BY JADEN MOUNT
In an unquestionable upset, former Ellis County Health Administrator Robert “Butch” Schlyer defeated current Ellis County First District Commissioner Marcy McClelland in the last night’s Republican Primary. Unofficial results have named Schlyer winning the primary 635 to McClelland’s 282.
Schlyer had filed for the first district commissioner election prior to McClelland, as the commissioner was recovering from health-related problems. It wasn’t until the party primary deadline that McClelland filed for reelection.
The commissioner made an appearance at the Ellis County Administrative Building Tuesday night. At that time, unofficial results for Advance Voting and Electronic Ballots had been reported, putting Schlyer over 200 votes ahead. She then began to concede the election was determined and that “the people had spoken.” However, there was some indecisiveness about if she would support her opponent in November, citing an apparent lack of campaign from Schlyer.
“Probably. We’ll see,” said McClelland. “I haven’t seen any…I have not seen any, any campaign literature. I have not seen anything except what you had and what he had. I have not seen him out. I have seen a few signs around town, but I haven’t seen him out. Ya know when you’re running for office, you’re usually at different things and I haven’t seen him at all. ”
Schlyer did not make an appearance at the county building during the tallying. After his interview on KFHS Online Radio’s “The Sandbox”, Schlyer declined TMN’s offer to host a debate between the two candidates.
The Ellis County Clerk Donna Maskus and her election team will begin the process to make the results official, but there is little doubt the result will change.
The former health administrator will face off against Democratic nominee Chris Rorabaugh and Independent candidate John Walz this coming November. For more information on voting in your area, contact the local Kansas Department of the Treasurer Office.