The City of Great Bend, out of no fault of its own, finds itself in an exceptional situation, and it began with the 2019 General Election. First, the mayoral seat was successfully won by a write-in candidate Cody Schmidt, despite a full slate of candidates on the ballot. Second, the city council appointed Junior Welsch to a Ward 4 seat left vacant when Andrew Erb chose not to run for a second term and no candidates were declared.