November 8 election results: Nodolf elected as Dunn County DA
By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf was elected to the position of district attorney in the November 8 election.
Nodolf ran as a Republican and faced Democratic challenger Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Holly Wood Webster.
Nodolf received 11,236 votes, and Webster received 9,676 votes.
Nodolf, who previously served as the Rusk County district attorney, was appointed by Governor Scott Walker to the Dunn County district attorney’s position in the fall of 2014. She replaced former Dunn County District Attorney James Peterson, who was elected as circuit court judge in Dunn County in April of 2014.
Webster has served as an assistant district attorney in Dunn County since April of 2011.
In 2010, Webster served as a special prosecutor in the Dunn County district attorney’s office.
Webster prevailed in the Village of Colfax with 270 votes to Nodolf’s 256 votes.
Webster also won in the City of Menomonie and carried nine of the 11 wards. All together, she received 3,795 votes in Menomonie, while Nodolf gathered 3,085 votes in Menomonie.
Webster also carried the Town of Dunn with 377 votes to Nodolf’s 362.
Colfax schools
A referendum question in the Colfax school district asking for $7.2 million for school improvements was approved on a vote of 1,690 “yes” to 725 “no.” [Look for a complete story on the Colfax school referendum published elsewhere in the Colfax Messenger.]
Town of Colfax
A referendum question in the Town of Colfax asking whether the position of town clerk should be appointed by the town board passed with 367 “yes” votes to 243 “no” votes.
By approving the referendum question, voters authorized the Colfax Town Board to appoint a clerk. Applicants will submit an application to the town board rather than the current system of nominating the clerk during a town caucus and the position being on the ballot for election in April.
Town of Otter Creek
A referendum question on the ballot for Town of Otter Creek voters asked whether the combined position of town clerk-treasurer should be appointed by the town board.
The referendum question passed with 141 “yes” votes to 109 “no” votes (56 percent yes to 44 percent no).
The question was not marked on nine ballots.
Electors in the township voted at a special town meeting in August to combine the positions of clerk and treasurer.
By approving the referendum question, voters authorized the Otter Creek Town Board to appoint a clerk-treasurer, requiring applicants to submit an application to the town board, rather than the current system of nominating the clerk-treasurer during a town caucus and the position being on the ballot for election in April.
An elected clerk-treasurer is required to be a resident of the township.
An appointed clerk-treasurer is not required to be a town resident.
County clerk
Only one candidate was on the ballot for Dunn County clerk.
Incumbent Dunn County Clerk Julie A. Wathke of Boyceville ran as a Democrat.
Wathke was appointed as county clerk in September of 2013 following the death of Marilyn Hoyt in June of that year.
County treasurer
Only one candidate was on the ballot for Dunn County treasurer.
Megan Mittlestadt ran as a Republican.
She was appointed as county treasurer in January of 2014 following the resignation of Cindy Kopp.
In November of 2012, Kopp, who had served as deputy treasurer for 16 years, won the election for treasurer and had defeated Mittelstadt in the August primary.
Register of Deeds
Only one candidate was on the ballot for Dunn County register of deeds.
Incumbent Heather M. Kuhn ran on the Democratic ticket.
Kuhn served as the deputy register of deeds for nearly 16 years and ran for election in November of 2012.
67th Assembly District
Bloomer Republican Rob Summerfield won the election for representative of the state’s 67th Assembly District with 18,574 votes.
Summerfield faced Democratic challenger Dennis Hunt, who gathered 10,307 votes.
The current representative of the 67th Assembly District, Tom Larson of Colfax, decided not to run for re-election.
The 67th Assembly District includes the Towns of Colfax, Elk Mound, Grant, Hay River, Otter Creek, Red Cedar, Sand Creek, Sheridan, Sherman, Spring Brook, Tainter and Wilson; the villages of Colfax, Elk Mound, Ridgeland, and Wheeler; and part of Barron and Chippewa counties.
Summerfield is described as a small business owner.
Hunt is from Chippewa Falls and is a former Chippewa County finance manager.
93rd Assembly District
Incumbent Republican Warren Petryk was the only candidate on the ballot for representative of the state’s 93rd Assembly District.
The 93rd Assembly District covers portions of Dunn County, Pepin County, Eau Claire County, St. Croix County and Pierce County.
In Dunn County, the 93rd covers the Town of Dunn, Town of Rock Creek, Town of Eau Galle and Town of Weston.
The 93rd includes the unincorporated municipalities of Arkansaw, Diamond Bluff, Downsville and Hager City, along with the villages of Bay City, Ellsworth, Elmwood, Maiden Rock, Pepin, Plum City, Spring Valley and Stockholm.
U.S. President
In addition to Donald J. Trump/Michael Pence (Republican Party) and Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (Democratic Party), the ballot for president included Darrell L. Castle/Scott N. Bradley (Constitution Party); Gary Johnson/Bill Weld (Libertarian Party); Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka (Wisconsin Green Party); Monica Moorehead/Lamont Lilly (Workers World Party); and Rocky Roque De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg (American Delta Party) as well as several write-in candidates.
Nationwide, Hillary Clinton received 61,039,676 votes while Donald Trump received 60,371,193.
In spite of Clinton receiving more of the popular vote, Trump reached the required number of electoral votes of 270.
The electoral college electors will actually vote December 19 in their respective states, casting two separate ballots, one for president and one for vice-president. Congress will meet in a joint session January 6, 2017, to count the electoral votes.
Nationwide, Gary Johnson received 4,046,013 votes.
Jill Stein received 1,209,163 votes nationwide.
If no presidential candidate wins 270 or more electoral votes, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution allows the House of Representatives to decide the presidential election, and house members would choose from among the three candidates who received the most electoral votes.
In Dunn County, Clinton received 9,025 votes, while Trump received 11,487 votes.
Clinton won all of the wards in Menomonie but did not carry any of the other municipalities.
Darrell L. Castle and Scott N. Bradley received 99 votes in Dunn County.
Johnson and Weld received 1,094 votes in Dunn County.
Stein and Baraka received 297 votes in Dunn County.
Moorehead and Lilly received 16 votes in Dunn County.
De La Fuente/Steinberg received 11 votes in Dunn County.
Cherunda Fox and Roger Kushner (write-in) received 0 votes in Dunn County.
Evan McMullin and Nathan Johnson (write-in) received 50 votes in Dunn County.
Each of the following write-in candidates received 0 votes in Dunn County: Michael Maturen and Juan A. Munoz; Marshall Schoenke and James Creighton Mitchell Jr.; Chris Keniston and Deacon Taylor; Laurence Kotlikoff and Edward E. Leamer; Tom Hoefling and Steve Schulin; Joseph Maldanodo; Emidio Soltysik and Angela Nicole Walker.
U.S. Senator
Three candidates were on the ballot for United States Senator.
Incumbent Ron Johnson of Oshkosh ran on the Republican ticket and received 1,477,367 votes.
Democratic challenger Russ Feingold received 1,379,070 votes.
Feingold served in the United States Senate from 1993 to 2011 and lost to Ron Johnson in the 2010 election.
Phillip N. Anderson, a licensed realtor from Fitchburg, was on the ballot for the Libertarian Party and received 86,176 votes.
U.S. Representative
Democratic incumbent Ron Kind was the only candidate on the ballot for United States Representative in Congress for Wisconsin’s third congressional district.
Kind has served as the representative for the third congressional district since 1997.