By Meet the Candidates
Codington County Courthouse (photo by Brandon Heim, Watertown Current)
The Watertown Current is pleased to provide our local candidates up to 400 words to describe themselves and the issues they care about. The statements below were provided by the candidates themselves and do necessarily reflect the views of the Watertown Current or the McQuillen Creative Group.
Codington County Commission, District 2
District 2 includes Precincts 3 and 4 of Ward C in south central Watertown, Lake Pelican, the communities of Florence, Henry and Wallace, and the townships of Eden, Phipps, Fuller, Graceland, Kampeska and Richland.
Rita Wishard, Democrat
Rita Wishard (submitted photo)
Hello from Rita Wishard. I am running for the District 2 County Commissioner seat in Codington County. I have lived in District 2 all my life. With the help of my kids and my husband, Steve, I have managed two businesses in Codington County. In 1997 we bought the family farm located three miles south of Florence. My focus as County Commissioner will be on the following:
• County Budget concerns (wages, taxes and maintenance)
• Employee concerns (work environment and benefits)
• Farmer concerns (roads, weeds and variances)
• Small town/education concerns (DARE, security and growth)
• Veteran concerns (claims and travel)
• Senior Citizens concerns (safety and security)
These are all serious topics and are not listed in order of importance. I look forward to working with the present Codington County Commissioners and the County employees if the voters of District 2 put their trust in me. It is all about you, my constituents!
Tyler McElhany, Republican
Tyler McElhany (submitted photo)
Tyler McElhany is a lifetime resident of Watertown and Codington County. He grew up on a farm west of Watertown and graduated from Watertown High School. He then served 4 years in the USAF as an in-flight refueler and as a combat veteran of Desert Shield/Storm.  After being honorably discharged he moved back to Watertown and started working for the City of Watertown as a firefighter/paramedic. He is currently a battalion chief and has been there for 30 years. Tyler also volunteers for the Watertown Police Department as a Police Reserve Sergeant for 25 years and served on SWAT team for 19 years. Tyler currently lives on a farm west of Watertown and has stock beef cattle. Tyler has 3 boys, Logan who is deceased, Bryson who is 20 and Kaiden who is 18. He also served as the Codington County District 2 commissioner from 2012 to 2016. He is currently running for the District 2 Commissioner again. “I feel that it’s time for me to get back involved and serve the community, so please get out and vote and thank you for your support!”
