Voting for Emporia’s City Commission took place Tuesday, and three newcomers were voted into office. Emporia State student Christian Keisler did not secure a spot on the commission.

Keisler, senior communication major, who placed fifth in the election two years ago, received 610 votes, which landed him in sixth place overall out of eight contenders, finishing a mere 389 votes short of a seat on the commission.

“The campaign didn’t go how I wanted it to, but that’s how things go sometimes,” Keisler said. “I had a lot of support leading up to the election, but the votes just weren’t there.”

According to Lyoncounty.org, Keisler finished behind lead vote-getter Jon Geitz, second place finisher Danny Giefer, third place finisher and final seat holder Steve Harmon, followed by Kevin Nelson and Kelly Wade. In seventh place was Joel Phipps and in eighth was Matt Chanay. Keisler said he is unsure at this time if he will run again in 2015.

“I’m very excited for Steve Harmon, and I know he will do great things as a commissioner,” Keisler said. “He is very smart and knows his information on the issues at hand very well before he decides to vote one way or another.”

Keisler believes his preparation and planning for the campaign will help him in the future as he now knows what it takes to be competitive in the workforce.

“I believe that Keisler would have done some real good in the community, and it’s a shame that he didn’t win a seat this year,” Devin Carlson, friend and ex co-worker of Keisler’s said. “I hope he keeps his head up and runs again because the people of Emporia deserve somebody that will work as hard as he does and somebody who cares about this town as much as him.”

Kevin Rabas, English professor.co-director of creative writing and president of faculty, ran for a school board seat for USD 253 but fell short. Rabas received 1,089 votes, and top vote-getter Mike Crouch received 1,590 votes.