NAPOLEON - The Henry County Sheriff held on to his seat Tuesday, beating his challenger by a much tighter margin than other Republicans in the county.
Sheriff Michael Bodenbender, a Republican, defeated Independent Marc Ruskey, who has spent the past 13 years in the Henry County Sheriff’s Office before resigning this year to run for office. According to unofficial results posted by the Henry County Board of Elections, Sheriff Bodenbender won with about 55 percent of the vote in a county where President Trump won with 72 percent.
Sheriff Bodenbender first was elected in 2012, when he ran as an independent and defeated Republican incumbent John Nye. He had been hired by the sheriff’s office in 1990 and resigned as a sergeant to run for his boss’s job
Meanwhile, incumbent county Treasurer Lisa Spiess, a Democrat, was handily defeated by Republican challenger Diana Wachtman, who received about 66 percent of the vote. Ms. Spiess was appointed to the position this year.
Jeff Mires, a Republican who was appointed to the Henry County Commissioners in February after the retirement of Tom VonDeylen, handily defeated Democrat Leonard Beck with 77 percent of the vote. He will serve the rest of a two-year term. Mr. Mires previously served on the Napoleon City Council.
First Published November 4, 2020, 3:36 a.m.