Wausau News: Conservatives win big in Tuesday elections
The Weekly Wausonian for April 7, 2022
Area conservatives won big Tuesday, earning the most contested seats in Wausau area city council, county board and school board seats.
A big exception was the city council, which swung decidedly left Tuesday.
Although all of those races are non-partisan, partisan politics have definitely worked their way into those races. Endorsements from partisan interest groups laid out exactly which liberal or conservative candidates to vote for.
Marathon County Judge
Ricky Cveykus, who billed himself as a non-partisan candidate with endorsements on both sides of the political aisle, handily defeated William Harris, earning more than double the number of votes.
City Council
Carol Lukens defeated John Kroll in a tight race for Wausau District 1. Lukens appeared on liberal candidate checklists, though both are pretty left-leaning.
Tom Kilian fended off a challenge from conservative candidate Jo Ann Egelkrout in District 3.
Doug Diny defeated Jesse Kearns in District 4. Diny was cited in conservative voting checklists though his positions seem largely moderate.
Gary Gisselman defeated incumbent Jim Wadinski in District 5, reclaiming his old seat. Gisselman had previously served on the city council and county board. Gisselman appeared on liberal checklists and vocally supported A Community For All.
Sarah Watson fended off Tony Brown to hold on to District 8. Watson appeared on liberal voting checklists.
Chad Henke defeated incumbent Deb Ryan in District 11. Ryan was the subject of an ethics investigation recently, and Henke has appeared on liberal voting checklists.
Wausau School Board
Conservative candidates Joanne Reyes, Jon Creisher and James Bouche defeated liberal candidates Jane Rusch and Kayley McColley. The three right-leaning candidates took in more than $26,000 in the contest, the most spent per candidate on any race.
After two back-to-back referendum defeats, the Wausau School District passed its $119 million referendum question Tuesday. That’ll help the district maintain and improve its buildings.
County Board
Michelle Van Krey handily defeated challenger Christopher Wood in County Board District 1. But nine incumbents were unseated Tuesday night. In total the board will have 13 new members when the new board is seated later this month.
The other 18 contested seats are as follows: Ann Lemmer def. Destiny Goretski (2); Gisselman def. Cody Nikolai (5); Stacey Morache def. Jeff Johnson (inc) (6); Becky Buch (inc) def. Alex Eichten (7); Kim Ungerer def. Veronica Hope (8); Dave Oberbeck (inc) def. Johnny Fortenberry (9); Alyson Leahy (inc) def. Randy DeBroux (11); Mike Ritter def. James Juedes (13); Joel Staub def. Randy Fifrick (inc) (15); Tony Sherfinski def. Bill Conway (inc) (16); Jennifer Aarrestad def. Cheryl Martino (17); Thomas Rosenberg (inc) def. Dave Dailey (21); David Baker def. Chris Voll (inc) (23); Timothy Sondelski def. Sandy Cihlar (inc) (25); Andrew Venzke def. Richard Gumz (inc) (30); Ron Covelli def. Tim Buttke (inc) (33); Jason Wilhelm def. Gary Beastrom (inc) (34); Bobby Niemeyer def. Jonathan Fisher (inc) (38).
Metro election results
In Weston, Jamie Weiland, Steve Cronin and Jasper Hartinger were elected to the village board.
In Rothschild, Bill Schremp, Deb Ehster and Katy Hale were elected to the village board.
In Kronenwetter, Ken Charneski, Tami Boch and Danielle Bergmann were elected to the board in a six-person contest. The village had its first primary in February as a record number of candidates sought board seats.
Other Wausau area news
Investigators suspect foul play in a structure fire in the town of Day Wednesday morning. Firefighters responded 6 am Wednesday to the fire, and investigators say they found evidence of foul play. The fire is under investigation as a homicide, the Marathon County Sheriff’s Office says. The DOJ, State Fire Marshall’s Office and the DA’s Office are assisting in the investigation.
Business
Wild Roots Apothecary is eyeing a second location in Rib Mountain, owner Jessica Guyant confirmed to The Wausonian. Right now the owner is seeking a builder to start work on the new location. Wild Roots serves a variety of natural health products and healthy food, such as their smoothie bowls.
Entertainment
Wednesdays: Whitewater Music Hall has a pretty good thing going on Wednesday evenings. Starting at 7 pm, the hall is hosting an open blues jam. Bring your guitar, bass or hop on the drums and jam along! They’ve got everything you need besides the guitar itself so grab your ax and pop on down. I tried it personally last week and thought it was a blast. Follow Whitewater Music Hall’s page for further details and to make sure they’re hosting it that week.
Saturday, April 9: If you’re looking for an easter egg hunt for the kids, this is a cool twist on the idea. Trinity Lutheran Church in Merrill will hold a glow-in-the-dark easter egg hunt in the lower level of the church; The whole event is from 9 am to noon. There’s also plenty of other things going on, like photo ops, a movie, snacks, a make-and-take project of some kind, and more. See the Facebook event page for more details, including a more detailed egg hunt schedule by age.
Saturday, April 9: Are you a Packers fan? (Oh you betchya you are.) Hoehn’s Huddle will be hosting former Packer legend Leroy Butler from 2-5 pm at its memorabilia shop. Hoehn’s is an interesting place in that the owners took over the Grand Avenue Lounge and kept it as a super club, but added the memorabilia shop. It might seem like an odd combo but people seem to love it! So bring down your Packer gear to get Butler’s autograph. Check out the event page for more details.
Sports
Girls softball was supposed to start Tuesday but thanks to the rain, all three games scheduled for Valley teams were canceled. Other spring high school sports are slated to start next week.
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