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Hutchinson wins 3rd District County Commission primary
Shawn Hutchinson
Shawn Hutchinson

There will be November elections for three of the five Barton County Commission districts but the only primary Tuesday was among four Republican candidates in the 3rd District. 

Great Bend businessman Shawn Hutchinson received the most votes in that race Tuesday and his name will be on the ballot in November.

With 43% of the votes in a four-way race, Hutchinson said he was “overwhelmed” with the results Tuesday and he expressed appreciation for “the whole Barton County community.”

Hutchinson is owner of Satellite Pros and he and his wife own Central Plains Security.

He spent Tuesday evening at home with his wife, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jamie Hutchinson, manager of Central Care Cancer Center, and their children.

“I’m looking forward to making Barton County a place where our children and grandchildren will want to stay and come back to,” he said Tuesday night. “With some common sense and some business sense, I think we can move things faster than ever before.”

The 3rd District Republican candidates and the number of votes they received Tuesday were

• Robert Bean - 120 (17%)

• Charlie Dixon - 100 (14%)

• Shawn Hutchinson - 301 (43%)

• John Edmonds - 178 (25%)

All of the candidates reside in Great Bend.

There were no candidates for county commission from the Democratic Party.

Barb Esfeld, Great Bend, was unopposed in the race for 2nd District.

Jim Daily, Great Bend, was unopposed as he ran for the unexpired term in the 4th District. He was appointed in April of 2019 to fill the vacancy created when Alicia Straub, Ellinwood, resigned to take Greg Lewis’s 113th District seat in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Lone Republicans also ran for other Barton County offices:

Donna Zimmerman, Great Bend, for County Clerk; Pam Wornkey, Ellinwood, for County Register of Deeds; Brian J. Bellendir, Great Bend, for County Sheriff; and James E. Jordan, Great Bend, for County Treasurer. There was no candidate for County Attorney and there were no Democrats running for any of these offices.

The final unofficial totals were released Tuesday night by the Barton County Clerk’s Office, but they must be canvassed by the Barton County Commission before the results are official.