Halverson defeats Ross in primary race

GRUNDY COUNTY - Upstart Grundy County Supervisor candidate Lucas Halverson surprised four-term Republican incumbent Jim Ross in District One on Tuesday, defeating him by just 16 votes. 

 

Halverson, a 19-year-old from Conrad who is currently enlisted in the Army National Guard, received 176 votes according to the unofficial canvass, and Ross received 160. Two write-in ballots were cast for other candidates. 

 

“I’m feeling good. It was a good close race, and it’s an exciting night,” Halverson said on Tuesday. “I’ve been receiving text messages, Snapchats and phone calls in this short period of time, and I imagine tomorrow morning, I’ll be getting some more.”

 

In an interview with The Grundy Register, Halverson said that he believed his stance on introducing video streaming to county supervisors meetings resonated with voters, along with “common issues” like wind turbines, roads and bridges. 

 

“I think Grundy County District One residents are ready and wanting change, and we can’t stick with the same old same old,” he said. “We have to look at new ideas to fix those issues while keeping the classic conservative viewpoints.”

 

Due to a deployment in the Guard, Halverson will likely be overseas for most of the next year, and assuming he wins the general election in November (there are currently no Democratic or independent candidates declared), he would communicate with the board remotely until he returns to Grundy County. 

 

Ross, who previously faced an independent challenge from David Strickler in 2016, thanked his supporters for their votes and acknowledged his defeat during a brief interview. He does not plan to mount an independent candidacy for his seat. 

 

“Yes, I’m disappointed, but I’m not a sore loser. It is what it is,” he said.  “I can’t change things. I appreciate the support that I’ve had, and life goes on.” 

 

In other local races, Republican (and current Chief Deputy) Kirk Dolleslager (1,322 votes) and Democrat Michael Lang (514 votes) won uncontested primaries in the sheriff’s race, and Republican Vic Vandeharr received 32 write-in votes in the District 3 (Dike and Stout areas) supervisor race, which currently has no declared candidates. 

 

Incumbent County Auditor Rhonda Deters received 1,397 votes in an uncontested primary race, and District 5 GOP Supervisor Barb Smith sealed her party’s nomination with 231 votes. Democratic challenger Rick Anderson will compete against Smith in the general election after receiving 148 votes. 

 

State Representative Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford), the current Speaker of the House, sealed his party’s nomination with 1,397 votes, setting up a rematch of 2018 with Democrat Dennis Evans of Reinbeck, who received 619 votes. 

 

In federal races, nine-term U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Kiron) received 607 votes in Grundy County to challenger (and current State Senator) Randy Feenstra’s 478, but Feenstra won the overall race in District Four. Bret Richards (138 votes), Jeremy Taylor (73 votes) and Steve Reeder (68 votes) rounded out the vote getters on the GOP side. 

 

Feenstra will face Democrat JD Scholten in the general election.  

 

Democratic Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield won Grundy County on her way to the nomination with 322 votes, and Admiral Mike Franken with 241 votes. Kimberly Graham (74 votes) and Eddie Mauro (42 votes) were the other primary vote getters in the county.