The "unofficial and incomplete" results of the primary election

The GOP Supervisors races were the contested races

The primary election results show that the people of Exeter may or may not want change. But they show one thing for sure; they have had their fill of the bullying and big spending of George Bell.

In “unofficial and incomplete” results that include mail-in and absentee ballots, the winner of both the six year and two year races was veteran campaigner Larry Drogo. Two slots were available in the six year term, and the other was taken by incumbent Michelle Kircher.

In the two year, Drogo beat Bell by 106 votes, with dropout candidate Dave Vollmer bringing up the rear. In the six year, Drogo won the night by besting Kircher by 84 votes. Bell was third, 31 votes behind Kircher, then Board Chair Mohammad Mohammad 40 votes behind Bell. Vollmer brought up the rear 140 behind Mohammad. There are not enough write-in votes in either race for Bell to cheat as he did two years ago in claiming two write-in votes to secure victory.

The Democrat side in both races was won by Amanda Johnsen, who was the only candidate on the ballot for the D’s.

The interesting thing in this race is that in the six year, there’s an unchallenged seat. There’s 100 write-in votes, and informed speculation is that a local Democrat associate and clinger-on of Bell pushed his name onto the write-ins for that seat as a hedge for what they knew would be a losing race on the R side. But that is speculation and we’ll have to see what the write-ins bring.

In the school board races, the four listed on the Dem and Rep ballots, Jason Mell, Julia Shaffer, Andrea Battler, and newcomer Joe Cooke, will be on the ballot in November and go on to win election to the board for next year.

In the tax collector race, Republican tax collector Kristi Piersol won her uncontested primary. The Dem side had no challengers, and there is speculation out there that Piersol collected enough write-in votes on that side to set up an election against herself in November.

I’ve heard of several people who were circulating their names for write-in for the Auditor positions on the ballot yesterday, including that there was a movement to assure former Township Supervisor Dave Hughes a victory in that seat for the GOP. That scenario could set up a court fight should Hughes choose to claim those votes to get on the ballot, as his agreement with the township precludes him from running for an office in Exeter, in direct violation of his rights as a citizen.

The hot takes from the election are that Drogo broke through to victory, and Bell ONCE AGAIN was rejected by the electorate. His bullying, wasteful spending, tax hikes, and berating of the elderly in meetings has been rejected once again. This despite the endorsement by that major metropolitan daily newspaper, the Exeter Informant. It would appear that Bell’s refusal to attend the forum that the Examiner produced, and to instead “counter-program” in holding a nonsense “meet and greet” harmed him in the end. His refusal to answer the questions of the public and to hide in a safe space was a tactical error. People respect when you face them. This is the third time that Bell has lost an election, and he should take the hint from the people. If he is the “winner” of the Dem write-in for that open seat, he should do the honorable thing and decline claiming those votes. He is NOT a Democrat and has been rejected by voters three times already, TWICE by the people in his own party, and once by the electorate as a whole.

There may well be more to this story, so keep your eyes on the Examiner for the news and analysis you need.