Mitch Lentz had taken part in enough elections to know that he shouldn't not have been confident going into Tuesday night's special election for District 1 Country Commissioner in Fillmore County.
Lentz started a write-in campaign for the seat, because he was in Mexico during the two-week filing period and was unable to fill out paperwork to get on the ballot.
But Lentz won, as "the right people came out to vote" on Tuesday, Lentz said. Lentz garnered 218 signatures, well ahead of Karen Reisner (190) and Michael Holzer (158).
The seat opened up when former commissioner Tom Kaase was elected Fillmore County Sheriff.
"I was not confident," said Lentz, who was sent to Mexico by his longtime employer, IBM. "I had been a part of a lot of elections, whether it be for school board or the Southeast Service Cooperative. I know that write-in candidates typically don't do well."
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Lentz beat the odds by getting out and talking to Fillmore County residents, most of whom were concerned about roads and bridges in Fillmore County.
"Road and bridges are on a lot of people's minds," he said. "They want us to maintain and improve and fix where we can. A lot of people are worried about infrastructure."
Lentz said one of his first goals is to prioritize what infrastructure projects need to be looked at first.
From 1991 to 2010, Lentz was a school board member. His tenure included the consolidation of Spring Valley and Wykoff school districts into the Kingsland district, and he served on the Kingsland board during its opening years. He later served on the Southeast Service Cooperative for eight years. Along with working at IBM, Lentz also farms. He said his time on the school board and the cooperative helped him manage his time. He believes he will be able to juggle his day job at IBM, his chores on the farm and his duties as county commissioner.
"I'm really happy to be elected," Lentz said. The right people came out to vote (Tuesday), and I'm extremely happy about that."
