Lori J. Anderson-Malm emerges the winner in the race to fill Merrill’s vacant City Clerk position; and Merrill elects three new Alderpersons
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
In the 2022 Spring Election on Tuesday, April 5, 2022, City of Merrill and Lincoln County residents turned out in healthy numbers to cast their votes in many contested races throughout the area.
Lincoln County voter turnout for this election was 32.63%, well above the 22.96% of voters who turned out in the 2021 Spring Election. The County currently has 23,017 registered voters, and 7,511 ballots were cast in the April 5, 2022, election.
City of Merrill races
Five new faces will soon join the ranks at Merrill City Hall.
In the Mayoral race, with all eight precincts counted, Merrill residents elected Steve J. Hass to be their new Mayor, with Hass receiving 69.23% of the votes. Hass garnered 1,357 votes, while his opponent, William R. Bialecki, received 599 votes.
In the race for Merrill City Clerk, Lori L. Anderson-Malm was elected to fill the vacant City Clerk position in Merrill City Hall. Anderson-Malm received 69.14% of the votes cast in the race. She collected 1,295 votes, while her opponent, John Guenther, received 576 votes.
Incumbent Ronald R. Liberty ran unopposed in the election to continue on as Merrill’s Street and Weed Commissioner and was re-elected with 1,419 votes.
In the races for Alderpersons in the City of Merrill, Incumbent Paul Russell ran unopposed in District 1 and was re-elected to the position with 243 votes.
In Merrill District 2, Michael J. “Gus” Caylor ran for Alderperson unopposed and was elected to the position with 219 votes.
Incumbent Rick Blake ran unopposed for the position of Alderperson of Merrill District 3 and was re-elected with 135 votes.
In Merrill District 4, LaDonna Fermanich ran on the ballot, with Clyde Nelson running against her as a registered write-in candidate. Fermanich won the race, receiving 146 votes – 66.67% of the ballots cast. Write-in candidate(s) received 73 votes in the race.
The District 5 race for Merrill Alderperson was a hotly-contested race. As of 10:05 p.m. on April 5, the final count showed 113 votes for challenger Dick Lupton and 112 votes for incumbent John M. VanLieshout, with Lupton winning the race in an upset by a single vote.
In Merrill District 6 incumbent Michael Rick emerged the winner in another tight race, winning by just 5 votes; Rick received 88 votes, while his challenger, Kyle Gulke received 83 votes.
Incumbent Mark J. Weix, Jr., ran unopposed for the position of Alderperson in District 7. He was re-elected with 287 votes.
In Merrill District 8, incumbent Steve Sabatke won re-election as the District Alderperson, receiving 58.45% of the vote. He collected 121 votes, while challenger Ann Heller received 84 votes.