Meier defeats Thelen in Dist. 2 race

HARTINGTON — Laurel businessman Mike Meier defeated Randolph area farmer John Thelen for a chance to take the Cedar County Commission seat being vacated by Craig Bartels.

Meier defeated Thelen 638-161.

Bartels originally filed for the seat, but then decided he did not wish to run for a third term.

Both Meier and Thelen are Republicans, so they faced off in the May 14 primary election. No one filed for the seat as a Democrat, so unless Meier faces a write-in challenger, he will take the seat in January.

District 2 covers all of southern Cedar County, including the communities of Belden, Coleridge, Laurel, Magnet and Randolph.

This is the second time Thelen filed for the seat. He challenged Bartels in the 2020 primary election.