Did Wausau's school board race buck a larger trend?

Dissecting spending in the Wausau School Board race

In the wake of COVID there was a strong push to get conservative candidates elected to the Wausau School Board.

That push came out of fall COVID protocols stricter than districts surrounding Wausau’s, which led to one of the biggest flights of students from the district Wausau had seen for some time (that was largely erased the next year, as the trend reverted to the trendline enrollment had been on prior to COVID).

That trend has continued, as conservative candidates have continued to win each subsequent election. ¹

That even came despite the current school board being immersed in a debate about the district’s school restructuring plan, and the rejection of a referendum more moderate board members pushed for.

Is that changing? This Politico piece argues that liberal candidates have started to claw back some of those losses in the same election that saw a liberal Supreme Court justice elected to the state high court.

Spending in the Wausau School Board race

Here is how much each candidate raised and spent in the last school board race: