By BRANDON HURLEY
Managing Editor
news@beeherald.com
A hotly contested local election cycle was tense until the final tally.
A trio of Jefferson incumbents retained their seats on the city council Tuesday night, out-lasting a pair of on-comers.
More than 3,000 votes were cast for three open seats, with Pat Zmolek, who won a special election back in 2020, as leading vote-getter, recording 23.46 percent of the pollsters support thanks to 730 votes. He was joined by Darren Jackson, who secured 21.43 percent of the votes cast (667 votes). Jackson was first appointed and voted onto the council in 2019. Harry Ahrenholtz was the third incumbent of the night to secure a seat – the final city council spot, tallying 20.95 percent of the vote (652 votes).
The incumbents were fiercely challenged by two candidates. Greene County deputy sheriff Heath Enns recorded 18.03 percent of the vote (561 votes), falling short of a city council seat by a little more than 100 votes while Mark Wright finished with 15.17 percent of the vote (472 votes).
A total of 3,112 votes were cast for the three at-large seats Tuesday. Thirty votes, or 0.96 percent of the tally, were cast for write-ins.
Zmolek said he has enjoyed his brief stint on the council, which began in 2020 after a special election to replace now mayor Matt Gordon. It’s a reason why he he filed again.
“I have enjoyed learning how city government works,” he said in the Jefferson Herald Oct. 21. “I believe our community has a lot of positive things happening and I would like to be a part of moving our community forward and helping Jefferson stay a productive and viable community. “
Jackson, who also has served on the Grand Junction city council, felt his push to advance Jefferson through housing developments and business promotion motivated him to run again, in addition to more opportunities to hear ideas from the citizens of Jefferson.
“I enjoy meeting and working with the many, many people who have a strong interest in moving Jefferson forward in and out of city government,” Jackson said in a previous interview with the Jefferson Herald. “There is a great force of people out there that want Jefferson to keep up and grow with the times, rather than bemoan the changes and weep about what used to be. I want to continue to be a part of that force.”
Ahrenholtz readies for a third term on the council, the longest-tenured candidate on Tuesday’s ballot. He’s focused on advancing Jefferson into the future as well, with responsibility in mind while also standing up for the citizens – the foundation of the community.
“I am committed to help enable, recognize, and reward our dedicated city workers, as well as volunteers, in their diligent efforts to serve the residents of this community,” Ahrenholtz said in a Herald interview Oct. 21. “There is much good that is already happening here and I look forward to being a partner in making it even better than it is today. “
