By Greg Halbleib

BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL – The councils in the Twin Cities will be comprised of a total of six newcomers as a result of Tuesday’s election.

In Normal, challengers Stan Nord and Karyn Smith earned seats on the town council while Kathleen Lorenz captured a second term. Nord received the most votes (2,873) followed by Lorenz (2,087) and Smith (2,043). R.C. McBride finished fourth with 1,849 votes but failed to win a second term on the council.

“I did it for the right reasons,” Nord related to his successful run, adding he was humbled by the outcome. “People came out and voted for me. They could have voted for someone else so I have to thank them.”

“Karyn Smith and I, we are very much willing and wanting to listen to the people,” Nord continued. “This is the community that’s paying for all this government. The community needs to have a voice. They need to be heard.”

In Bloomington, four new faces earned spots on the city council as one of the newcomers ousted a five-term incumbent in Ward 6. Jenn Carrillo edged long-time alderwoman Karen Schmidt 378-334.

“I know in my heart that there are so many people in Ward 6 who are struggling and feel that their struggles have not been honored and heard and taken with urgency,” Carrillo said. “We talked to as many of those people as we could and related that struggle and think that connected with folks and moved them to the polls.”

In Ward 2, Donna Boelen out-polled Georgene Chissell 351-235 while the Ward 4 seat went to Julie Emig by a 660-437 margin over Don “Chip” Frank. The open Ward 8 slot went to Jeff Crabill, who defeated Travis Wilson 486-173.

The only contested race for the Unit 5 school board went to incumbents Kelly Pyle and Amy Roser, who held off a challenge from Lanell Greenberg.

Voter turnout in Normal was 18.4 percent while only 9.3 percent of registered voters went to the polling places in Bloomington.

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].