The 2017 school board election has come and passed, and Central Iowans chose a mixture of familiar faces and some new ones to fill seats on four area school boards.

In Marshalltown, the winners of three contested, at-large seats were incumbents Bea Niblock and Mike Miller, as well as challenger Karina Hernández.

Miller’s 674 votes were good for 28.15 percent of the the total cast in the Marshalltown election. The president and CEO of Racom and father of two in the district said he was happy to be re-elected.

“I’m super happy about it, I’m super happy to be able to work with Bea and Karina,” Miller said. “I thought all the candidates that ran … were great people and would make great board members.”

He added he looks forward to “doing the important work” for the district. This was Miller’s second school board election, having run unchallenged in 2016 after being appointed to the board earlier that year.

Hernández’s 607 votes, equal to 25.36 percent of the total cast, won her a seat on the board as a challenger.

“I’m excited,” she said upon hearing that she’d won a seat on the board. “I’m looking forward to getting my feet wet.”

The Mid-Iowa Community Action Every Child Ready coordinator and mother of two district students said she will bring a new, diverse perspective to the board. She also said she looks forward to working as a team with fellow board members, district Superintendent Dr. Theron Schutte and district staff moving forward.

“I’m super grateful to the community,” Hernández said.

Niblock, the sitting board president, was not available for comment by press time Tuesday night. She was the principal at Anson Elementary for 17 years, and was first elected to the board in 2013.

Also elected to the board was Ben Fletcher, who was selected to the board in October of 2016 to fill a vacancy.

Fletcher, who was also unavailable by press time Tuesday, ran unopposed for a two-year seat on the board; the seat will be up for election again in 2019.

Area roundup

Voters in the school districts of West Marshall, East Marshall and Green Mountain-Garwin also had decisions to make in the Sept. 12 election.

This year, GMG voters saw four candidates run for two available at-large seats. Only one clear winner emerged Tuesday night, however, as incumbent Ann Jackson comfortably retained her seat with 138 votes, or 36.51 percent of the total.

A tie was recorded between incumbent Patrick Cornwell and challenger Randy Sienknecht, who each earned 83 votes and 21.96 percent of the vote, according to the unofficial Marshall County Auditor’s Office results.

GMG District 1 candidate Kyle Hall earned 126 votes to win the seat representing Green Mountain. A total of 51 write-in votes were cast for that seat.

In GMG District 2, which covers Garwin, Nathan Holven earned 158 votes, with 17 write-ins also recorded.

At West Marshall, incumbent April Coulter won re-election with 304 votes. Also elected was Sue Goodman, with an identical 304 votes. Rounding out the winners was Jason Walker with 296 votes. Challenger Hunter Wilkening totaled 198 votes, and there were 92 write-ins.

On the other side of the county, East Marshall only had one candidate for their school board election. Incumbent District 4 board member Craig Mommer got 83 votes, with only one write-in vote otherwise counted.

All results recorded are unofficial until canvassed. For more information, visit the Marshall County Auditor’s website at www.co.marshall.ia.us/departments/auditor/election/electiondetails/2017/september-12-2017-school-board-election/

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com