What an election it was!

Nov. 3, 2020 General Election Results_Crawford County

Published: Nov 6, 2020, 8:22 PM

By GILLIAN POMPLUN

& CHARLEY PREUSSER

CRAWFORD COUNTY - It was a good night for some Republicans and some Democrats in Southwest Wisconsin.

Incumbent Republican State Representative Loren Oldenburg was elected to his second term by a wide margin over Democratic newcomer Josefine Jaynes.

Jaynes, a 19-year-old recent Kickapoo High School graduate, put up a good fight in Crawford County where she lost to Oldenburg. by a vote of 4,512 to her 4,008. She had a better finish in Crawford County than either Joe Biden or Brad Pfaff running for state senate–more on that later.

Jaynes was obviously disappointed with the results, but did not fault the effort she and her team put into it.

“We did our best,” Jaynes said on election night. “We worked as hard as we could–some hurdles are just impossible to overcome.”

Jaynes congratulated Loren Oldenburg on his victory and vowed to run again someday.

“I’ve got a lot of fight left in me,” Jaynes said.

The woman from rural Readstown is hoping a new legislature will do the right thing, when it comes to redistricting and drawing new maps. Jaynes favors a plan that would create a non-partisan committee to draw the maps in the future.

Loren Oldenburg said he appreciated the call from Jaynes congratulating him.

The retired dairy farmer acknowledged that the campaign and election held in the middle of a pandemic had been strange.

“It’s not a normal year,” Oldenburg said. “There’s no events to attend. It’s just strange.”

As for his re-election Tuesday night, Oldenburg was heartened by the fact that he won Vernon County this time, which he lost in 2018 by 350 votes. He noted that although he lost in Viroqua by 465 votes in this election it was 250 votes better than he did in the last election.

“Now, we have to go on,” Oldenburg said. “We need to get the businesses back up and working.”

The state representative said a relief package for small businesses might be in order to get them over the hump.

Another issue that Oldenburg is ready to address is water quality and he is awaiting the results of the DAWS well-testing study to see what it shows.

Democrat Brad Pfaff seemed poised to win election as the next Wisconsin State Senator from the 32ndDistrict replacing Jennifer Shilling who decided to change careers earlier this year.

Pfaff led Republican Dan Kapanke 48,502 to 47,767 with all but four polling places in Monroe County and two in Vernon County reported.

Kapanke defeated Pfaff in Crawford County 4,620 to 3,953.

A total of 7,924 county voters weighed in on the Fair Maps resolution that appeared on the ballot. The question was whether they supported the drawing of maps for electoral districts in a non-gerrymandered fashion through a nonpartisan process.

Of the 7,924 voters who voted “yes” to support the referendum, or “no” to oppose it, 5,544 voted “yes” (70 percent), and 2,380 voted “no” (30 percent).

President Donald Trump defeated Democratic challenger Joe Biden 4,620 to 3,953 in Crawford County.

Biden defeated Trump in Clayton Township 279-256 and Utica Township 196-163. Biden also defeated Trump in Mt. Sterling, Bell Center and Ward 2 of Desoto.

Trump won in Gays Mills 144-125 and Soldiers Grove 153-132. Both villages have trended Democrat in most recent elections.

The leader of the swing vote, U.S Representative Ron Kind, did it again in Crawford County. Kind the Democratic Congressman from Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District handily defeated Republican challenger Derrick Van Orden 4,551 to 4,055-meaning about 600 Trump voters in Crawford County also voted for Kind. Perhaps that might be 600 Kind voters voted for Trump. Either way it’s a heck of a swing vote in these partisan times.

LaCrosse County was one of 13 counties to favor Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, giving her 51.6 percent to 42 percent for Republican Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, LaCrosse County voters favored Joe Biden over Trump, 30,535 or 57 percent to 22,184 or 41 percent, according to the LaCrosse Tribune. Four of 55 precincts had not reported at midnight.

Nationally, the presidential election was still up for grabs with many states, including Wisconsin, still counting the massive absentee voting that occurred due to the pandemic.

It was quite an election

On April 1

Election Results_April 1, 2025 Crawford County

GILLIAN POMPLUN

Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout

Published: Apr 2, 2025, 5:05 PM

Politics-weary Wisconsin citizens mustered the verve to once again go to the polls in Wisconsin’s April 1 spring election. With record spending, a barrage of campaign literature in mailboxes, chaos on the federal level, and an endless stream of divisive TV advertising, voters on both sides turned out in record numbers to support the candidates of their choice.

Happy or sad, it’s likely the vast majority is just glad it’s over. While most spring elections draw much lower turnout than a presidential election, voter turnout in this year’s race was on par with last November’s contentious election in which Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris for the office of President of the United States.

Of course, the Wisconsin Supreme Court election took top billing, garnering record amounts of spending. Conservative versus liberal control of the court was on the line with the retirement of liberal justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Contending for the 10-year term were Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.

The race was called for Crawford around 10 p.m. after Schimel called her to concede. The unofficial results show Crawford winning with 55% of the statewide vote to Schimel’s 45%.

Crawford County voters bucked recent electoral trends, carrying for the liberal candidate. In the county, Crawford took 51% of the vote, defeating Schimel with 49%. Crawford’s candidacy also prevailed in Vernon County with 54% of the vote, Richland County with 52% of the vote, La Crosse County with 63% of the vote, Sauk County with 57% of the vote, Iowa County with 62% of the vote, and Green County with 58% of the vote. Crawford’s victory was propelled by massive turnout and majorities in Dane, Milwaukee, Rock, Eau Claire and Bayfield counties. Voters in Dane County cast 82% of their votes for Crawford, in Milwaukee County 75%, in Rock County 61%, in Eau Claire 63%, and in Bayfield 61%.

Schimel’s campaign prevailed locally in Grant, Lafayette and Monroe counties, earning 52%, 51%, and 55% of votes cast respectively.

Incumbents prevail

It was also a night for incumbent candidates to prevail in races pertaining to public education in the state. Incumbent Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her race against charter school advocate Brittany Kinser, taking 53% of the statewide vote to Kinser’s 47%.

Locally, Underly outperformed Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford, winning her contest in counties that carried for Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel. Those counties include Grant and Lafayette counties, where Underly took 52% of votes cast. Kinser held on to votes cast for Schimel in Monroe County, taking 56% of votes cast.

Underly’s candidacy prevailed in Crawford, Vernon, Richland, Iowa, Sauk, and La Crosse counties. In those counties, Underly took 53%, 54%, 56%, 61%, 57%, and 61% respectively.

Mirroring the results in the statewide Superintendent of Public Instruction race, incumbent candidates Jerry Coleman and Charissa Richter prevailed against challengers Jesse Swenson and Melany Jelinek winning two three-year terms on the North Crawford School Board.

Coleman was the top vote-getter, with 660 votes, followed by Richter with 532 votes. Richter and challenger Melany Jelinek ran neck-in-neck for much of the night until results came in for the villages of Gays Mills and Bell Center, which pushed Richter over the finish line ahead. Jelinek finished with 502 votes, and Swenson with 412 votes.

Coleman took the most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, Utica, and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, and Soldiers Grove. Richter took the second most votes in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica, and in the villages of Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove. Jelinek took more votes than Richter in the town of Freeman, and in the villages of Bell Center and Mt. Sterling.

Voter ID

Voters across the state voted to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to require photo identification to vote. The measure failed only in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Wisconsin had already required voters to show identification, but passage of the Republican-backed ballot question will make it harder for that requirement to be removed by the courts or the state legislature.

Statewide, the measure passed with 63% of the vote, with 37% of the voters voting against it.