A full 80% of eligible Oconto County voters cast ballots in the 2024 general election, County Clerk Kim Pytleski said Nov. 6.
“I’m so proud of Oconto County,” Pytleski said as she collected sealed bags full of ballots from a parade of municipal clerks at the courthouse in Oconto.
Election Day for Pytleski and dozens of polls workers began long before the polls opened across the county at 7 a.m. and ran past midnight, when the Town of Underhill became the last municipality to report its results to the clerk’s office.
The operation ran exceptionally smoothly, Pytleski said.
“We followed our processes. We followed our procedures, and everything just went so well,” she said.
After a long and often contentious campaign season, the atmosphere at the polling places was upbeat, Pytleski said.
“People were excited to be in line to vote,” she said. “I didn’t have anyone who was angry.”
Solidly Republican Oconto County delivered for the GOP again, with President-elect Donald Trump outpolling Vice President Kamala Harris by a local margin of 17,675 (71%) to 6,967 (27.9%).
Although U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin won a third term by the narrowest of margins, in Oconto County she was outpolled by Republican challenger Eric Hovde 16,959 (68.6%) to 7,180 (29.1%). GOP businessman Tony Wied carried Oconto County by a similar margin over Democrat Kristin Lyerly to earn the congressional seat vacated earlier this year by former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher.
State Sen. Eric Wimberger, whose 30th Senate District was redrawn to remove Oconto County in this year’s redistricting, won the 2nd District seat held for many years by retiring Sen. Robert Cowles. State Sen. Mary Felzkowski, whose 12th District covers most of northern Oconto County, also was reelected.
State Rep. David Steffen, whose 4th Assembly District now includes portions of southeast Oconto County — including the City of Oconto Falls, easily won a sixth two-year term over Jane Benson, who was making her second run at the office after losing in the 2022 89th Assembly District race to Rep. Elijah Behnke. Overall, Steffen won by a roughly 2:1 margin of 24,629 to 12,579; in Oconto County the tally was 10,507 (72.2%) to 4,036 (27.7%).
Behnke, who pledged to move about 5 miles west into the new 6th Assembly District, earned a third term, defeating Shawano Democrat Shirley Hinze with 67.4% of the overall vote. The Oconto County margin was 4,200 (76.1%) to 1,317 (23.9%).
Longtime Rep. Jeff Mursau, R-Crivitz, won another term, outpolling Democrat Ben Murray with 71% of the vote, including a margin of 2,316 to 973 in Oconto County. Rep. Calvin Callahan, whose Oconto County constituency was reduced to only the Town of Townsend in the redistricting, also was reelected, with the county difference being 560-267.
Four county officials, all Republicans, were unopposed on the ballot, including District Attorney Hannah Schuchart, who won her first full four-year term after being appointed in 2022 by Gov. Tony Evers. Also earning new terms were Pytleski, County Treasurer Tanya Peterson and Register of Deeds Laurie Allen Wusterbarth.
Two municipal referenda were on local ballots. Voters in the Town of Stiles rejected a proposal to make the town clerk/treasurer an appointed position, with 469 no votes and 419 yes votes. City of Oconto voters narrowly approved a proposal to expand the city council from six to eight members, 1,101 to 1,035.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
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