{"id":199139,"date":"2025-11-04T21:58:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T02:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=199139"},"modified":"2025-11-05T21:51:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T02:51:49","slug":"race-results-in-council-school-board-trustee-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/11\/04\/race-results-in-council-school-board-trustee-mayor\/","title":{"rendered":"Final local November 4 election results"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert City Council will have three new members in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two of the newcomers will fill at-large seats \u2013 Dewaine Johnson, who collected the second highest vote total (924) and Hall Block, who finished third with 812 votes and secured the final open seat. Incumbent At-Large Councilwoman Jana Ringwald garnered the most votes, 1,039. Kirby Kelly finished fourth in the five-way race with 584 votes and incumbent At-Large Councilwoman Judy Bowers finished fifth with 554 votes. Incumbent Councilman At-Large Jeff Kallas did not seek re-election.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The third new council member will be Eric Hurless, who ran unopposed in the fourth ward. He\u2019ll replace Bill Marshall, who chose not to run again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incumbent First Ward Councilman Jeff Agler, Second Ward Councilman Greg Roberts, and Third Ward Councilwoman Julie Moore ran unopposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Middle Point, Tonya Hoghe (70 votes), Lisa Merkle (67 votes), Toni Wisher (57 votes) and Adam Blockberger (56) were elected, while Shane Shugart finished with 44 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was one mayoral race on the ballot. In Venedocia, Vernon Hobbs defeated P.J. Burnett 26-17. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School board races<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only contested school board race on the ballot was in the Crestview Local Schools district, with four people seeking three seats. The three incumbents \u2013 Brad Perrott, Nan Grace and Lori Bittner won re-election. Grace finished with 712 votes, followed by Perrott (616) and Bittner (585). Challenger John Dowler tallied 427 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Township trustee races<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three people ran for two seats in Harrison and Willshire townships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Harrison Township, incumbents Dustin K. Figley (200 votes) and John Staten (161) won re-election, while challenger James W. Kitson finished with 114 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Willshire Township, incumbents Bradley E. Michaud (160 votes) and Randy D. Oechsle (142 votes) were re-elected, while challenger Adam M. Schumm finished with 103 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All results are unofficial until certified by the Van Wert County Board of Elections later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert City Council At-Large (top three elected)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jana Ringwald 1,039<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaine Johnson 924<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hall Block 812<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirby Kelly 584<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judy Bowers 554<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle Point Village Council (top four elected)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonya Hoghe 70<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Merkle 67<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toni Wisher 57<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Blockberger 56<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shane Shugart 44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venedocia mayor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vernon Hobbs 26<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PJ Burnett 17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crestview school board (top three elected)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanette Grace 712<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley Perrott 606<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lori Bittner 585<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Dowler 427<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Township trustees (top two elected)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison Township<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dustin Figley 200<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Staten 161<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Kitson 114<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willshire Township<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley Michaud 160<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Oechsle 142<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Schumm 103<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor Van Wert City Council will have three new members in 2026. Two of the newcomers will fill at-large seats \u2013 Dewaine Johnson, who collected the second highest vote total (924) and Hall Block, who finished third with 812 votes and secured the final open seat. Incumbent At-Large Councilwoman Jana Ringwald garnered the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-16 16:23:09","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199139"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199181,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199139\/revisions\/199181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}