Town of Grant candidate wins District 1 seat on the Dunn County Board

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  Brian Johnson, a resident in the Town of Grant north of Colfax, has won the election for  District 1 supervisor on the Dunn County Board.

Johnson faced incumbent Carol Anderson in the April 5 election.

Compared to a total of 208 votes for Anderson, Johnson gathered 266 votes.

In the Town of Grant, Johnson received 54 votes, while Anderson received seven votes.

In the Town of Sand Creek, Johnson and Anderson each received 104 votes.

In the Town of Wilson, Johnson gathered 81 votes, as compared to 64 for Anderson.

In the Village of Ridgeland, Anderson received 33 votes, compared to 27 for Johnson.

Carol Anderson was first elected to the Dunn County Board in 2014.

Other districts

Catherine N. (Kitz) Cleary of Colfax, supervisor for District 6, decided not to run for re-election, and Jim Zons was on the ballot and will be the new supervisor for District 6. Zons received 394 votes.

Jill Noreen of Menomonie, supervisor for District 12, also decided not to seek re-election, and Michael Kneer of Menomonie was on the ballot and will be the new supervisor for District 12. Kneer received 379 votes.

Robert G. Walter of Menomonie, supervisor for District 21, decided not to run for re-election, and Diane L. Morehouse of Menomonie was on the ballot for District 21. Morehouse received 315 votes.

Todd D. Welch of Menomonie, supervisor for District 14, filed notification of non-candidacy as well, and Teresa Lyall of Menomonie was on the ballot for District 14. Lyall received 356 votes.

Dunn County Board supervisory District 22 had two candidates: Incumbent Sarah Kennedy of Menomonie and Matthew E. Kasfeldt of Menomonie. Kasfeldt received 147 votes. Kennedy received 270 votes.

Dunn County Board supervisory District 26 became vacant upon the death of incumbent David Schaefer of Menomonie, age 44, on November 30.

Two candidates were on the ballot for District 26: Lloyd Harnish of Menomonie and Larry R. Bjork of Menomonie. Harnish received 226 votes. Bjork received 273 votes.

Tie vote

Dunn County Board supervisory District 10 also had two candidates on the ballot: Incumbent Calvin Christianson of Menomonie and challenger Michael P. Rogers of Menomonie.

Rogers and Christianson each received 230 votes.

District 10 covers the Towns of Lucas, Menomonie and Weston.

As of April 6, the Town of Lucas had one outstanding absentee ballot, and the Town of Weston had three provisional ballots and one outstanding absentee ballot, reported Julie Wathke, Dunn County clerk.

If the provisional and absentee ballots were turned in by 5 p.m. Friday, then sometime between 5 p.m. Friday, April 8, and 9 a.m. Monday, April 11, the clerks in Lucas and Weston would have to call a meeting of the Board of Canvassers and amend the election returns with the county clerk’s office by 4 p.m. Monday, Wathke said.

The Dunn County Board of Canvassers was scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 12, to certify the April 5 election, and if the provisional and absentee ballots in Lucas and Weston had been turned in, the election totals from those municipalities may have broken the tie between Rogers and Christianson, she said.

If, however, a tie remained in District 10 after the Dunn County Board of Canvassers had met, then Rogers and Christianson would be called to the county clerk’s office to draw out of a hat to break the tie, Wathke explained.

Remaining districts

The remaining supervisory districts had incumbents on the ballot: David Bartlett (Boyceville) (District 2); Vaughn Hedlund (Boyceville) (District 3); Steve Rasmussen (Boyceville) (District 4); Gary Stene (Colfax) (District 5); Gary Bjork (Colfax) (District 7); Charles Maves (Boyce-ville) (District 8); Thomas Quinn (Downing) (District 9); James R. Anderson (Menomonie) (District 11); Timothy C. Mather (Menomonie) (District 13); Donald O. Kuether (Menomonie) (District 15); Paul DeLong (Menomonie) (District 16); Kelly McCullough (Menomonie) (District 17); Sheila D. Stori (Menomonie) (District 18); Carl Vandermeulen (Menomonie) (District 19); Mary Solberg (Menomonie) (District 20); James Tripp (Menomonie) (District 23); Jerome Prochnow (Menomonie) (District 24); Elton J. Christopherson (Elk Mound) (District 25); Dale Harschlip (Mondovi) (District 27); Richard Creaser (Menomonie) (District 28); Gary Seipel (Eau Galle) (District 29).

Supreme Court 

In Dunn County, Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley received 6,367 votes to 6,465 for challenger Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Statewide, Justice Bradley received 1,107,083 votes (52 percent), while Judge Kloppenburg received 925,836 (48 percent).

The only candidate for District 3 Court of Appeals, Thomas Hruz, received 10,038 votes in Dunn County.

Presidential

In the Republican presidential primary in Dunn County, Senator Ted Cruz (Texas) received 3,469 votes to 3,074 for Donald J. Trump. John R. Kasich (governor of Ohio) received 758 votes.

Statewide, Cruz received 531,129 votes (50 percent), while Trump received 386,290 (36 percent), and Kasich received 155,200 (14 percent).

Historical

The unofficial statewide turnout for the April 5 election was 47.4 percent.

The state Government Accountability Board predicted the turnout would be 40 percent.

The April 5 election compares to the 1980 primary election in which voter turnout was 45.65 percent.

In 1972, voter turnout was 47.7 percent when George McGovern was on the Democratic ticket and Richard Nixon, running for a second term as president, was on the Republican ticket.