ELY- Heidi Omerza cruised to an easy victory, outpolling Paul Kess 962-623 in the race for the open Mayor’s seat. Both were currently serving on the Ely City Council. The mayor’s seat came up for grabs when current Mayor Roger Skraba decided to run for the 3A legislative seat, against incumbent Rob Ecklund. As of Wednesday morning, Skraba was holding a razor-thin lead in that race which is expected to undergo a recount.
Omerza was the top vote-getter in the August primary, with 55.3-percent of the vote. Kess had come in second place, with 32.6 percent, and newcomer Mark Haarman received 12-percent of the vote. There were 741 votes cast in the primary, compared to 1,633 cast on Nov. 8.
As of 7 a.m. on Nov. 8, Ely had 2,299 registered voters.
There were three candidates for the three open Ely City Council seats, and all three earned seats. Incumbent Albert Forsman tallied 1,061 votes, Incumbent Angela Campbell 961, and Adam Bisbee came in third with 686 votes. There were 594 write-in votes cast.
Omerza told the Timberjay she is “thrilled, honored and humbled not only to be elected the mayor of Ely, but also the second female Mayor of Ely.”
She follows in the footsteps of Ely Mayor Lolita Schnitzius.
“This was the first election that my daughter was able to vote so it has special meaning to me,” she said. “Now the work begins…Trailhead completion and the trifecta... childcare, housing, and workforce!”