Voters have their say in midterms

A near 64% turnout in Chase County for Tuesday’s General Election sent people to the polls for some important races and issues for which voters wanted to make their mark. From city and village government, to school boards and a new governor, voters had their chance to pick leaders and say yes or no to initiatives and a state constitutional amendment.
    The makeup of Imperial city government will have a new look next month as a new mayor and two council members take oaths of office. I thought it was an interesting mayor’s race in particular between winner Craig Loeffler and Duncan Einspahr, with the candidates’ full-time professions and their support or lack of support for a city police department among the issues. Whether to debate or not to debate, mirroring some of what was happening on the national level, also came into play in some corners of the community. Politics is alive and well in Chase County, but thankfully, not to the extreme of state and national levels.
    Five first-time office-holders on the county level will be sworn in the first of the year, and Chase County will have a new state senator in Teresa Ibach in Lincoln, where Nebraska  Republican Governor-elect Jim Pillen will also take office.
     While we can all breathe a sigh of relief the 2022 election is over (see cartoon, top right), just brace yourself—the posturing has already started for the 2024 election which will include a race for U.S. President. I can’t help look ahead, either.
    As I have stated in this space before, I am fully behind a potential U.S. presidential candidacy from Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. While DeSantis pledged Tuesday to be another impactful governor there for four years after winning by a landslide, there are presidential aspirations and pushing from others for him to run. While there are strong hints from Donald Trump of jumping into that race again, I hope his big announcement on Tuesday is about something else.