With more than 50 percent of the vote at the April 7 election, Baldwin City’s new mayor will be Ken Wagner.

Bonnie Plumberg and Tom Farmer were voted in as the new council members, and three school board candidates will be returning for another term.

Running unopposed in the Baldwin School Board election, Bill Busby, Ande Parks and Ruth Barkley each will be returning members.

Freshman Courtney Masrud, Baldwin City resident and Baker student, is confident with the ending results of the election.

“I think (Wagner) will do just fine,” Masrud said.

Sophomore Carly Young also was pleased with the election outcome, and saw Wagner’s substantial win as a positive for the community.

"If (Wagner) has enough support from the community to win the election, then he will do a good job as mayor and probably make a lot of community members happy," Young said.<br/>Supervisor Judge Ertie Evangelista said about 20 percent of Baldwin City's registered voters went to the polls.Supervisor Judge Ertie Evangelista said about 20 percent of Baldwin City's registered voters went to the polls.
Supervisor Judge Ertie Evangelista said about 20 percent of Baldwin City’s registered voters went to the polls.

Wagner was surprised by the results of the election.

“It was a decisive win, especially in such a close election with only three runners,” Wagner said. “I never would have imagined we would end up with more than half the votes.”

The election was won after Wagner received an impressive 54.3 percent of the votes. George McCrary had 29.7 percent and Director of Physical Plant Gary Walbridge obtained 16 percent.

The numbers for the council positions were much closer. Plumberg came in the lead with 27 percent of votes, followed by Farmer, who came out ahead of Chris Nichols by just 0.5 percent. Closely behind were Russ Gill with 18.2 percent and Ric Gere with 15.5 percent.

After current council members Amy Cleavinger and Doyle Jardon chose not to run for re-election, Plumberg and Farmer will take their seats.

Wagner, who already has served six terms on the city council, still has two years left to serve on the council and will have to choose a replacement.

As new mayor, Wagner views Baker University as an important asset to the Baldwin City community and would like to improve communication between the two.

“Baker is a great asset to the Baldwin City community, and I would like to work to improve the relations between the school and the city,” Wagner said. “I cannot wait to start talking to students and Dean (of Students Cassy) Bailey.”