WESTSIDE — Results from the Nov. 6 election in western Benton County didn't bring a lot of surprises. There were no major upsets and Gentry's 7/8-sales tax increase was approved.
In Gravette, according to unapproved results, the incumbent mayor, Kurt Maddox, defeated challenger Dale Ayres, 512 to 471. Mike vonRee held on to his post as city clerk, defeating Patrick Hall, 604 to 353. Gravette council winners included Ron Theis, Margo Thomas and Ashley Harris.
Michelle Rieff will continue serving as Highfill's mayor, defeating her challenger, Julie White, 163 to 136. Chris Holland will continue on the council, beating out Cade Alsbury, 169 to 111.
In Springtown, Terri Glenn defeated Lisa Taylor, 21 to 14, to retain the mayor's post. For seats on the council, Charles Bostwick and Dixie Law beat out their opponents, Don Jech and Barbara Kerns Goodman, by the same margin. David Clark beat Chad Qualls, 24 to 11.
Though there were no contested seats in Gentry — Kevin Johnston will continue for another term as mayor, and Elizabeth "Jenny" Trout will take over as city clerk. The big news for Gentry is the voters' approval of a 7/8-cent sales and use tax increase to fund city infrastructure (including a master park plan) and emergency services. Nearly 57 percent of Gentry's voters approved the measure, 431 to 329.
Bob Tharp will continue as mayor in Decatur, and Shane Weber will serve as mayor in Sulphur Springs.
At the county level, Barry Moehring defeated challenger Ronnie Smith, 54,660 to 19,383, for another term as county judge. Adriane Carr defeated Jacob Faught to keep her District 12 Justice of the Peace seat and Dustin Todd defeated Susie Kuilan for the District 11 seat.
To view a full listing of Benton County results, view the following PDF made available by the Benton County Clerk's office late Tuesday night.
