This last Tuesday, Wisconsinites – or about 20% of registered voters, anyway – went to the polls to narrow down the number of candidates for a variety of offices on the ballot for the Spring Election. While we all had the opportunity to vote for our preferred candidate for Supreme Court, others had more races such as county executive, school board, and other local government offices.
Ballots varied significantly by municipality. For example, in Fox Crossing the only race on the ballot was Supreme Court. For those in Outagamie County, you had a county executive primary along with other municipal races. Just because you did not see races on your ballot on Tuesday, it doesn’t mean you won’t have more to vote for in April. It just means only one or two candidates filed to run for that office.
At the statewide level, liberal-aligned Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz led the field with 46.5% of the vote. Joining her on the final ballot is conservative-aligned former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, who took 24.2% of the vote. Waukesha County Judge Jennifer Dorow and Everett Mitchell came in third and fourth, respectively.
More locally, County Executive Tom Nelson led the three person field with 51%, followed by former County Board Member Kevin Sturn with 29.8%. Nelson and Sturn will face-off in April, after County Board Member Justin Krueger was eliminated in the primary, only taking 18%.
There is a special election in a State Senate district in southeastern Wisconsin. While the end result will not effect the Republican majority in the Senate, the GOP needs to hang onto the seat in order to keep their two-thirds hold on the chamber. The Republicans had three candidates running to replace longtime Senator Alberta Darling (R) who resigned at the end of last year. State Representatives Dan Knodl and Janel Brandtjen, along with Village of Thiensville President Van Mobley, squared off in the primary with Dan Knodl taking almost 60% of the vote. Knodl will be running against Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin, who was unopposed on her side.
The General Election will be held on April 4th. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the election. In addition, the Chamber is hosting a candidate forum that will be either the Supreme Court or Outagamie County Executive candidates on March 20th, which you can register for here.
