates Jeffrey Hargrave (192 votes) and Robert Willis (175) were unable to gather enough votes to earn one of the two available spots in the general election. 
In another noteworthy turn, longtime Weston County School District No. 1 Trustee Tom Wright was unable to secure re-election, finishing sixth in a race for five available seats, despite claiming 1,071 votes.
WCSD#1 Board Chairman Tina Chick was the leader with 1,458 votes, and current trustees Ron Mills (1,415 votes), John Riesland (1,300) and Dana Mann-Tavegia (1,251) will once again fill four seats on the board. Newcomer Billy Fitzwater took the fifth seat with 1,294 votes, while challengers Sharla Dowding (942) and Rachel Blumenthal (847) were unable to secure a seat on the board.
With only two candidates running for three open seats, both Diana White (559 votes) and Curtis Rankin (529) will serve on Weston County School District No. 7’s Board of Trustees. 
Weston County voters turned out and supported all three local ballot propositions once again. The local lodging tax passed with 1,895 votes in favor and 1,497 against. The county sales and use tax also passed with 1,914 votes in favor and 1,487 against, while the 6 mills for the Weston County Hospital District passed with 2,029 to continue the mill levy, and 1,380 against. 
Other local and state races were uncontested. Both Republican candidates for Weston County Commissioners will join the board in January, with Don Taylor receiving 2,267 votes and incumbent board chair Ed Wagoner receiving 2,260 votes. 
Weston County Clerk of District Court Tina Cote received 3,251 votes in her uncontested race. Both Chip Neiman for House District 1 and Hans Hunt for House District 2 ran unopposed and received 1,300 votes and 1,789 votes, respectively. 
Rounding out the races in this year’s general election were the race for U.S. Representative and the race for current Senator Mike Enzi’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Incumbent Liz Cheney (2,760 votes) smoked the competition in Weston County, with Lynette Grey Bull claiming 402 votes, Jeff Haggit tallying 180 and Richard Brubaker getting 72. Cheney would win the statewide tally convincingly.
Former representative Cynthia M. Lummis easily won the race for the U.S. Senate seat in Weston County with 3,041 votes against candidate Merav Ben-David who received 400 votes. She also prevailed statewide by a wide margin.
The presidential race results in Weston County were just as cut and dry with 3,107 votes for the GOP ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, while Democratic candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris received 360 votes. 
According to Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock, Weston County saw a significant voter turn out with 3,560 total ballots cast, roughly 1,400 of those through early and absentee voting.