If you’re wondering who’s running New Franklin’s schools and city hall for the next few years, the short answer is: whoever got the most write-in votes. Howard County’s April 7 general municipal election produced no printed candidate names for the New Franklin R-1 school board’s three open seats — every vote was a write-in — and the county’s certified results, posted April 13, tell the story of small-town democracy working exactly as designed, per Howard County’s official election results.
Jeff Chitwood led the school board field with roughly 206 votes, followed by Sam Hackman (about 163) and Judd Evans (roughly 153, combining spelling variants written on the ballot), ahead of write-in challengers Eric Rhorer and Caleb Forbis. Over in New Franklin’s city government, aldermen races were similarly lopsided: Sandra Heckman (Ward 1), Shantay Wiltz-Jones (Ward 2), and Anthony Martin (Ward 3) each won with well over 85% of the vote, facing only scattered write-in opposition.
Countywide, voters also settled two ballot measures that will show up in local budgets for years: a Howard County Ambulance District proposition passed 774–547, and a Howard County Public Water District No. 1 bond passed 248–85. The county filled five 911 board seats as well, including Connie Kunze at-large.
Why it matters here: none of this made a splash outside the county, but it’s exactly the kind of vote that decides whether your ambulance shows up on time or your water bill changes — worth five minutes with the results page above, especially if you’re on the New Franklin side of things. For a primer on how these local boards and commissions work closer to home, see our own Getting Involved: Boards and Commissions in Rocheport.