The Marathon County Clerk race just got crazier

The Wausonian found more info about the candidates, including that one of them is on paid leave

I almost missed that there even was a Republican primary for partisan-elected county positions. And that would have been a miss, because the races seem to point to something bigger underneath the surface.

The accusations coming from people supporting candidates in the Marathon County Clerk’s race point to a growing divide in county Republicans.

Kim Trueblood, the incumbent, faced accusations of not paying her bills when an email from Truthfinder alleging that Trueblood faced an active bench warrant in Boyd County, Kentucky. It lists the case file, which is real, and does not mention the case. Ranallo forwarded the email to media members.

The charge? According to the Wausau Daily Herald, she drove 36 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone. Trueblood told the Daily Herald she knew nothing about the fine and paid it within hours of learning about it.

Trueblood told The Wausonian that the ticket cost was $144 and that it was issued 16 years ago. Her husband paid the fine while she was in a committee meeting - they’d asked the clerk if a notice was ever sent and she said no, according to Trueblood. The clerk explained that they don’t see them as that important, she says. There were no late fees or fines added to it.

Then others are gunning for Ranallo. The Wausonian obtained the results of a records request showing that Ranallo hasn’t punched in at the courthouse where she works as an administrative assistant since June 26 (as of Aug. 7). The Wausonian asked county officials if she were on some kind of administrative paid leave, but county attorney Michael Puerner told The Wausonian it won’t comment on personnel inquiries. Ranallo does remain an employee of the county, he says.

Punch data shows her last activity at the courthouse was just after noon on June 26, a Wednesday. Much of the specific locations are redacted for employee safety.

The Wausonian asked Ranallo why she hadn’t punched in at work since June 26. Ranallo told The Wausonian that she’d been placed on paid administrative leave that day following a meeting with Human Resources Director Molly Adzic after she’d circulated nomination papers following a leadership meeting that was sponsored by the county on May 21.

Ranallo says she doesn’t believe she was on work time when she circulated the papers. She said she waited until the event had finished and everyone was leaving, and it had been held off-site at North Central Technical College. Four county employees including an HR employee signed her papers, she says.

Ranallo and Adzic had a tense exchange about whether or not it should have been considered being on company time. Eventually the meeting ended and the county placed Ranallo on leave. The investigation was supposed to have been concluded within 21 days, Ranallo says she was told, but she has not heard from county officials regarding the investigation since. “I trust that the county will exercise due diligence to ensure a thorough and fair investigation,” Ranallo says.

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Trueblood in the past has had problems with outstanding balances - it came up when she was first appointed as county clerk. At the time, it was left-learning county board members who sounded the alarm on Trueblood’s record. Right-learning board members largely confirmed her appointment.

A shift seemed to happen during the last county board election. Jo Ann Egelkrout was denied ballot placement after a number of her signatures were successfully challenged. Trueblood ruled some of her signatures out, and enough were later overturned on appeal that she made the ballot, though Egelkrout ultimately didn’t win.

That seemed to irk some conservatives, who accused Trueblood of tipping the scales in favor of liberals. (She’d been accused of the opposite in 2021: some accused her of being too helpful to parents interested in returning Wausau schools to in-person learning.)

Other conservatives have expressed concern to The Wausonian that she’s being targeted because she’s going by the book, and not conforming to conservative wishes.

There hasn’t been as much chatter about the treasurer’s race, other than some accusations of recruitment. But that happens all the time in local politics - more than most people probably think.

Tuesday’s primary will be more interesting than they usually are.

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