Primary Election: Groen bests Williams in race for auditor's seat; Feenstra defeats King

    In the primary election on June 2, Leslie Groen defeated incumbent auditor Lizbeth Williams in the race for the Republican nomination for Butler County auditor. Groen received 989 votes, while Williams received 725.

    “I am so grateful for the people of Butler County that believe in me and recognized our county’s need for change!” said Groen in a statement. “I have a lot of thank you notes to write because I did not do this alone.  So many family, friends, and neighbors were by my side, supporting me these past few months.  This has been a tough environment to campaign in, and I could not have done it on my own.  I am so excited to be the Republican candidate for Butler County Auditor in November’s general election and to be one step closer to getting to work for Butler County!”

    A lifelong-resident of Butler County, Groen is the Information Security Officer at Iowa State Bank in Parkersburg. She resides on an acreage southwest of Allison.

    Williams, who has worked in the auditor’s office for the past 11 years and was elected county auditor in 2012, thanked all those who supported her.

    “I would like to thank everyone for their past support. It was a job I truly loved and was dedicated to,” Williams said.

    In U.S. House District 4, Randy Feenstra ousted incumbent Representative Steve King for the Republican nomination. Feenstra received 36,797 votes, while King received 28,977. Other candidates, Jeremy Taylor took home 6,295 votes, Bret Richards 5,983 and Steven Reeder 2,463. Feenstra will face J.D. Scholten, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the general election in November.

    “I am truly humbled by the outpouring of support over the past 17 months that made tonight possible, and I thank Congressman King for his decades of public service,” said Feenstra. “As we turn to the General Election, I will remain focused on my plans to deliver results for the families, farmers and communities of Iowa. But first, we must make sure this seat doesn’t land in the hands of Nancy Pelosi and her liberal allies in Congress. Tomorrow, we get back to work.”

    Scholten claimed the victory over King as his own in a statement issued on June 2.

    “Make no mistake — our campaign’s tremendous success, powered by an army of supporters and volunteers, defeated Steve King. Our first campaign began humbly in 2017, when establishment circles in both the Republican and Democratic party had written off this district as a lock for King. We knew differently…” said Scholten. “Iowa’s fourth district deserves real representation and accountability from someone who puts people — not corporations and the 1 percent — first.”

    In other news, Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson was reaffirmed with 1,657 votes in the Republican primary. No one ran against Johnson on either ticket, and there were only 19 write-in votes.

    “I appreciate your support, and I would like to thank you for your vote in Tuesday’s primary election,” Johnson said.

    In District 1, County Supervisor Greg Barnett also received a vote of confidence with 432 votes. He ran unopposed, and there were only four write-in votes.

    “I would like to thank everyone who has supported me as Butler County Supervisor for the last 3.5 years,” Barnett said. “It’s been a privilege and an honor to represent the citizens of Butler County.”

    Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Theresa Greenfield crushed her opponents for the Democratic nomination with 129,706 votes to Michael Franken’s 67,862, Kimberly Graham’s 40,738, Eddie Mauro’s 29,856 and Cal Woods’ 3,341 votes, and she will face Republican Senator Joni Ernst in the general election. Ernst received the Republican nomination unopposed.

    The Republican nominee for District 54 State Representative is Shannon Latham, and the Democratic nominee is Karen Koenig. Koenig won the District 54 Democratic nomination with 1,456 votes to Kai Brost’s 183 votes.

    District 50 State Representative Republican Pat Grassley will face Democratic candidate Dennis Evans in the general election; both men won uncontested primary races.