Republicans swept the contested local races in Tuesday’s General Election. Incumbent Doug Cupples and Thad Nearmyer were elected as County Supervisors, while Jon Dunwell retained his District 38 State Representative seat. Dunwell defeated Colfax businessman Brad Magg 9,035 votes to 7,163. Cupples defeated Independent candidate and Newton small business owner Jerry Chandler 13,471 votes to 5,018. Former Jasper County Republican Chairman Thad Nearmyer will be joining the Board of Supervisors, collecting 12,125 votes to Newton businessman Randy Ray’s 5,864. Nearmyer will be taking the Supervisor seat that Denny Carpenter held before his death in December of 2022. Former County Supervisor Denny Stevenson was appointed to the seat after Carpenter died, and did not run to retain it.