Write-in candidate wins hotly contested Lecompton Township race

It doesn’t happen often, but a write-in candidate won an unusually contested race last week against both a Republican and Democratic candidate for the office of Lecompton Township treasurer.

After the official canvass of Douglas County votes Thursday, Keith Noe was declared the winner with 285 votes over Democrat William J. Maxwell and Republican Lori A. Wilkins.

Maxwell received 255 votes. Wilkins received 243.

Noe will succeed Bill Leslie as township treasurer. Leslie has been the treasurer the last four years and previously held the post 20 years before that.

Noe was out of town when the canvass results were announced and was unavailable for comment.

Leslie said he wasn’t sure what prompted the unusual level of competition for the job, but he was surprised at how it turned out.

“I didn’t figure he’d win,” Leslie said. “I hoped he would. He’s a heckuva nice guy. He’s on board of the (Lecompton) Historical Society and does a super job there. And he went to school up here, graduated at Perry-Lecompton High School.”

Townships are local units of government in Kansas that mainly provide road service in rural, unincorporated portions of a county. Lecompton Township is in the far northwest corner of Douglas County.