The race for Republican county clerk

Incumbent Kim Trueblood vs Toshia Ranallo face off in the primary Aug. 13

County clerk elections don’t typically get too spicy.

But this one is becoming an exception.

Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood is facing a primary challenger in Marathon County Executive Assistant Toshia Ranallo on the Republican ticket. Both say they’re committed to approaching the position in a non-partisan fashion, as elections need to be handled fairly. And while it may seem odd that county elected positions such as county clerk, county treasurer and county sheriff are technically partisan positions, county parties haven’t historically paid much attention to these races.

From interviewing both candidates, it’s clear that this race for the Republican primary is more heated than perhaps a November Republican/Democrat contest would be.

Ranallo, 49, has worked as the county’s executive assistant since 2020, and worked in Conservation, Planning and Zoning before that starting in 2018. In total, Ranallo says, she has worked in municipal government for 17 years. That includes being a municipal clerk for the village of Wausaukee in Marinette County.

Ranallo says she is passionate about election integrity, efficient record keeping and working more closely with municipal clerks. Ranallo says she’s running because she doesn’t think the current clerk is doing those things.

Trueblood, 53, was appointed to the county clerk position in 2019 in a controversial county board meeting that brought up some delinquent payment charges she faced. Trueblood was then elected unopposed in 2020, serving in the role since.

Trueblood worked in the office since 2018, working under long-time clerk Nan Kottke. Trueblood says that Kottke was in the role for so long that she had perfected the processes, and Trueblood adopted those practices. She then updated some procedures for modern technology, such as posting a candidate tracker via Google spreadsheets during election run-ups so reporters and other interested parties could simply access the list to find out who is running.

Before joining the county, Trueblood worked as a school teacher.

Trueblood says she was surprised to learn that she had a primary opponent, and didn’t have good things to say about Ranallo’s motivations. “She said she needed to advance her career and didn’t know any other way to do it,” Trueblood told me.

I followed up with Ranallo about that comment. Ranallo did admit that the position would be an advancement of her career, but she says that isn’t the only reason she is running. Ranallo said she approached Trueblood to inform her she had decided to run, and said that Trueblood’s response was “less than professional.”

She tried to discourage me with comments such as, "Don’t waste your time, don’t embarrass yourself, because I know a lot of people; What makes you think the Municipal Clerk’s around here will support you?"

Ranallo said Trueblood approached her the next day and apologized.

Trueblood took offense at Ranallo’s suggestion of making the county clerk’s office more open and transparent. Trueblood said she felt she’s done a pretty good job with transparency. And she says she has many of the municipal clerks behind her in support.

Ranallo says one of her ideas is to have a quarterly meeting with other clerks in the county, in order to hear their concerns and get information out on a regular basis. And, she says, she could gain insights from them as well.

And, she would like to see more detailed minutes taken in county meetings - she said she would like to see them become more detailed to better reflect a more accurate record of the meetings.

Trueblood said the current way county staff takes minutes is from the guidance of the Wisconsin Counties Association and from the county’s attorney — they’re not supposed to be transcripts. Plus, Trueblood adds, the county since COVID has contracted with public access to film nearly all of the county’s meetings, which are available any time on YouTube.

Trueblood says that she’s taken on additional responsibilities since taking the office. Her office now takes the minutes for six of the seven standing committees, she says (Environmental Resources is handled by someone else).

Trueblood touts her experience working on the job for five years, her expertise and that voters can trust her as reasons voters should select her.

Ranallo cites a drive to bring more transparency, helpfulness and her willingness to go the extra mile as reasons voters should select her.

Both candidates emphasized that though they’re running on a Republican ticket, neither says they plan to take any partisan politics into the position.

It may not be a partisan battle, but neither candidate shied from going on the attack. Aug. 13’s race will definitely be a battle.

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Stay tuned for our next preview on the county treasurer’s race. That process is still ongoing though - The Wausonian reached out to all four candidates requesting a roughly 15-minute interview. But current treasurer Connie Beyersdorff refused an interview, saying she would only respond to written questions. I explained that was unacceptable as it wouldn’t be fair to the candidates who did respond to an interview (in fairness, I conduct all election previews the same for all candidates). I interviewed her challenger, Jen Seliger, on Friday and reached out again to offer to interview, and essentially had the same exchange.

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