BELLE — Unofficial results from the April 7 general election in Maries County show voters deciding a mix of municipal races, school board seats and tax-related ballot measures, with generally low turnout across reporting precincts.

According to the election summary, 796 of 9,810 registered voters cast ballots, representing a turnout of 8.11 percent.

Belle races and ballot measure

In Belle, James (Pudd) Mitchell secured his reelection as mayor with 123 votes, defeating Tracey Cresswell, who received 35 votes.

Mitchell looks forward to his next term, saying that work in the city will continue.

“We’re going to keep moving progress forward, like we have been. We’re not going to go backwards, we’ll move forward. That’s all we can do,” Mitchell said.

Cresswell said, “I hold no ill feelings towards anyone and I will be one of the first to congratulate Pudd on his win.”

Jerry Coborn ran unopposed for city marshal, receiving 134 votes.

For Ward 1 alderman, Jeanette Struemph ran unopposed and received all 29 votes cast in that race. In Ward 2, Steven F. Vogt defeated Steven Bedwell with 93 votes to 34 votes.

Vogt said, “ I am proud to serve and represent the citizens of Belle for over 40 years.”

Bedwell kept his sense of humor despite the loss and said, “My whole family wants me to move back to Illinois. I don’t know, I might just take a water balloon and hit Tracey (Creswell) with it and do something else.”

Voters in Belle narrowly rejected Proposition A. The measure received 75 “yes” votes and 88 “no” votes.

Countywide ballot issue

Maries County Proposition A passed with strong support, receiving 579 “yes” votes compared to 211 “no” votes.

Ambulance district measure

The Maries Osage Ambulance District Proposition also passed, with 233 votes in favor and 163 opposed.

School board races

In the Maries County R-1 School District Board of Education race, Denise Wilkinson led with 318 votes, followed by Kayla Wansing with 299 and Matthew Novak with 272 votes.

In the Dixon R-1 School District of Pulaski County race, Maries County reported Ralph L. Boucher II with 47 votes, followed by Travin T. Shelton with 45, Matthew S. McCray with 36, Alyssa Hogshooter with 23 and Charles Kirk King with 16. The Phelps County Jerome precinct added two votes each for McCray, Shelton and King, while Boucher and Hogshooter received no votes there. Combined totals left Shelton and Boucher tied for the lead with 47 votes each, followed by McCray with 38, Hogshooter with 23 and King with 18 votes.

In the St. James R-1 School District race, Maries County reported Jon (Wes) Gahr with 33 votes, followed by Melanie Davis with 28, Jessica Roy with 21, Kendra Swee with 13 and Linda (Wilson) Wischow with 11. The Phelps County results added 192 votes for Gahr, 155 for Davis, 137 for Roy, 93 for Swee and 61 for Wischow. Combined totals left Gahr leading with 225 votes, followed by Davis with 183, Roy with 158, Swee with 106 and Wischow with 72 votes.

Emergency services board races

For the Maries County Emergency Services Eastern District 4-year term, Keith Kilmer ran unopposed and received 288 votes.

In the Eastern District 2-year term race, Cindy Butler led with 282 votes, defeating Stephen R. Conrad, who received 153 votes.

For the Western District 2-year term (vote for two), Allan Pollreisz and Don Lanning led the totals with 261 votes and 258 votes, respectively. Susan J. Sarette received 105 votes.

Stephen Sinden ran unopposed for the Western District 4-year term, receiving 350 votes.

Bonnie J. Prigge was unopposed in the at-large race, receiving 664 votes.

Fire district race

In the St. James Fire Protection District Board of Directors race, Phelps County reported Larry Rinehart with 179 votes, Scott Marcee with 128, Jeff Davis with 65 and John Money with 58, totaling 430 votes.

Maries County reported Larry Rinehart with 18 votes, Scott Marcee with 14, Jeff Davis with 4 and John Money with 3, totaling 39 votes.

Combined totals show Larry Rinehart with 197 votes, followed by Scott Marcee with 142 , Jeff Davis with 69 and John Money with 61, for a total of 469 votes cast.

Other races

In the Rolla School District No. 31 Board of Education race, Maries County reported Carla Clayton and Christina Mousadakos with 10 votes each, followed by Susan J. Eudaly with 8 and David Grow with 7 votes.

The Phelps County results showed Clayton with 69 votes, Mousadakos with 66, Eudaly with 53 and Grow with 44, for a total of 232 votes cast.

Combined totals show Carla Clayton with 79 votes, Christina Mousadakos with 76, Susan J. Eudaly with 61 and David Grow with 51 votes.

No votes were recorded in the Village of Argyle Board of Trustees race.