Kewaunee County election: New faces coming to County Board, new mayor to Kewaunee

KEWAUNEE COUNTY - The Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors will have a few new faces when it meets in April, including the one at the head of its table.

That's because six of its 20 supervisors filed non-candidacy papers in advance of the April 7 spring elections, including its chairman. Two of the districts have no candidates so far.

Plus, four incumbent supervisors are facing challengers who filed nomination papers.

Elsewhere, Jason Jelinek is poised to become the new mayor of Kewaunee after Sandi Christman chose to not seek a third term and no one besides Jelinek filed to run for the seat.

The deadline to file papers to run for all local offices was Jan. 7, but the deadline for incumbents' non-candidacy papers was Dec. 27, and because three county supervisors filed those papers late and no one else filed nominations papers in their districts, the deadline for those districts only was extended to 5 p.m. Friday.

The contested county board races are in:

• District 6, village of Luxemburg wards 1 and 2, where Sup. Daniel Olson faces off against Donna Thomas;
• District 8, town of Luxemburg ward 3, town of Monpelier ward 3 and village of Luxemburg ward 3, with Sup. Douglas Doell challenged by Frank Madzarevic;
• District 10, town of Franklin, with Sup. Thomas Cretney squaring off against John Wochos;
• District 12, town of West Kewaunee ward 1, where Sup. Mary Ellen Dobbins will run against Milt Swagel.

Also not seek re-election is Board Chairman Robert Weidner, who represents District 4 —  town of Luxemburg ward 2 and town of Red River ward 3. 

Other incumbents filing non-candidacy papers are:

• Cory Cochart, District 2: town of Lincoln;
• Kent Treml, District 5: village of Luxemburg, wards 4 and 5;
• Charles Schmitt, District 7: town of Casco, ward 2 and village of Casco, ward 1;
• Lee Luft, District 18: town of West Kewaunee, Ward  and town of Pierce, ward 1;
• Kaye Shillin, District 20: city of Kewaunee, wards 3 and 4.

Four of those districts saw candidates file papers to run for the seats: Nicholas Guilette in District 2, Lisa Cochart in District 7, Jeffrey Vollenweider in District 18 and Joanne Lazansky in District 20. 

No one has filed to run in Districts 4 and 5 as of Tuesday night.

All other county board seats have incumbents seeking re-election without opposition.

Vollenweider also filed to run for the seat Jelinek will vacate as one of the alderpersons for Kewaunee's District 1 and is running unopposed. The other aldersperson races also are uncontested: Incumbent alderpersons Janita Zimmerman and Dan Stangel filed nomination papers to seek re-election in Districts 3 and 4, respectively, and James Brewster filed papers for District 2, where Jamie Jackson is not seeking re-election.

Algoma also has no contested races for city offices, with Mayor Wayne Schmidt and alderspersons Kevin Schmidt in District 1, Scott Meverden in District 2 and Jake Maring in District 4 unopposed as they seek re-election. Casey Buhr filed papers for District 3 alderperson to take the place of Eugene Cleveland, who is not seeking re-election.

A similar situation is set for the village of Luxemburg, where four trustee spots are on the ballot and incumbents Suzanne Raduenz, Daniel Olson, Daniel Porath and Germaine Burkhart are running unopposed.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-741-7952, 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.

RELATED: Kewaunee to have new mayor after Christman decides to not seek re-election

RELATED: Kewaunee County People of the Year 2019

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Kewaunee County election: New faces coming to County Board, new mayor to Kewaunee