Dane County Board Elections Summary by Al Matano

On April 1, 2014, all members of the Dane County Board of Supervisors will stand for election. Currently there are 29 liberal or progressive members, and 8 conservatives. The filing deadline was January 7, 2013.

There will be just 7 contested races. In two of these races, there are 3 filed candidates, so the top two votegetters in the primary on February 18 will advance to the April 1 election.

Of the 7 contested races, here is how they break down.

One race features a liberal/progressive challenger versus a conservative incumbent. Dave Wiganowsky is challenged by Andrew Schauer.

Four incumbent liberal or progressive members face challenges – Leland Pan, Maureen McCarville, Dorothy Krause, and Pat Downing. Pan, a Progressive Dane member, is being challenged by a Democrat in the student district. McCarville represents DeForest, Krause represents northern Fitchburg, and Downing represents Mount Horeb and southwestern Dane County. All face conservative challengers.

Two incumbents are not seeking re-election. Kurt Schlicht, a conservative, currently represents Cross Plains and northwestern Dane County. The liberal/progressive candidate is Abigail Wuest. Her two opponents are Todd Osborne, who is believed to be a tea party conservative, and Bob Green, who is believed to be a moderate conservative.

Erika Hotchkiss, a liberal/progressive incumbent, is not seeking re-election. Pat McPartland is the liberal/progressive candidate. She will face Mike Willett, who Hotchkiss defeated in April 2012.

There are four candidates who were not elected in 2012 who are running unopposed. All are in the liberal/progressive camp. Paul Nelson and Michelle Ritt will replace Dianne Hesselbein and Melissa Sargent, both of whom were elected to the Wisconsin Assembly. Mary Kolar won a special election to replace Scott McDonell following his election to the office of Dane County Clerk in November 2012. George Gillis was appointed to the seat of Melanie Hampton after she resigned due to a move out of Wisconsin in November 2013.

This, and the tables below, provides a quick who’s who on the April ballot. In a subsequent article or two, I will talk about why it matters.

All districts

¹ Not previously elected.

² Elected mid-term in a special election.

(I) Incumbent.

Uncontested liberal or progressive (L/P) (26)

Contested races (7)

Uncontested Conservative (6)

1. Mary Kolar replaced Scott McDonell approximately one year ago in a
special election, after Scott was elected County Clerk

9. Dianne Hesselbein was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly and did not
seek re-election to the County Board. Paul Nelson is running
unopposed.

14. Melanie Hampton resigned in November 2013. George Gillis took office
through appointment at that time and is running unopposed.

18. Melissa Sargent was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly and did not
seek re-election to the County Board. Michelle Ritt is running
unopposed.

5. Leland Pan, a Progressive Dane incumbent, is challenged by Chris
Hoffmann, a Democrat.

21. Dave Wiganowsky, a conservative, is challenged by Andrew Schauer
(L/P).

22. Maureen McCarville (L/P) is challenged by Terri Kelso and Dustin A.
Wichmann.

27. Dorothy Krause (L/P) is challenged by Patrick Stern.

28. Kurt Schlicht, a conservative, is not seeking re-election. Abigail
Wuest is the L/P candidate. Todd Osborne (believed to be a tea party
conservative) and Bob Green (moderate conservative?) are also
running. Green challenged Schlicht in a previous election cycle but
did not run an active campaign.

30. Pat Downing (L/P) is challenged by Jerry O’Brien.

32. Erika Hotchkiss (L/P) defeated Mike Willett in 2012. Hotchkiss is not
seeking re-election. Pat McPartland (L/P) and Mike Willett are
running for the open seat.

Contact information for candidates can be found at:

http://pdf.countyofdane.com/clerk/CANDIDATES%20REGISTERED.pdf