DANUBE -- An incumbent candidate for the Danube City Council has challenged two ballots after a recount showed he lost his seat by one vote.
The Danube canvassing board will meet Wednesday to consider the challenge, according to Viva Mittelstadt, city clerk.
Election results showed that write-in candidate Mary Jo Treml was the winner over Les Schneider Sr. in the Nov. 7 election by an 87-86 vote tally.
Schneider had asked for a recount after the election, and on Wednesday night the Danube canvassing board determined Treml was the winner by the one-vote difference. Schneider then challenged two ballots. Treml said one of the ballots lists only her first name while the other lists her first name and last name's initial.
Schneider is an American Insurance agent in Danube and has lived in the community for 31 years. His son, Les, serves as the town's police chief.
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Schneider said he has served on the Danube City Council for most of the previous 12 years, once winning as a write-in candidate himself. He said he is proud of the city's accomplishments. The city has not raised its budget in the last five years despite state cutbacks and is the lowest taxed community in Renville County, he pointed out.
He said the City Council has been able to do a lot of good things for the community, and he wants to continue that work. "There are a lot of things left to do,'' he told the Tribune.
Treml is the manager of the MinnWest Bank and has lived in the community for seven years. She said she takes the blame for the election situation by not having originally filed for the council.
Treml said she originally did not plan to run for City Council, but encouragement from many people persuaded her to do so. She announced her write-in candidacy shortly before the election and purchased an advertisement in the local newspaper.
Treml said she felt humbled by the support that showed her collecting 87 votes.
Treml and her husband, Dan, are parents to five children. She said she is very interested in working on the City Council to help Danube grow and attract young families to the community.
The canvassing board for Danube includes the current City Council members. Treml said they reviewed the ballots on Wednesday night and recorded her as the winner.
The Danube ballot listed Chad Kohls as running without opposition for mayor and Sharon Lothert and Les Schneider as the candidates for two council positions. Kohls was re-elected with 189 votes and Lothert was re-elected with 165 votes.
