Four write-in votes earns man a spot on Village Board

Forty-seven write-in votes were cast in last week’s general election for Belgium Village Board. All it took was four to be elected.

That’s how many Bryan Lorge received, and he was to be sworn in on Monday.

Lorge didn’t run as a write-in candidate.

Michael Mueller and former trustee Don Gotcher received three votes.

Sarah Heisler, who did not seek re-election, Howie Manos, Carol Smith, Chris Schmidt and Tony Greykowski each received two votes.

“The write-ins were a bit much this time around with many write-ins being one per person,’ Village Clerk Theresa Bartley said.

This is the third time in as many years that the village had a write-in win a seat on the board.

In 2024, two of the three incumbents ran. Kevin Schueller received 22 of the 34 write-in votes and joined the board.

In 2025, two of three incumbents ran with the third, Roseann Geib, running unopposed for Village President. Nobody filed papers to fill Geib’s seat. Andrew Bartley received the 12 write-in votes and joined the board.