Spring elections are ahead with the primary set for Feb. 16, 2016 and the General Election on tap April 5, 2016. According to Clerk Brenda Jaszewski all supervisors are up for election and because of the redistricting the candidates have to file non-candidacy papers for their old district and then file to run in their new district.
“Incumbents that have changed district numbers due to redistricting after the reduction in board size, are required to submit a notification of non-candidacy for their old district number,” said Jaszewski.
With the redistricting there will now be 26 seats on the county board rather than 30. One of the supervisors who stepping down is Dist. 7 supervisor Paul Ustruck who filed non-candidacy on Nov. 5. Dist. 10 supervisor Dan Stoffel also will not be running for another term. Mike Otten pulled papers Dec. 11 to run for Stoffel’s seat.
Dist. 2 County Board Supervisor Herb Tennies, who has held office for 50 years, also filed non-candidacy on Nov. 23. It’s long been expected Tennies would not run again. Tennies was first elected in 1965; in 2008 he was elected chairman following in the footsteps of county board chairman Ken Mueller.
“He has compassion and love for the position,” Chief Deputy County Clerk Linda Doro said. “He wants what’s best for people in his district but also what’s best for Washington County.”
“Herb is very easy to get along with and work for,” Doro said. “Herb very rarely raises his temper, he’s easy going and he looks outside of the box – even with his German background.”
Aside from politics Tennies has been extremely active in the community, running his own business, Tennies Ace Hardware, he founded and ran Germanfest for 30 years and he was a volunteer firefighter.
“I didn’t know him when he worked as a young man, but he really has to have a hell of a great wife,” Doro said.
Tennies sat on major committees including finance and personnel. “Nothing seems to scare him otherwise he wouldn’t have stayed on as long as he did,” said Doro. Tennies term will end in April 2016.
There are several contested seats as incumbents from two districts battle it out for one seat in the new district. Some of those races include Dist. 2 supervisor Robert Millich will face Roger Kist who took out papers Dec. 16. Kist currently serves as Dist. 8 alderman in West Bend.
Dist. 12 supervisor Brian Krebs will face Dist. 9 supervisor Ron Naab if newly formed District. 8.
Dist. 19 incumbent supervisor Philip Laubenheimer will face off against Dist. 15 incumbent Robert Hartwig to represent Dist. 13. Former Dist. 13 supervisor Gerald Schultz has been shifted to Dist. 9. He’s currently the only one who has declared candidacy in that district.
Dist. 27 incumbent supervisor Dennis Myers avoided a contest with incumbent Mel Ewert, who died earlier this year. However, two others have filed to run in Dist. 27 including Dale Peterson of Colgate and Rock Brander of Hubertus.
Other seats up for election in April include a pair of supervisor seats in the Town of Barton, the Town of Addison, the Town of Erin, and the Town of Jackson.
There will be a seat up for election on the Silver Lake Sanitary District in the Town of West Bend. The seat carries a 6-year term. There Village President in Germntown is up for election.
There are trustee elections in the Village of Kewaskum, Village of Newburg, Village of Richfield, and the Village of Slinger.
The city of Hartford will elect a new mayor as Joe Dautermann says he will not seek reelection. There are also three aldermanic seats up for election in Hartford including Dist. 1 alderman Joe Kohler, Dist. 2 alderman Wayne Rusniak and Dist. 3 alderwoman Rachel Mixon.