Ten Dane County Supervisors not seeking reelection this spring

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – The ballots for this spring’s nonpartisan elections are set, and ten current Dane County Supervisors have decided not to run for reelection. Dane County Supervisors serve two-year terms on the County Board, and are all up for reelection every even-numbered year in the spring.

Tuesday was the final day for candidates to submit their declaration of candidacy and campaign finance paperwork, as well as the at least 50 signatures they need to get on the ballot. 

The ten county supervisors not seeking reelection are: Jeff Hynes of District 5, Larry Palm of District 12, Jacob Wright of District 17, Andrew Schauer of District 21, Tim Kiefer of District 25, Holly Hatcher of District 26, Dave Ripp of District 29, Dana Pellebon of District 33, Melissa Ratcliff of District 36, and Kate McGinnity of District 37.

Of those ten districts, seven only have one candidate on the ballot, meaning those ten new candidates are almost guaranteed to be sitting on the Dane County Board by the end of this spring. 

Those newcomers are: Henry Fries in District 5, Dan Blazewicz in District 17, Jeffrey Kroning in District 21, Lisa Jackson in District 26, Don Postler in District 29, Randy Udell in District 33, and Kerry Marren. 

Additionally, 20 current County Supervisors are running for reelection unopposed, and will almost certainly win another term. Those Supervisors are Elizabeth Doyle of District 1, Heidi Wegleitner of District 2, Analiese Eicher of District 3, Yogesh Chawla of District 6, Cecely Castillo of District 7, Jeffrey Glazer of District 8, Aaron Collins of District 10, Richelle Andrae of District 11, Anthony Gray of District 14, April Kigeya of District 15, Rick Rose of District 16, Michele Ritt of District 18, Brenda Yang of District 19, Chuck Erickson of District 23, Sarah Smith of District 24, Kierstin Huelsemann of District 27, Patrick Downing of District 30, Jerry Bollig of District 31, Chad Kemp of District 32, and Michael Engelberger of District 35. 

That means that ten districts, or less than one third, will see contested races this spring. Two districts, District 13 and District 36, have three people running in the race, meaning that there will be a primary election for those seats on February 20. The rest of the seats have just two candidates, and will appear on the ballot on April 2. The other districts with contested races are District 4, District 9, District 12, District 20, District 22, District 25, District 28, and District 34.

There will also be two municipal judge seats on the ballot in April, one for the City of Stoughton and the towns of Dunkirk, Pleasant Springs, and Rutland, and another for the Village of Mount Horeb and the towns of Perry, Primrose, Springdale, and Vermont. Both of those races have just one candidate running unopposed.

Also on the ballot for the April election will be the Presidential primary election. President Joe Biden will be the sole Democrat on the ballot. There will be six Republicans on the ballot for this year’s presidential primary. They include Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Vivik Ramaswamy, and Asa Hutchinson.

You can find what district you live in here. You can see what will appear on your ballot at MyVote Wisconsin.