Tony Evers re-elected as state Superintendent of Public Instruction
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MADISON — Incumbent state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers won the April 4 election against challenger Lowell E. Holtz.
Evers received 494,846 votes statewide (70 percent) to 212,536 votes for Holtz (30 percent).
Three candidates were on the ballot for state Superintendent in the February 21 primary.
In addition to Evers and Holtz, John Humphries also was on the ballot in the primary.
In the February primary, Evers received nearly 70 percent of the vote as well while Holtz drew 23 percent of the vote and Humphries received about 7 percent.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction works with Wisconsin’s school districts and provides information to the public about school attendance, management and performance. The Department of Public Instruction also licenses teachers working in Wisconsin and receives and distributes aid provided for schools by the federal government.
News reports indicate voter turnout was about 16 percent statewide April 4, compared to 14 percent in 2011 and 17 percent in 2005.
Voter turnout statewide in the February primary was reported at a little over 8 percent, compared to a voter turnout of 5.9 percent in the previous three primaries for state superintendent.
Wisconsin has 4.4 million eligible voters.
Only days before the primary, various news outlets reported that Holtz and Humphries had met in December to discuss the election for state superintendent and the possibility of striking a deal between the two of them.
The “deal” was that if one would drop out of the race and the other was elected state superintendent, the one who dropped out would be awarded a three-year contract and an annual salary of $150,000 for a job at the DPI that would include a car and driver.
The position would have included “complete authority” over several large school districts, such as Madison, Milwaukee and Racine, and the authority would include breaking up the school districts and changing school boards.
The only other statewide ballot April 4 was for Supreme Court justice with one candidate on the ballot: Annette Ziegler.
Justice Ziegler was elected to her second ten-year term on the court.
