October 31, 2024

Two board of supervisor seats up for election

By REGINA SMITH

Three people — Rick Friday, Dennis Brown and Dale Cline — will be on the ballot this November as they vie for two upcoming openings on the Union County Board of Supervisors. The supervisors meet weekly on Mondays in the Union County Court House, pictured above, to discuss county business.

Although there are three candidates for Union County Board of Supervisors and only two seats up for election, all three candidates will progress to the November ballot.

Current supervisors Rick Friday and Dennis Brown are on the Republican ballot for the June primary. Dale Cline, former supervisor, is on the Democratic ballot.

Ron Riley’s term will expire in 2022, at which time he will have served on the board of supervisors for 16 years.

Because this is a primary election, residents must vote on either the Republican or Democratic ballot, based on their current voter registration. Party preference can be changed at the polls or when requesting an absentee ballot, but a resident may only vote for one party.

Union County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Sandy Hysell explained there are two seats up for election, so regardless of the number of votes received, both Friday and Brown will appear on the Republican ticket for the general election in November. Cline will appear on the Democratic ticket.

Cline was appointed by the board to fill Lois Monday’s seat after her death in 2017 but was required by Iowa code to run in the next election. He lost the seat to Friday in the 2018 election.

Although the seat is for four years and Friday has only served two, he was elected to fill the vacancy left by Monday, whose term would have expired in 2021,

Currently, all three supervisors on the board are Republicans.

Union County Auditor Sandy Hysell will also appear on both the Republican ballot for June and as the uncontested candidate in November.

Hysell, in her capacity as election commissioner, has requested that Union County residents vote absentee if possible to reduce the numbers of voters at the physical polling places in June and allow for social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Absentee requests must be received in the auditors office by 5pm May 22. A ballot will then be sent to the voter and must be returned to the auditor’s office or postmarked by June 2.