For this episode of What’s The Frequency, we dig into the changes that the November general election outcomes have meant for Woodbury County, which is the most populous county in the Siouxland region.
Some years elections go very well for incumbents, and there may not be much change in who serves in county offices or the Legislature. However, this year, there was turnover in Woodbury County elected positions, as three men with a combined 46 years of service to the county are departing.
One of those departures has been known for several months, as one Woodbury County Board of Supervisors member did not run for re-election, although some people, including fellow Republican board members wanted him to resign.
That is the case of County Board member Jeremy Taylor, whose wife in late 2023 was convicted on 52 counts of voter fraud. Kim Phuong Taylor served her four-month sentence this summer, and her sentence is under appeal, as Jeremy Taylor will share later in this episode.
Federal law officials said her acts of voter fraud were designed to help her husband win office as a Republican candidate in 2020. The jury in a Sioux City trial ruled Kim Taylor had illegally filled out election documents and ballots for members of the Vietnamese community, who had limited ability to read and understand English.
Jeremy Taylor was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the case, but has not been charged.
At the beginning of 2024, he rebuffed calls to resign his position as a Woodbury County Board of Supervisors member, and held to that. His four-year term ends at the end of December.
The other two departing county officeholders are Republican County Board member Keith Radig and Democratic County Auditor Pat Gill, who has held the position for 28 years.
Coincidentally, both Radig and Gill lost to Michelle Skaff, who is a deputy in the Woodbury County Auditor office. Radig sought to shift from his county board position to become auditor, lost to Skaff in the June Republican Party primary election that set up the November ballot.
Skaff then defeated seven-term Auditor Gill, by getting 54 percent of the vote.
The five-member Woodbury County Board of Supervisors is the body that determines how county taxpayer money is spent on law enforcement, highways, and some social services.
As for the new county supervisors who will be sworn in for four-year terms on December 31, those successors to Radig and Taylor are Republican Kent Carper in District 1 and Republican David Dietrich in District 5.
Additionally, in the Woodbury County Supervisor District 3 race, incumbent Republican Mark Nelson defeated Democrat Brian McNaughton.
For this episode, we will speak with the three exiting county officials, with Gill, Taylor, and Radig. We will also hear from Woodbury County Board of Supervisors Chairman Matthew Ung, who is the longest tenured remaining official, having served 10 years, to get his thoughts on what all this turnover may mean for the functioning of county government.
Gill said that in spite of erroneous reports passed around by people, elections in Woodbury County and the nation are carried out securely.
Taylor addresed his wife's conviction, saying, "We are talking about eight voters she assisted," and that "I believe that one day we will be able to tell our story more fully."
*Click on the audio link above to hear the entire show.
What's The Frequency, Episode 45
