UMATILLA — Two incumbents for the Umatilla City Council won by large margins and former mayor Daren Dufloth won his race for a seat on the council.

According to results released at noon Wednesday, Nov. 4, Dufloth had 53.3% of the vote for position No. 2 on the council, ahead of newcomer Devon Mitchell.

Dufloth, who owns The Bridge (previously known as Riverside Sports Bar and Lounge) with his wife, Paulette, has served on the city council before and was also mayor from 2017 until 2019 before being defeated by current Mayor Mary Dedrick when he ran for a second term. On Election Night, he said he was looking forward to serving the city again.

“I’m just excited to see where we’re going to go and be a member of the team going forward,” he said.

Incumbent Ashley Wheeler was running for a second term in position No. 4 against challenger Isis Ilias. Initial results showed her with 75.68% of the vote.

Wheeler, a business owner and the office manager at Edward Jones Investments, was appointed to the position in 2018.

“After being appointed … it’s great to hear from the people that I’m doing a good job,” she said.

She said working with city staff and the other councilors has been a “great group of people” and she is looking forward to the good things Umatilla has in store. She also touted residents’ new ability to participate in council meetings online over Zoom, and said she hopes people will take advantage of that.

Incumbent Roak TenEyck won another term on position No. 6 on the council, beating newcomer Ivan Gutierrez with 57.63% of the vote.

TenEyck was appointed to the council in 2013 and successfully ran to keep the position in 2017. He is a crop advisor for Simplot Grower Solutions. He said he was feeling good about the prospect of serving another term.

“I’m ready, willing and able,” he said. “There’s so much good stuff that’s ready to go. It’s an exciting time to be involved in Umatilla.”