Reno County voters decide local races, reject school funding question
These are the official 2025 City School General Election Results
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County voters turned out at a modest 18.29% rate for 2025 Reno County General Election, deciding numerous local school board and municipal races while soundly rejecting a special funding question for USD 308.
The Nov. 4 election drew 7,983 voters out of 43,640 registered in the county, according to official results released Wednesday, Nov. 12.
County Trustees Elected
Three county Board of Trustees positions were decided in the election. Jan Young won District 1-4 Position 4 with 3,328 votes, while Rodney Calhoun captured District 2-2 Position 2 with 1,307 votes. Todd B. Miller secured District 3-6 Position 6 with 1,574 votes. All three candidates ran unopposed in their respective districts, which saw turnout rates ranging from 12.55% to 27.51%.
School Districts See Contested Races
In USD 308, which serves the Hutchinson area, voters selected three school board members from a field of six candidates. Laura Corey led the race with 2,356 votes, followed by Cheryl L. Thompson with 1,972 votes and Lindsey Hatfield with 1,857 votes. Jeff Roberson, Gregory Scott Johnson and Shontina R. Tipton also ran for the three seats.
The district's special question asking voters to approve additional funding failed decisively, with 3,720 voting no and only 1,276 voting yes — a rejection by nearly three-to-one.
Smaller school districts saw uncontested or lightly contested races. In USD 309, Jeremy Schmidt defeated Staci Watson 392-324 for an unexpired term in District 1-4, while Lorna B. Geist ran unopposed in District 3-6.
Municipal Elections Across County
Hutchinson's city races drew the most attention. Darrin Truan won the at-large City Council seat with 3,171 votes, defeating Carlton "Duke" DeVaul, who received 1,915 votes. In district races, Stacy Goss won the Northwest District with 1,510 votes over Devon Reese's 837, while Greg Fast captured the Southwest District with 682 votes to Kaden Winters' 316.
Several smaller communities elected new leadership. Carlyn G. Conrad narrowly defeated Dustin Pugh 37-36 to become Sylvia's mayor, while Peggy Laura Ruebke easily won Nickerson's mayoral race with 121 votes over Trina Stum's 42.
Other mayoral winners included Ryan Wray in Buhler, Lacey Stone in The Highlands, Dustin VanScoyoc in Pretty Prairie and Rick Smith in Partridge. Several races in Langdon, Plevna and Willowbrook were decided by write-in votes, with no candidates filing for the positions.
School Board Results
Community college and school board races rounded out the ballot. Todd Carr won USD 313 District 1-4 with 1,021 votes, while Laura Meyer Dick took District 2-5 with 1,016 votes and Monte Gross won District 3-6 with 1,009 votes.
In USD 310, Derek Zongker led a three-person race with 269 votes, followed by Erica Inslee with 258 and Darren Busick with 243.
Several school board positions in smaller districts, including USD 267, USD 312 and USD 331, had only one or two candidates and drew minimal voter participation.
The official results were certified Wednesday, Nov. 12, by the Reno County Election Office.