Change in the air

New faces on boards as spring election draws large number of voters

Taylor County voters maintained the area as a solid conservative stronghold coming out in force to support Daniel Kelly over opponent Janet Protasiewicz in the State Supreme Court race by a vote of 3,946 to 1,653.

Statewide Protasiewicz garnered 55.52% of the vote to defeat Kelly who had 44.48% of the vote. This is the first liberal majority on the court in the past 15 years.

Taylor County voters were more in line with voters around the state in supporting three statewide ballot questions. Local voters supported two statewide referendum to change the state constitution to allow additional considerations for setting bail amounts for those arrested but pending trial. The first referendum passed in local voters by 3,686 to 1,713 statewide it was 66.5% to 33.5%. The second referendum passed locally at 3,868 to 1,534 while statewide it passed 67.6% to 32.4%.

Taylor County followed the state in having overwhelming support for a third referendum question about if able- See ELECTION on page 4 bodied people should have to seek work in order to receive public assistance that passed among county voters 5,032 to 485. Statewide it passed 79.5% to 20.5%.

Vote totals remain unofficial until certified by the board of canvassers which will meet in the coming week.

Voter turnout was high for a spring election with 5,658 people voting in the county. This compares to 4,941 last spring and 5,140 in 2021. On the local ballots were primarily town government and school board races. By comparison, the county had 8,742 people vote in the November 2022 general election and 10,710 voters cast ballots in the November 2020 general election.

School board races

There will be new faces on the Rib Lake and Gilman school boards.

In Gilman, the incumbent Valorie Kulesa won reelection to one of two seats up for election with 612 votes and is joined by new coming Lauren Zach who had 591 votes. Derrick Romig trailed with 361 votes.

In Rib Lake, Nicole Scheller was unopposed representing the towns of Hill and Spirit and received 775 votes. Karah Grzanna won the contested race for the village of Rib Lake seat on the board defeating opponent Jennifer Scott 480 to 325.

In the Medford school district, incumbents were unopposed and won reelection. John Zuelger received 2,724 votes, Brian Hallgren had 2,573 and Steve Deml had 2,574 votes.

Village and city races

There will be one new face and the return of a family face on the Medford city council. Randy Haynes was elected by 156 votes to represent district 3 replacing Dave Roiger who did not seek reelection. Former long time council member Peggy Kraschnewksi was elected by 181 votes to replace Greg Knight in district 2. Knight did not seek reelection. Laura Holmes won reelection in district 1 with 244 votes and Mike Bub won reelection in district 4 with 188 votes.

In the village of Rib Lake, all three candidates were elected with Russell Bullis having 150 votes, George Tesch with 165 votes and Rocky Jones with 165 votes. Village president Bill Schreiner was unopposed and received 178 votes.

In the village of Gilman, Jane DeStaercke won reelection with 95 votes. In the trustee race, four candidates sought three seats. Voters chose Mark Person with 91 votes, Russell Baker with 89 votes and Robert Preston with 65 votes. Bones Bornheimer trailed with 49 votes.

In the village of Stetsonville, Greg Brunner won village president with 137 votes. Trustees Al Riemer received 135 votes and Stephanie Bohn received 128 votes.

In the village of Lublin, village president Randy Madlon defeated challenger Jerry Kolve 39 to 24. In the trustee race, voters were asked to pick two candidates out of a field of five which included a registered write-in candidate. Voters reelected Hermann Klarr with 35 votes and newcomer Christine Compagnone with 32 votes. Other candidates were Todd Benkowski with 21 votes, James LeHouillier with 14 votes and Christine Nowak with 11 votes.

Town races

In Aurora, Brian Phelps received 97 votes as town chairman. For supervisor, Earl Hinkel received 96 votes, write in candidate Frank Czahor received 19 votes and there were 18 other write-ins.

In Browning, Damon Brandner received 241 votes for chairman. Supervisors are Donald Purvis with 231 votes and registered write-in candidate Ryan Reimann with 25 votes. For clerk Sharon Noland received 247 votes and for treasurer Melody Kuenne received 249 votes.

In Chelsea Jim Imbach received 228 votes for chairman with three write-ins. For supervisor, Jonathan Rief received 199 votes and Matt Roiger received 220 with 6 additional write-ins. For clerk Gail Mildbrand received 230 votes with one write-in. For treasurer Joanne Loock received 229 votes with one write-in.

In Cleveland, Scott Capelle received 77 votes for chairman. For supervisor Vincent Anglemyer received 77 votes and Norman Mudgett received 82 votes. For clerk Joseph Liegl received 79 votes. For treasurer Tammy Wojcik received 86 votes.

In Deer Creek, Ray Sackmann received 164 votes. For clerk Jeneane Metz received 166 votes. For supervisor Richard Halopka received 140 votes and Harley Waldhart received 154 votes. For treasurer Deb Fierke received 169 votes.

In Ford, Scott Nichols received 82 votes for chairman. For supervisor, Davey Winger was reelected with 65 votes, Leonard Nichols was reelected with 53 votes edging out Ted Wilz with 26 votes. For treasurer Kimberly Meyer received 78 votes.

In Goodrich, Jason Smola had 175 votes for chairman. For supervisor Debra Fuchs had 159 votes and Steven Coralline had 143 votes. For clerk Ashley Dahl had 174 votes. For treasurer Julie Lemke had 176 votes.

In Greenwood, for chairman Mitch Peters won over incumbent James Gebauer 112 to 98. For supervisor, Michael Wudi had 203 votes and registered write-in Travis Fuchs had 20 votes. For clerk, Jill Scheithauer received 208 votes. For treasurer, Linda Bartelt received 207 votes.

In Grover, Rom Sromek received 86 votes for chairman. For supervisor, Bruce Faude was reelected with 73 votes with registered write-in candidate Charles Radtke receiving 50 votes defeating Kevin Hauglie with 45 and registered write-in candidate William Clough with 6 votes. For clerk, Calvin Kalmon had 89 votes. For treasurer Holly Sromek had 87 votes.

In Hammel, James Livingston had 119 votes to Bradley Hutchinson 109 for town chairman. For supervisor, Joseph Zenner received 150 votes and David Emmerich received 135 votes edging out Michael Ecklund Jr. who had 128 votes. For constable, Jack Johnson had 217 votes.

In Holway, Rod Adams had 156 votes for chairman. For supervisor Steve Hamann had 138 votes and Mary Eder had 124 votes. For clerk, Amber Larson had 151 votes. For treasurer Sarah Holtz had 153 votes.

In Jump River, for chairman Steven Fleming had 67 votes to defeat incumbent Myron Brooks with 35 votes. For supervisor, Emery Heath had 69 votes and Brenda Miller had 93 votes. For clerk Denise Webster had 100 votes. For treasurer Karen Cummings had 96 votes.

In Little Black, for chairman Dan Hoffman had 245 votes. For supervisors Bryan Jochimsen had 230 votes and Chad Smith had 219 votes. For clerk, JoAnn Smith had 268 votes. For treasurer Marian Nernberger had 277 votes.

In Maplehurst, for chairman Mark Nosko had 107 votes. For supervisor, Tony Friedenfels had 94 votes and Andy Friedenfels had 86 votes. For treasurer Marilyn Ovyn had 106 votes. For assessor Michael Barna had 106 votes.

In McKinley, for chairman Steve Schueller had 108 votes. For supervisor, Betty Ahlers had 79 votes and William Miller Sr. had 86 votes. For clerk, Jason Malisheski had 111 votes. For treasurer, Julie Siemek had 106 votes.

In Medford, for chairman Stanley Schmidt had 655 votes. For supervisor, Justin Olson had 517 votes and Rick Dowden had 560 votes. For clerk Jennifer Strama had 681 votes. For treasurer, Carol Pernsteiner had 704 votes.

In Molitor, for chairperson registered write-in candidate April Schmeiser had 75 votes to defeat incumbent Lester Lewis who had 51 votes. For district 1 supervisor Wayne Schmeiser had 84 votes to defeat incumbent Gary Gretzinger with 48 votes. For district 2, Trent Harris had 122 votes.

In Pershing, for chairman Kevin Webster had 56 votes. For supervisor, Marvin Webster had 41 votes and Walt Lang had 39 votes edging out incumbent Andie Ellis who had 24 votes. For treasurer Kim Curtis had 54 votes.

In Rib Lake, for chairman Joe Knorn had 216 votes. For supervisor, Doug Polacek had 176 votes and Kyle Thums had 201 votes. For clerk Karen Schneider had 222 votes. For treasurer, Julia Braaten had 214 votes.

In Roosevelt, for chairman Gerard Nicpon had 82 votes. For supervisor, Tom Dubiak had 81 votes and Cheryl Ustianowski had 71 votes. In Taft, for chairman Darrell Thompson had 80 votes. For supervisor, Delano Kroeplin Sr. had 69 votes and Gerald Czubakowski had 60 votes to edge out Valorie Kulesa who had 43 votes. For clerk Lorrene Czubakowski had 90 votes. For treasurer, Lana Knox had 91 votes.

In Westboro, for chairman, Jeff Peterson had 211 votes. For supervisor, Bryan Strobach had 185 votes and Steven Thums had 207 votes. For clerk Joyce Peterson ad 234 votes. For treasurer Debbie Filipiak had 232 votes. For a four-year seat on the sanitary commission, Jane Schneider had 45 votes.