In an election that generated more candidates than usual, a number of Kenton County cities seated political newcomers Tuesday.

        In the fast-growing city of Independence, where Mayor Tom Kriege and most of council have disagreed over personnel and financial matters, voters elected four challengers to the six-member, nonpartisan City Council.

        Elected to Independence City Council were Chris Moriconi, son of Crescent Springs Mayor Claire Moriconi; Jim Bushong; James “Jim” Ellison; Jim Kudera; Eric Dupps; and Isaac “Ike” Gabbard.

        The 13 candidates in that race included three former mayors — Mr. Ellison, Mr. Gabbard and Mr. Kudera. Mr. Gabbard's wife, Barbara, was among five incumbents seeking re-election. Donna Yeager did not seek re-election.

        Four of the six winners on the Independence Tomorrow ticket, which ran on a platform of returning unity and sanity to local government, were among those elected Tuesday. They included Mr. Moriconi, Mr. Bushong, Mr. Kudera and Mr. Dupps.

        In Elsmere, where the role that local officials played in last year's successful fight to stop the county from building a jail there was a key issue, challenger Neva Collins joined incumbents Betty Wehner, Ralph Fields, Robert Northcutt, Donald Koop and William Buerger on the six-member council.

        While Elsmere Council members Bonnie Sage and Mr. Northcutt publicly expressed their opposition to building a jail in Elsmere, others on council were silent, several challengers said.

        In Fort Mitchell, where candidates sought to balance residential and business concerns, 15 candidates sought eight council seats. Elected were incumbents Vicki Boerger, Beth Ruttle Rose, Jude S. Hehman, Steve Cooper, Ronald S. Powell, and Bob Wilder, and challengers Kathryn Croob and Michael Plummer.

        Edgewood, which had nine people running for seven council seats returned incumbents Bill Grady, Dale Henson, Jeff Schreiver and Ray Spears to office, along with challengers Scott Guenther, Mark Steffen and David MacMillan.

        Crescent Springs, which had eight people running for six council seats, re-elected incumbents Rick Wessels, John Mullen, Tom Vergamini, Jim Collett and Nick Ber ry, along with challenger Dale Ramsey.

        The little town of Kenton Vale, which drew seven candidates for the first contested race in memory, elected Ruth Coleman, Marsha Patrick, Robert Flack and Betty Cain.

        All City Council races are two-year terms.

        In the seven-person race for Kenton County Conservation District board of supervisors, voters elected Margaret A. “Peggy” Kelly, Thomas J. Stiens, Sherry Carran and Charles M. Tirone. Preserving green space in the face of suburban sprawl was one of the main issues in that race.

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