April 18, 2024
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2022 primary election: 3 incumbents unseated in Lee County Board GOP races

By Rachel Rodgers
Election 2024
Michael Koppien waits outside of the Lee County election department Monday, March 7, 2022 on the first day of filing for the primary general election. Koppien is running for a county board seat for District 1.

Michael Koppien waits outside of the Lee County election department Monday, March 7, 2022 on the first day of filing for the primary general election. Koppien is running for a county board seat for District 1. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com)

DIXON – Three incumbents for contested Republican districts lost their seats on the Lee County Board during Tuesday’s primary election.

Seven Republicans competed for five spots for District 1, and two incumbents were unseated.

Incumbent winners were Mike Koppien with 655 votes or 18.49%, Bob Olson with 623 vote or 17.59%, and Jim Schielein with 432 votes or 12.2%. Republican challenger Angie Shippert received 629 votes or 17.76%, and Ronald Gascoigne had 423 votes or 11.94%, according to Lee County final unofficial election results.

Incumbents unable to hold onto their seats were Rick Humphrey with 409 votes or 11.55% and Christopher Norberg with 371 votes or 10.47%

Longtime member Marilyn Shippert did not seek reelection.

Another seven Republican candidates competed for five seats in District 3. All incumbents won reelection.

Incumbent winners were Tim Bivins with 614 votes or 23.6%, Doug Farster with 498 votes or 19.13%, Keane Hudson with 359 votes or 13.8%, Tom Wilson with 348 votes or 13.37%, and Nancy Naylor with 315 votes or 12.11%.

Unsuccessful newcomers were Cole Gehrt with 229 votes or 8.8% and Michael Pearson with 239 votes or 9.19%.

Six Republicans vied for five spots in District 4, and one incumbent was narrowly defeated.

Republican challenger Dean Freil received the most votes with 714 or 20.25%, followed by incumbent Tom Kitson with 658 votes or 16.56%, Michael Book with 586 votes or 16.52%, and Jack Skrogstad with 540 votes or 15.31%.

Challenger Chris Robertson unseated incumbent Bill Palen in a close vote receiving 516 votes or 14.63% compared to 512 votes or 14.52%.

Members Marvin Williams and Arlan McClain did not seek reelection.

There will be four fewer spots on the County Board after the group decided last year to lower its membership from 24 to 20 members after months of debate.

County boards have the opportunity to reduce members every 10 years after the U.S. census. Lee County went from 28 to 24 members a decade ago and introduced the topic of further reducing its size about two years ago.

All Democratic candidates ran uncontested in the primary, but will be competing with winning Republicans in the November general election.

Democrats David Bingaman, David McCarver and Emily Rose are running in District 1.

Democratic incumbent David Bally and newcomer Randy Lilly are running in District 3.

Democrat Deidre Thomas is running in District 4.

District 2 is uncontested in the primary and will consist of six candidates going for five spots in the general election. Those candidates are Republican incumbents Danielle Allen, Lirim Mimini, John Nicholson, Katie White and Michael Zeman, and Democrat incumbent Kasey Considine.