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It’s over! Election season is a wrap in Baxter County and wow, Baxter County residents showed up to vote!
This year’s general election saw a total of 21,024 ballots cast by residents throughout the county. That number means a total of 68% of all registered voters in the county decided to vote this year. There are currently 30,883 voters registered within the county limits.
While most eyes are on the Presidential race between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, several of the county’s contested elections have come to an end, with only three races for Norfork City Council being too close to call due to outstanding overseas/military and provisional ballots.
Once those ballots are counted within 10 days, those races will be called.
This year’s election was a measuring stick for where Baxter County and Mountain Home are at as a local community. And while Baxter County and Mountain Home remain Republican strongholds in Arkansas, tonight’s results show that local residents still want to continue making progress in upgrading their quality of life in the county and the city.
Here’s a breakdown of tonight’s results:
For President of the United States, Baxter County went to former President Donald J. Trump, who is potentially looking at winning the popular vote, and the presidency once again, against Kamala Harris. Trump won 16,235 votes (78%) in Baxter County last night.
If Trump wins nationally, he will be the first President in U.S. history to become President again after losing a bid for re-election. He will also become the first President in U.S. history to beat two female opponents.
For U.S. Congress District 1, local voters went with Republican Rick Crawford, who received 15,815 (77%). Crawford’s race was closely watched due to his lawsuit against the federal government to demand a pay raise. It did not appear to turn off voters on election day.
For State Treasurer, Republican John Thurston won handily in Baxter County with 15,896 votes (78%).
The Arkansas Supreme Court may find its new Chief Justice in Karen Baker thanks to some 9,569 votes (52%) cast by voters throughout the county.
On a more local level, the Baxter County Quorum Court will be seeing some new faces next year. Republican Mike McDonald won his race for Justice of the Peace District 2 with 1,735 votes (83.73%). He will be joined by Republican Bob Nault who won his race for Justice of the Peace District 7 with 1,341 votes (72.67%).
Justice of the Peace Rick Steiner, a Republican, will keep his seat on the Baxter County Quorum Court for District 3 after winning 1,645 votes (81.88%).
In Mountain Home, both Bob Van Haaren and Jim Bodenhamer will keep their contested seats on City Council. Van Haaren won 2,868 votes (55.77%) in his election, while Bodenhamer won 3,258 votes (61.55%). Both races saw a heavy amount of undervotes from voters who opted not to pick either candidate this year.
In Norfork, Hannah Martin has likely won the race for City Recorder/Treasurer with 113 votes (53.81%), just 16 votes over the opposition.
Mark Conley won his race for Norfork City Council Ward 1, Position 1 with 118 votes (54.63%). He was followed by Chrissy Cook who won the Position 2 seat with 122 votes (57.28%).
The race between Phillip Stultz and Hannah Gilmer for Norfork Ward 2 Position 1 is too close to call due to outstanding ballots that have not been counted. Gilmer leads by a slim 10 votes. There are currently 12 overseas/military ballots and an unknown number of provisional ballots that still need to be counted by the Baxter County Election Commission.
Overseas ballots have 10 days to arrive from election day to be counted under the law.
Norfork’s Angie Parnell and Jason Fraser are in the same position for their Ward 3 Position 1 race. Fraser leads by one vote. The same goes for Kay Gragg and Lacey Baker in the Ward 3 Position 2 race. Baker leads by two votes.
For local ballot measures, Cotter residents have approved the off-premises sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday. The final vote was 243 (61%) to 155 (39%).
In Norfork, local residents voted to keep their short-term rentals and VRBOs. The final vote was 137 (60%) against the repeal of the ordinance that allows for short-term rentals within city limits and 89 votes (40%) for the repeal of the ordinance.
For State measures, Baxter County voters voted in favor of Issue 1. with 18,090 votes (89%). For Issue 2, voters cast 12,188 votes (61%).
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners! And special thanks to the Baxter County Election Commission, Election Coordinator Lindsay Roberts and Baxter County Clerk Canda Reese for their hard work in making this year’s general election run as smoothly as it did.
For full data-driven results, please visit Election HQ.
