County follows state lead in primary election

Moody County voters followed the state trend in electing candidates for governor and U.S. House of Representatives in the June 5 primary election.

With 16.2 percent of voters turning out at the polls, the race between Dusty Johnson, Shantel Krebs and Neal Tapio in the Republican primary for the House race resulted in Johnson getting 221 votes to win in Moody County. Krebs received 163 votes, and Tapio got 124.

Johnson will run against Democrat Tim Bjorkman, Independent Ron Wieczorek and Libertarian George D. Hendrickson for the state’s lone congressional seat in the Nov. 6 election.

In the Republican primary for governor, Kristi Noem won in Moody County with 312 votes compared with Marty Jackley’s 204 votes. Noem will face Democrat Billie Sutton this fall.

In the non-partisan question for Constitutional Amendment Y, revising provisions of Marsy’s Law, 563 people voted yes to change some of the rights of crime victims and 121 voted no.

The county has 4,356 registered voters, and 707 of them went to the polls including 48 people who voted absentee.

That turnout is pretty typical for the county, looking at previous primary elections, said Auditor Kristina Krull. “I went back quite a few years and our primaries are less than 20 percent.”

Statewide voter turnout was 26.57 percent.

In the individual precincts,

• Precinct 1 had Johnson with 30 votes, Krebs with 22 and Tapio with 16. In the governor’s race, Noem had 35 and Jackley had 33.
• Precinct 2 voters gave Johnson 34 votes, Krebs 20 and Tapio 18. Noem had 44 and Jackley 30.
• Precinct 3 numbers showed 61 for Johnson, 29 for Krebs and 20 for Tapio. Noem had 74 and Jackley 36.
• Precinct 3-4 had Johnson with 23, Krebs with 25 and Tapio with 18. Noem had 38 and Jackley 28.
• Precinct 4 voters gave Johnson 29, Krebs 18 and Tapio 22, while Noem had 45 and Jackley 26.
• Precinct 5 numbers showed Johnson with 44, Krebs with 49 and Tapio with 30. Noem had 76, and Jackley had 51.

In this fall’s general election, the county will move two polling places. Precincts that voted at the Moody County Extension building in the primary will vote at the community center. Those who voted at the Trent Fire Hall will vote at the Trent gym.