Two primaries, one write-in for Kewaunee County Board spring elections

KEWAUNEE COUNTY - Two districts will hold primary elections Feb. 20 to narrow down the candidates for the County Board of Supervisors, with the general election scheduled for April 3.

Meanwhile, another board seat has no candidates and will be filled by a write-in vote.

The deadline to file papers to run for office was Jan. 2, and 10 of the county's 20 board seats will have contested elections, with the other 10 candidates, all incumbents, running unopposed. A total of 30 people filed to run.

The primaries will take place in District 2, the town of Lincoln, and District 10, the town of Franklin. Each has three candidates on the ballot, and the top two vote-getters in the February primary will face off in the April general election.

District 2 has Cory Cochart, Joseph Musial and Mark Kusniesz as registered candidates to become the new supervisor after incumbent Larry Kirchman chose not to run.

District 10 Sup. Ron Paider also is not seeking re-election, and Duane Ducat, John P. Wochos and Thomas Cretney are on the ballot to replace him.

No candidates are registered for the District 5 supervisory seat, which covers Wards 4 and 5 in the village of Luxemburg. Incumbent Christopher Rasmussen is not seeking re-election and no one else filed papers.

As a result, that district's next supervisor will be elected by a write-in vote, County Clerk Jamie Annoye said.

"If (the write-in winner) accepts (the seat), they get it," Annoye said. "If not, it'll be by appointment. (Prospective candidates) don't have to register as write-ins, but they can, with me."

Seven other supervisory races will be contested in April, with five of those featuring incumbents trying to retain their seats.

District 6 (Luxemburg, Wards 1 and 2) has Daniel Olson challenging incumbent Donna Thomas.  In District 7 (Ward 2, town of Casco, and Ward 1, village of Casco), Charles Schmitt and Kenneth Secor will face off after incumbent Dennis Cravillion decided not to run.

In District 8 (town of Luxemburg, Ward 3), incumbent Douglas Doell faces a challenge from Frank Madzarevic. Richard Schleis and Aaron Augustian will run to represent District 11 (town of Carlton) with incumbent Linda Sinkula not running. Incumbent Mary Ellen Dobbins is being challenged by Milton Swagel in District 12 (town of West Kewaunee, Ward 1).

Incumbents Patrick Benes and Lee Luft will seek re-election in Districts 17 (town of Pierce, Ward 2, and town of Casco, Ward 3) and 18 (Kewanee, Ward 1, and town of Pierce, Ward 1), respectively. Benes is being challenged by Joseph Lukes and Luft faces Jeff Cmejla.

Running unopposed are incumbent Sups. Gerald Paape, District 1; Charles Wagner, District 3; Robert Weidner, District 4; Scott Jahnke, District 9; John Pagel, District 13; Thomas Romdenne, District 14; Linda Teske, District 15; Virginia Haske, District 16; John Mastalir, District 19; and Kaye Schillin, District 20.

Other races

Like its county, the city of Kewaunee has a seat with no candidates that will be filled by a write-in vote and a February runoff election.

Mayor Sandy Christman has two registered challengers, Joe Mills and James Kleiman III. A primary will be held Feb. 20 to whittle the race down to two candidates for the April election.

The 2nd District alderperson race is open for write-ins after incumbent Diane Jirtle chose not to seek re-election and no one else filed papers for the seat. 

District 1 is a contested race, with Ald. Jason Jelinek challenged by Jeffrey Vollenweider.

incumbent Janita Zimmerman in District 3 and Daniel Stangel in the 4th District are running unopposed for alderperson. Stangel would replace Don Kickbusch, who chose not to run.

¶ The city of Algoma also will have a write-in spot on its ballots this spring because no one filed papers to run for District 2 alderperson, where Janice Mueller is not seeking re-election.

All other races in the city are uncontested, with Mayor Wayne Schmidt, 1st District Ald. Kevin Schmidt and 3rd District Ald. Eugene Cleveland running to retain their seats and Jake Maring seeking to replace incumbent Jan Dart as alderperson in the 4th District after Dart chose not to run.

¶ In the village of Luxemburg, four candidates are running for three seats on its board, with incumbents Dan Olson, Dan Porath and Sue Raduenz facing a challenge from Michael Bonk.   

¶ The village of Casco has no contested races for its board this spring, with incumbent trustees Tim Kinnard and Francis Gilson running without opposition.

¶ Three candidates are seeking two spots on the Luxemburg-Casco School Board: incumbent Cary DeQuaine and challengers Robin Richard and David Delain. Incumbent Tom Suess is not running for re-election.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Two primaries, one write-in for Kewaunee County Board spring elections