WINTERSET, Iowa — Residents in Madison County are ready to put the focus back on the basics after a tumultuous nine months for the local government. They are hoping the results of a recent special election are the first step toward that.

Former board clerk Michele Brant will take control of the Auditor’s Office after a landslide victory on Tuesday. She beat appointed temporary Auditor Matthew Schwarz with more than 70% of the vote, according to preliminary results.

The special election was held after more than 1,400 citizens signed a petition to challenge Schwartz’s July appointment, which followed months of controversy surrounding the seat and other county issues.

“Can this get any crazier?” said Peggy Carpenter, of what went through her mind in recent months as she watched local events unfold. “I want to get Winterset off the news. I’m tired of seeing all of the bad press. I want you to come down and talk about all of the wonderful things that can happen in Winterset.”

Those wonderful things include the Covered Bridge Festival and promoting the museum dedicated to the birthplace of the late iconic Western actor John Wayne.

“I think this is the way we have to go to do this. So that we feel that we have had a say,” she added of the election.

“It’s a mess,” said David Cutrone, who recently moved to the area. “I’m from New York City, and, like, this kind of stuff happens there. I never expected it to happen here.”

Carpenter and Cutrone were two of the more than 3,100 people who turned out to weigh in at four polling locations.

“It’s our right to express who we would like to have in the office,” Winterset resident Donovan Lucas told WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan.

Schwarz, who ran on the Republican ticket, received 927 votes, a 29.55% share. Brant, a registered Republican, ran as an Independent and collected 2,203 votes, or 70.23%. There were seven ballots on which someone wrote-in a candidate.

Both Brant and Schwarz were among those interviewed publicly after the former elected Auditor, Teri Kaczinski, resigned. Kaczinski took the office on Jan. 1, 2015, but had tendered her resignation by early May after several attempts to employ her former campaign manager using county funds. Kaczinski even tried to take the Board of Supervisors to court over the issue, but pulled her challenge the day before she issued her resignation. She had reportedly stopped coming into work by the time her July 4 resignation went into effect, according to court documents filed in a Federal lawsuit against the Sheriff by Supervisor Chair Heather Stancil for an investigation into alleged election misconduct.

A canvas will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 2, to confirm the special election results. Brant is expected to be sworn in during a 4 p.m. Board of Supervisors Special Session later that day.

Many taxpayers are hoping this people’s push is a step in the right direction.

“At least people have voted, and at least they have a choice, and that’s the important thing,” said Ruth Reed.

“I feel so grateful and overwhelmed by the support from Madison County residents for not only winning, but winning at such a large margin,” Brant told WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan. “It confirmed what I felt all along- that an election was what residents really wanted.”

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In other news, the upcoming criminal trial for former Treasurer Amanda DeVos has been delayed again. Court filings show prosecutors had a scheduling conflict with the Sept. 16 trial date. DeVos, 38, is facing multiple charges connected to her time in office, including Felonious Misconduct in Office, Tampering with Records, Fraudulent Practice in the third degree, and third-degree Theft. She was arrested in January. Her attorney filed for, and was granted, a change of venue in May.

A new trial date has not yet been set.