Voters choose City Council, School Board, County Board seats
Thanks to retirements of incumbents and contested races, we'll see lots of new faces on the Eau Claire City Council and Eau Claire County Board as the result of last week's Spring Non-partisan Election.
For the five At-Large seats on the Eau Claire City Council, incumbents Kate Beaton and Rod Jones were reelected, and will be joined by newcomers Larry Mboga, Joshua Miller, and Charlie Johnson, the top five among eight candidates. Current At-Large Council Members Catherine Emmanuelle, Jon Lor, and Dave Klinkhammer did not seek reelection.
There will be 11 new faces on the 29 member Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors, after seven incumbents retired and four were defeated in contested races. In total, 21 of the 29 races were contested.
On the Eau Claire Board of Education, incumbents Tim Nordin and Marquell Johnson were reelected, and newcomer Stephanie Farrar won the third available seat from among the six total candidates. Former member Aaron Harder resigned from the board in February and was not on the ballot.
Also on the ballot were several uncontested seats, including a Wisconsin District Court Judgeship, Eau Claire County Judgeships for Branches 1 and 6, plus Altoona's Mayor, City Council, and School Board. Eau Claire County also had an advisory referendum on the ballot asking whether the state should establish a right to clean water.
Election results:
Eau Claire City Council
Eau Claire Board of Education
Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors
Altoona Mayor and City Council
Altoona Board of Education
Area Judgeships
Non-partisan? Local races feature endorsements, campaign help from political parties, prominent political figures
Although Wisconsin's Spring Elections are officially non-partisan, and no political label is attached to candidates on the ballot, the partisan leaning of candidates and the involvement of political parties has been increasing.
For example, the three winners in the Eau Claire School Board race were endorsed by the Eau Claire County Democratic Party and prominent local progressives, while the three challengers - newcomers Cory Cronrath, Nicole Everson, and Melissa Winter - ran a coordinated campaign as conservative candidates. Both the Eau Claire County Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Eau Claire County had pages on their website with lists of endorsed candidates in local nonpartisan races. Click here to read more...
Posted by Scott Rogers, Vice President Governmental Affairs
rogers@eauclairechamber.org