Vandenberg to face Sheriff Weber in general election

LEE COUNTY – With only two races being contested in Tuesday’s primary election in Lee County, voter turnout was predictably low.
Only the U.S. Representative for District 1 on the Republican side, and the Republican side of the Lee County Sheriff’s race, had opponents as voters went to the polls.
An emotional and highly visible race in the sheriff’s contest that spilled heavily into social media channels was won handily by former Montana State Trooper and Lee County Deputy Elliott Vandenberg.
Vandenberg got a good start with a 172-83 advantage in absentee voting and that stretched to almost a 3-1 margin through the polling places. Vandenberg earned 1,094 votes to Fort Madison firefighter David Lee Johnson’s 347. Vandenberg won every single precinct and was decidedly the favorite in the southern part of the county.
Johnson fared better in the northern half of the county where he also serves as Assistant Fire Chief of the Wever Fire Department.
Vandenberg will now face current and two-term incumbent Stacy Weber in the general election Nov. 5. Vandenberg’s social media page has been aimed at Weber since he announced his run. Vandenberg resigned as deputy to go back into real estate, but then quickly announced his run for sheriff at a Lee County Republican meeting.
Current U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks was barely heard campaigning in the spring as David Pautsch challenged her on the right. The U.S. Army veteran and religious director of several churches and ministries was seeking his first federal office.
Pautsch had a stronger showing than expected in the county, garnering a respectable 43% of the vote but trailed Miller-Meeks 793-600. As of 9:30 p.m. Miller-Meeks had a 56.6% to 43.4% statewide lead over Pautsch.
There were no contested races on the Democratic ticket on Tuesday.