A newcomer leads against two incumbents for two at-large seats open on the Gardner City Council after Tuesday’s unofficial election results.
Kelly Johnson, a paralegal, is likely to take one of two open at-large seats, leaving the two incumbents, Steve Shute and Mark Baldwin, in a close race for the second seat.
“I’m excited and a little bit overwhelmed,” Johnson said. “I’m ready to get to work and start working with the city council and advocating for my neighbors and for the people here in Gardner.”
All election results are unofficial until the county vote canvass is completed at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13. After that, election results will be official.
Gardner mayor
Mayor Todd Winters ran unopposed for his second term as mayor, earning 93.9% of the vote.
Gardner at-large city council seats
Two incumbents, Shute and Baldwin, ran against three newcomers for the two open at-large seats on the city council. Johnson appears to lead against both incumbents.
Unofficial results show:
- Johnson leads with 25.3% of the vote,
- Shute follows closely behind with 23.4%,
- Baldwin received three fewer votes than Shute, leaving him with 23.3%,
- then Dawn Kirtley with 21.8%
- and John Snyder with 6.2%.
“My biggest priority really is to improve communication, both from the city council to the residents and businesses in Gardner, but also from the residents and the businesses back to the city council,” Johnson said. “I would like to open up more pathways of that dialogue.”
For example, Johnson said, she’d like the city council to hold more town halls, allowing residents unable to make Monday night meetings the opportunity to address the city council.
“The people who voted spoke,” Shute said of the unofficial results. “That’s really what it came down to. Turnout was low, and elections hang on turnout.”
If Shute’s bid for the open seat is confirmed by official results next week, then he’d like to continue prioritizing economic development and infrastructure, he said.
“I’m just in a holding pattern for a week and then go from there,” Baldwin said in a message to the Post on Wednesday. “You don’t run and not believe you can win and hope you do, so obviously that’s the outcome I would like, but we’ll just have to see what the numbers end up being.”
Edgerton
In the town of roughly 1,700 people in Johnson County’s far southwestern corner, there were no contested races for city offices.
Four-term incumbent Mayor Don Roberts will serve a fifth term after facing no challenger.
Meanwhile, two sitting at-large city councilmembers, Josh Lewis and Bill Malloy, also ran with no additional challengers in the field, meaning both will retain their seats.
Kyle Palmer contributed to this story.
