PLATTEVILLE, April 1 — The statewide spring general election is Tuesday, with polls open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The election will feature races for state Supreme Court, county boards, and municipal and school boards.
There will be one statewide race, for Supreme Court between Court of Appeals District IV Judge Chris Taylor and Court of Appeals District II Judge Maria Lazar to replace retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley.
Court of Appeals District IV Judge Rachel Graham is unopposed on the ballot.
School boards
The Lancaster Board of Education has two races. In Area 1 (City of Lancaster) incumbent Dean Noethe faces challenger Ashton Wickwire. In Area 4 (South Lancaster and Town of Potosi) incumbent Tonya Moore faces challenger Eric Rolland. School board member Neal Huebner is unopposed in Area 3 (Beetown).
Five people are running for three seats on the Belmont Board of Education — incumbent Vaughn Mester and challengers Chip McNett, Allison Leitzinger, Crystal Ripp and Gavin Austin. Board members Kim Schmelz and B.J. Galle are not running for reelection.
Brenda Peterson, Clayton Ruegsegger and Dustin Williams are running for three seats on the Black Hawk School Board.
Incumbent Chad Teasdale, former school board member Darrell Morrissey and newcomer Jarrett March are running for two Shullsburg School Board seats. Incumbent Lauren Ray is not running.
Boscobel Area School Board incumbent Todd Miller in Area 2 is opposed by Jonah Knowles.
Incumbent Gary Andrews and challengers Kyle Kent and Carl W. Thalacker are running for two Cuba City School Board seats. Incumbent Megan Hinderman is not running for reelection.
There is one Southwestern School Board race, in Area 2 (Village of Hazel Green), with incumbent Steven G. Hoppman opposed by challenger Melissa A. Fleege. Incumbent John Klein is not running in Area 3 (towns of Hazel Green and Benton), and Timothy J. Bell is the only candidate on the ballot. Incumbent at-large member Anne M. Redfearn is unopposed.
The Platteville Board of Education has three names on the ballot for three seats. Board member Josh Grabandt resigned after he was named Platteville police chief, and Grabandt said he would not serve if reelected. Incumbent Curt Timlin and former board member Katrina Hecimovic are the other two on the ballot. The third seat will be filled by the write-in with the most votes.
Benton Board of Education incumbents Jeff Richardson and Megan Flatley are unopposed.
Fennimore School Board incumbents Sheila Ruchti, Herman Maier and Matt Rutkowski are unopposed.
Iowa–Grant Board of Education incumbents Jeff Speth in Area 3 (Montfort) and Toni Ritchie in Area 7 (Cobb, Linden, Rewey at-large) are unopposed on the ballot.
Potosi Board of Education incumbents Ben Gavinski and Connie Haberkorn are unopposed on the ballot.
City and village races
Boscobel Mayor Brenda Kalish is opposed for reelection by Dirk Brown.
Fennimore will be getting a new mayor to replace Ryan Boebel, who is retiring after 10 years. Rob Krantz and Noah Hamann are on the ballot, while Rick Govier is running as a write-in candidate. City council Alds. Jonah Roth in Ward 1, Sarah Kretchman in Ward 2 and Pete Adam in Ward 4 are unopposed, as is registered write-in candidate Mark Chiefari in Ward 3.
Three people are running for two Lancaster Common Council at-large seats — incumbent Matt Pennekamp and challengers Heather Bontreger and Ken Johnson. At-large Ald. Crystal Riley is not running for reelection. District 3 Ald. Matthew Harper is unopposed, as is Josh Bierman in District 1, replacing Ald. Mike Johansen. Lancaster will be getting a new mayor, with Stuart Harper not running for reelection and former Ald. Shayne LaBudda the only candidate on the ballot.
Richland Center will be getting a new mayor, with Todd Coppernoll not running for reelection. Ald. Karin Tepley and Elijah Kramer are the candidates.
Cuba City will be getting a new mayor, with Ald. Tim Hazen the only candidate to replace Mayor John Van de Wiel, who is not running for reelection, and one new Common Council member, with Christine A. Hicks the only candidate on the ballot to replace Ald. Ryan Gerhards, who is not running for reelection. There will also be a new alderman in District 2, but no one is on the ballot to replace Ald. Harvey Morley, who is not running. Alds. Frank Raupp in District 3 and Kia Hendrickson in District 4 are unopposed.
Two Platteville Common Council incumbents are unopposed — District 2 Ald. Barb Daus, the Common Council president, and at-large Ald. Kathy Kopp, the council president pro tem.
Benton Village Board incumbents John Perkins and Cal Robbins and challengers Steve Brink and Bill Mowry are running for three board seats.
There will be new faces on the Montfort Village Board, with incumbent Mindy Gundlach and challengers Kyle Gundlach, Jacob Haase and Jason Bussan running for three board seats.
Belmont Village Board incumbents Kathy Riechers, Dennis Popp and Mark Pinch are unopposed on the ballot.
Hazel Green Village Board incumbents David Jegerlehner and Rob Schmidt are running for reelection, and challenger Eric McAuliffe is also running for one of the three board seats. Incumbent trustee Christopher Lisk is not running.
Livingston Village Board incumbents Jason Potter, Linda Friesen and Curts Vacha are unopposed on the ballot.
Potosi Village Board incumbents Jill Wunderlin, Jen Richardson and William Whitaker are unopposed on the ballot.
County boards
The Grant County Board has only one contested race, in District 14 (Dickeyville, Potosi, Tennyson and towns of Harrison, Paris and Potosi), where Dan Durley and Dave Hottenstein are running to replace Sup. Lester Jantzen.
There will be four additional new members of the board replacing retiring incumbents. The only candidates in their districts are Brian Johnsrud, replacing Sup. Gary Northouse in District 2 (Castle Rock, Clifton, Hickory Grove and Wingville); Lynn Kirschbaum, replacing Sup. Roger Guthrie in District 5 (parts of the villages of Bloomington, Cassville and Patch Grove and the towns of Beetown, Bloomington, Cassville, Glen Haven, Millville, Patch Grove and Wyalusing); registered write-in JoAnn Wiederholt, replacing Sup. Adam Day in District 7 (City of Fennimore); and James McCartney, replacing Sup. Rick Sanson in District 9 (most of Lancaster).
The Lafayette County Board has two races — Sup. Larry Ludlum against Patrick Shea in District 1 (towns of Belmont and Elk Grove) and Sup. Carmen McDonald against Peter Whitcomb in District 12 (Village of Gratiot and towns of Darlington and Gratiot). There is also one race with no candidates, in District 16 (villages of Benton and Hazel Green and southern Town of Benton), to replace Sup. Rita Buchholz. All the other board incumbents are unopposed, including Sups. Mark Pinch in District 2 (Village of Belmont) and Jack Sauer, the county board chair, in District 3 (Kendall and Seymour).
The Iowa County Board has only one race, in District 3 (towns of Highland and Pulaski and parts of Avoca and the Village of Muscoda), where Jody Putz Miller and Victor Zorba are running to replace Sup. Daniel Nankee.
No candidates will be on the ballot to replace Sup. Darrell Kreul in District 5 (Village of Highland and Town of Highland) and Sup. Justin O’Brien in District 18 (City of Mineral Point wards 2 and 6).
District 19 (Eden, Cobb, Town of Highland and Montfort) Sup. Don Leix and District 21 (Town of Linden, Mifflin, Livingston and Rewey) Sup. Kevin Butteris are unopposed on the ballot.
School referendums
Nine Southwest Wisconsin school districts will hold referendums Tuesday.
Darlington will hold a $6 million capital referendum for projects including expanding the high school Career and Technical Education department plus equipment, an elementary school addition and renovation for 4-year-old kindergarten, and capital improvement, maintenance and site improvements.
Two school districts are seeking permanent (“recurring”) increases in their revenue limits — $800,000 in the Black Hawk school district, and $750,000 in Shullsburg. The other school referendums are to increase revenue limits over a set (non-recurring) period:
Benton: $2.83 million over four years.
Cassville: $3.9 million over six years.
Dodgeville: $7.5 million over three years.
Prairie du Chien: $2.925 million over three years.
Wauzeka–Steuben: $2.35 million over two years.
Weston: $4.5 million over three years.
