It was another home run for Kruckenberg.
Barton County’s two-time commissioner Homer Kruckenberg held off two challengers to earn his third 2nd District commission seat.
Kruckenberg was declared the winner by local officials with 357 votes with Sharon Wondra earning 262 votes and former District Judge Hannelore Kitts gaining 261 votes. Ellinwood’s precincts had yet to report.
“Oh yes, it was good to face a challenge. I worked at it pretty hard. I taught school for many years and have developed friends and former students who stepped up and helped,” he said. “I advertised pretty heavy. I had generous contributions. I had an awful good treasurer.”
The 82-year Kruckenberg beat Betty Clumsky the first time he won his seat. He won one time running as an independent candidate.
“At my age, I get pretty nervous,” he said. “Serving as a commissioner helped me. I beat an incumbent the first time when I beat Betty Clumsky, who was a really good legislator. You’ve got to pay attention to details.”
Kruckenberg considers himself a fiscal conservative. He voted against a recent 6-mill hike.
Hannelore Kitts served as a District Court Judge in the 20th Judicial District from 1995 to 2013 before retiring from the position. She immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1977 with her husband who was a Master Sergeant in the U.S. Army.
Sharon Wondra is a lifelong resident of Great Bend and has worked in the Barton County Sheriff’s Office since 1990 where she serves as a detective.
Wondra mentioned the changes she wanted to see are more business in the area, she wanted to see Barton County grow and another change would be a raise for city workers and making sure they have what they need to do their job.
“Some of our city workers have been with us many years and they do their job very well.” Wondra said. “We really need to keep these folks on board, they are very important to the city.”
Wondra has been with the Sheriff’s Office for 26 years and has been a detective since 2013. She plans on staying with the BCSO, but is undecided if she will run for office in the future.
“Homer’s done the job for a while and he’s a good guy,” Wondra said. “I’m happy. I still have a job.”