IVANHOE — Steve Hauswedell of Marshfield Township near Tyler emerged as the front runner in Tuesday’s primary race for a Lincoln County Board seat.

He received 104 votes out of 143 that were cast on Election Day, giving him a 73 percent margin of victory.

He advanced to the general election as the top vote getter.

Lincoln County Auditor Deb Vierhuf said the county sent out 36 absentee ballots, but only received three of them by this week’s deadline. Ballots needed to be postmarked by Election Day.

Hauswedell will be joined in the general election by incumbent Commissioner Jack Vizecky, who was in second place with 24 votes. A third candidate, Richard Rolling, was third with a total of 15 votes.

The district, officially District 5, includes the city of Arco and six townships in eastern and central Lincoln County. It extends from Limestone Township near Minneota to Hope Township, which surrounds Tyler.

Hauswedell’s margin was greatest in Marshfield and Hope townships, where he polled more than 80 percent of the vote.

He recorded more than 70 percent in Arco and in Lake Stay Township. He carried Vizecky’s home township of Ash Lake, Rolling’s home township of Limestone, and Diamond Lake Township by smaller margins.

Vizecky served five terms as Lincoln County’s sheriff, beginning in 1995 after he unseated incumbent sheriff Lee Koerber in the 1994 primary election and then outpolled Troy Barber in the general race. He ran for commissioner in 2016, a year after retiring as sheriff.

He ran unopposed for an open seat on the county board, which was vacated by former commissioner Joan Jagt when she moved into Tyler from Hope Township and became part of a different commissioner district. Jagt was elected as Tyler’s mayor in 2018.

Vierhuf said Tuesday’s turnout in District 5 indicates that voters took an interest in the three-way primary contest.

“All of the precincts posted good numbers,” Vierhuf said. “The turnout was higher overall in District 5 than in the rest of the county.”