CRAWFORD COUNTY - We’re halfway through a challenging year electorally in 2024, having completed two of the four scheduled elections.

The just complete April 2, 2024 nonpartisan spring election yielded no big surprises locally. Next up will be the partisan primary election, scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 13. That race will be followed by the partisan general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

In northern Crawford County, there were only two contested elections on April 2. Those races were in the Village of  Gays Mills and for the Seneca School Board. In addition, voters went to the polls to cast partisan votes in a presidential preference primary, voted ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on two constitutional amendments regarding election administration, and voted in a variety of other municipal elections.

School Boards

In the contested Seneca School Board election, four candidates vied for two open seats. Jennifer Aspenson and incumbent Charles Clark won board seats, defeating newcomer Kyle Berger and Eric Grimsled.

Jennifer Aspenson received the most votes with 239; Charles Clark was second with 212 votes. Kyle Berger was third with 153 votes; and Eric Grimsled received 121 votes.

In the uncontested North Crawford School Board election, two incumbents and one new candidate all won election to the board. Incumbent Judy Powell received the most votes at 428, with incumbent Terry O’Donnell receiving 426 votes, and Mark Fredelake receiving 362 votes.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a school referendum in the DeSoto School District with 851 voting against, and 369 voting in favor. A referendum in the Kickapoo Area School District was very narrowly defeated, with 192 voting for, and 198 voting against. Westby voters bucked the trend, voting overwhelmingly to approve their school referendum, with 1,033 voting in favor and 683 voting against.

Village Boards

In the Gays Mills Village Board election, two candidates ran for re-election, and both won seats on the board. Those two incumbent village trustees were Ethan Eitsert with 98 votes, and Kevin Murray with 68 votes. Both had their names on the ballot.

With three open seats, and only two candidates filing their paperwork, three candidates subsequently filed paperwork to be official write-in candidates. Art Winsor, Kim Pettit and Joseph Boland were the three registered write-in candidates.

Art Winsor was elected to the board with 43 votes, defeating Kim Pettit with 27 votes, and Joseph Boland with 14 votes. Additionally, there was one vote each cast for five non-registered write-in village board candidates – Earl Winsor, Craig Anderson, Aaron Fortney, W. Cottrell and L. Hagen.

In the uncontested Soldiers Grove Village Board election, three candidates were elected to the board. Shayne Chapman, a former village trustee, received the most votes with 59. Incumbent candidates Harrison Heilman and Brett Pettit each received 51 votes. Chapman had previously served on the board for several terms.

The board is expected to act after the April election to fill the seat created by the resignation of village president Paul Nicholson.

Presidential primary

In the presidential preference primary, voters in Crawford County’s Republican primary chose Donald Trump with 1,163 votes out of a total 1,392 votes cast. In the Democratic primary, county voters chose Joe Biden, who received 1,223 of the total 1,352 votes cast.

In Vernon County Democratic primary, Joe Biden received 2,533 votes of the total 3,004 votes cast. Donald Trump received 2,466 votes of the total 3,086 votes cast in the Republican primary.

Statewide, with 99 percent of reporting complete, Joe Biden received 506,969 votes in the Democratic primary, and Donald Trump received 472,227 votes in the Republican primary.

Amendments

Two constitutional amendments relating to election administration in Wisconsin were on the ballot statewide. The two questions appearing on the ballot, calling for a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote were:

Question 1: “Use of private funds in election administration. Shall section 7 (1) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that private donations and grants may not be applied for, accepted, expended, or used in connection with the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum?”

Question 2: “Election officials. Shall section 7 (2) of article III of the constitution be created to provide that only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums?”

In Crawford County voters approved both constitutional amendments. Question 1 was narrowly approved by a margin of 21 votes, with 1,374 voting ‘yes,’ and 1,353 voting ‘no.’ Question 2 was approved handily, with 1,503 voting ‘yes,’ and 1,218 voting ‘no.’

On Question 1, voters in some municipalities bucked the trend. That proposed amendment lost in the towns of Clayton, Freeman, Haney, Scott, and Utica; and in the villages of Bell Center, Gays Mills, Soldiers Grove, and Steuben. In all other municipalities, ‘yes’ votes outnumbered ‘no’ votes, in some cases narrowly.

On Question 2, voters in some municipalities bucked the trend in the towns of Clayton, Haney, Scott, and Utica; and in the village of Mt. Sterling, where ‘no’ votes on the referendum won.

In Vernon County, voters bucked the statewide trend by voting down Question 1, with 3,237 ‘no’ votes, and 2,869 ‘yes’ votes. Mirroring statewide results, Vernon County voters approved the language in Question 2, with 3,209 voting ‘yes’ and 2,884 voting ‘no.’