Results of the Feb. 18 primary election narrowed the list of candidates for the the Menominee Indian School District and the Menominee County Board of Supervisors.
For the school district, residents cast ballots to narrow the candidates seeking the at-large seat. The top candidates — McKaylin Peters and Carrie Waukau-Grignon — will advance to the April 1 general election.
Unofficial vote totals show Peters with 104 votes, Waukau-Grignon with 65, Garry Pywasay with 55 and Miriam Waupoose with 25.
Waukau-Grignon picked up the two votes cast in the Town of Red Springs in Shawano County.
For the Ward 5 seat on the county board, Denise Gilane (92 votes) and Jamie Loudbear Wayka (39 votes) will advance. Douglas C. Cox received 17 votes.
A handful of voters in Shawano County were asked to cast their ballot for two Clintonville School District at-large members. Areas included in the district are part of the towns of Belle Plaine, Pella and Navarino.
Incumbent Mark Zachow will advance; he picked up 365 total votes, 35 in Shawano County. Challenger Christopher Hoffmann had 338 total votes, 20 in Shawano County. Incumbent Laurie Volrath had 332 total votes and 30 in Shawano County. Finally, David Battenberg will advance as he received 275 total votes, 28 in Shawano County.
Other candidates were Patrick K. Huss, 268 total, 18 Shawano County; Tanya Hepp-Netrefa, 136 total, 15 Shawano County; and Marie Vandenberg, 80 total, 11 Shawano County.
In the race for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, incumbent Jill Underly had the most votes and will face off against Brittany Kinser.
In Menominee County, Underly received 118 votes, Kinser had 64 and Jeff Wright had 63.
In Shawano County, Kinser collected 1,030 votes, Underly had 817, and Wright picked up 538.
Voter turnout in Shawano County was 9.23%, as 2,425 ballots were cast from among 26,272 registered voters. There were 19 registrations on Election Day.
Underly is currently serving her first term as state superintendent. Kinser is an advocate of the state’s private school voucher program and public charter schools.
Underly was first elected to head the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in 2021 with the support of Democrats and teachers unions.
She was endorsed by the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which also has given her campaign $106,000 this month, and a host of Democratic officeholders.
But the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the statewide teachers union, did not endorse a candidate in the primary. The political action committee for the union had recommended Wright be endorsed.
Kinser is backed by Republicans, including the state party, which has given her campaign $200,000 so far.
Wisconsin is the only state where voters elect the top education official but there is no state board of education. That gives the person who runs the Department of Public Instruction broad authority to oversee education policy, which includes dispersing money to schools and managing teacher licensing.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
Categories
