Depending on where you live, you will have a lot to decide on in the upcoming election.
In Kewaunee County, the county board races have remained largely unchanged for the last few weeks. Doak Baker (District 4), Paul Zeitler (District 8), and Wendy Shelton (District 19) will likely be the newest faces on the board as they replace Dennis Langteau (District 4), Douglas Doell (District 8), and John Mastalir (District 19) in their respective seats. In Algoma, Casey Buhr is at the center of two contested races. Buhr has filed paperwork to run for his current seat in District 3 against Kenneth Taylor and Bill Bush but also to challenge incumbent Algoma Mayor Virginia Haske and fellow competitor Steve Lautenbach. Kevin Schmidt (District 1), Scott Meverden (District 2), and Amy Johnson (District 4) are running unopposed. In Kewaunee, current Mayor Jeffrey Vollenweider will see opposition from his predecessor Jason Jelinek for his seat. Jelinek opted not to run for re-election after his term was up in 2022. Scott Oftedahl has submitted his paperwork to replace Janita Zimmerman as the District 3 alderperson after she decided not to run again. No one has filed to run for the District 4 seat after Eric Wisnicky filed his non-candidacy papers last month.
In Door County, four contested races are brewing, and two others currently need candidates for the county board. No one filed to run to replace Dave Lienau (District 19) or Rodney Beardsley (District 8). Philip Rockwell is running unopposed to replace Alexis Heim Peter in her District 10 seat. Daniel Austad’s decision not to run again for his District 9 seat inspired Ryan Shaw and Jonathan Kruse to challenge each other for the soon-to-be vacant seat. Other contested races for the Door County Board include Jacob VandenPlas running against Roy Englebert (District 3) and Wayne Denil to challenge incumbent Claire Morkin (District 7). The Sturgeon Bay Common Council race will feature incumbent Dennis Statz looking to hold off challenger Matthew Huston for his District 2 seat and Tom Benzshawel hoping to knock incumbent Seth Wiederanders out of his spot representing District 6. Spencer Gustafson (District 4) is running unopposed.
Statewide, the spring general election on April 2nd also serves as the Presidential Preference Primary. While Democrats will only have President Joe Biden to choose from, Republicans will have six candidates: former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
