The voters of Delaware County re-elected Barb Lewis (R) to another four years as a county commissioner and re-elected George Kaitsa (R) as the county auditor in Tuesday’s election.
Delaware County Commissioner
Lewis (R) received 61.16 percent of the total votes, 54,472 votes, while her opponent Aileen Wagner (D) received 38.84 percent of the total votes (34,588).
The two candidates had several chances to meet face-to-face at various forums sponsored by local organizations. Both made a point to comment on how they appreciated the positive and fact-based campaigns they each ran.
Lewis said candidates can have different views and still debate them in a civil manner.
“I would like to congratulate Aileen Wagner for running a fact-based campaign,” she said about Wagner the day after the election. “I give her credit for how she ran her campaign. The important thing is focusing on the service to the community.
“I’m very honored to serve another term as a Delaware County commissioner,” Lewis said in a statement to The Gazette.
Wagner said in this “time of partisan divides and negative campaigning, I am grateful we maintained a positive race.”
“Congratulations to Barb Lewis,” she added. “I hope the commissioners include and respond to the nearly 40 percent of people who voted for me. All the citizens of Delaware County deserve to have a voice at the table. Thank you so much to all the people who volunteered, donated, and voted in support of my campaign. Delaware County has the most amazing people.”
Delaware County Auditor
George Kaitsa (R) received 65.23 percent of the vote, 58,410 of the total votes cast, while his opponent, Indu Rajan (D), received 34.77 percent of the vote or 31,132 of the total votes cast.
Kaitsa said he is grateful to be able to serve another term as county auditor.
“I want to thank the Delaware County voters for their trust in me,” he said. “I will continue to serve the taxpayers of Delaware County to the best of my ability as I have done in the past.”
Rajan said it was her first time running for a public office and found it to be a good experience.
“I would like to congratulate Mr. Kaitsa, and I would like to thank all the people who supported me,” she said. “For the first time running, I thought it was pretty good for me. It was a good experience for me, and I made a lot of friends.”
Rajan added she would probably run again in the future, but not necessarily for county auditor.
“I haven’t decided yet,” she said. “We’ll regroup and look at things and see what comes up.”