Demarais and Knudsen tops in Malta mayor primary

The primary election held to carve five candidates for the position of Malta Mayor was finalized last Tuesday evening at the Phillips County Courthouse with John Demarais and Gary Knudsen moving on to the Municipal General Election in November.

Demarais received more votes (377) than the other four candidates combined while Knudsen advanced to the general election after receiving 117 total votes. Ahead of the Primary election, candidate Chris Judd announced that he would no longer be seeking votes for the mayor’s seat but as the ballots were already printed, it was too late to remove his name. Judd finished in third place on Tuesday night with 69 votes.

At the Malta City Council meeting the night of the election, current Malta Mayor Shyla Jones — who is not seeking re-election after eight years in office — said she had learned had Judd received the first or second most votes on the night, he would have advanced to the general election. If Judd had then won the general election, but still did not want the position, the four-person Malta City Council would have been tasked with picking the next mayor.

Kathleen Bohn-Bagley received 60 votes and Edward A. Haver IV received 45.

The Malta Municipal General election — which is nonpartisan — will pit Demarais against Knudsen for the mayor’s spot; David Rummel (incumbent) against Tim Hasler in the Ward 9-1 Council Member race and Bonnie Wiederrick (incumbent) against Bill Rock for the Ward 9-2 Council Member position. Ballots will be mailed to all eligible active voters for the City of Malta on Wednesday, October 18, 2017.