New Sharon Mayor Dustin Hite has been elected State Representative for House District 79, covering Mahaska County and part of Marion County.  Hite, a Republican, defeated Democrat Samantha Keith by nearly a three to one margin.  Hite talks about the campaign.  “It was a great campaign.  It was a lot of fun to get out and meet a lot of voters, knocking on doors, going to events.  I hope to continue that moving forward.  Obviously, being a representative of the people, it’s important, I think, to get out there, talk to voters, see what is important to them and where they fall on the issues and I look forward to doing that in the future.”

Hite says the New Sharon City Council will decide at its meeting tonight how to fill the upcoming vacancy for mayor, when Hite leaves that job early next year.

In the area’s other races for State Representative, Republican Holly Brink defeated Democrat Susan McDaniel 63 percent to 36.5 percent to win District 80; Republican Jarad Klein defeated Democrat Kimberly Davis to win District 78; Republican Jon Thorup won House District 28 over Democrat Ann Fields and in District 76, Republican David Maxwell defeated Democrat Ann Egley.