WISCONSIN – On Tuesday, April 7, Wisconsin voters headed to the polls to cast ballots in the Spring Election.
According to preliminary results from the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office, the City of Tomahawk will have a new Mayor for the first time in a decade, and Tomahawk residents voted down a funding referendum.
The City of Tomahawk Common Council and the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors will see changes in membership.
Results for three races that were to be decided by write-in – two for the city council and one for the School District of Tomahawk Board of Education – had not been confirmed as of press time on Monday, April 13. The Tomahawk Leader will publish those results in print and online at www.tomahawkleader.com when they are available.
There will be a new Judge of the Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court following last week’s election.
Two other area communities saw Mayoral races on their ballots, and in the lone statewide contest, Wisconsinites cast votes to determine the next State Supreme Court Justice.
City of Tomahawk Mayor
In the race for City of Tomahawk Mayor, Michael “Hob” Habeck defeated Jeffrey Koth by a 655-vote (roughly 70%) to 277-vote (approximately 30%) margin, according to preliminary results.
Habeck will replace Steven E. Taskay, who was elected in 2016 over three other candidates and went on to win four consecutive two-year terms, including one against an opponent.
City of Tomahawk referendum
City of Tomahawk voters rejected a funding referendum last week.
According to preliminary results, 419 votes (about 44%) were cast in favor, while 511 voters (roughly 56%) were opposed.
The referendum would have increased the city’s 2026 levy by $276,760.00 to fund day-to-day services, including salaries, supplies, utilities and insurance; to maintain city services; and to manage budget shortfalls from inflation, according to a resolution approved by the city council that placed the question on last Tuesday’s ballots.
The 20% levy boost would have resulted in an increase of roughly $75.00 per $100,000.00 of assessed property.
The council held three public informational meetings on the spending request in the weeks leading up to the election.
City of Tomahawk Common Council
The City of Tomahawk Common Council will see a shakeup in membership.
District 1 alderperson Patricia Haskin will serve another term on the council after running for reelection unchallenged.
Former alderperson Donald Nelson will return to the council, representing District 2. He will replace Dale Ernst, who filed a declaration of non-candidacy.
District 3 alderperson Steve “Ding” Bartz did not seek another term. The seat will be decided by write-in.
Two other council seats were also up for election last week following a pair of mid-term resignations.
Ed Nystrom stepped down from his post in District 1 last May. Bob Soward was appointed by the council to fill the seat. Soward did not file candidacy paperwork. The seat will be filled by write-in.
Tadd Wegener will rejoin the council as a representative of District 3. Wegener had previously served as an alderperson before resigning last summer. He was unopposed in his bid to return to the council.
School District of Tomahawk Board of Education
One seat on the School District of Tomahawk Board of Education will be decided by write-in, while two incumbents were reelected.
Representation on the board is currently in the process of being reapportioned to better reflect population distributions throughout the district. In this election cycle, three members’ terms expired: Board President Ron Zimmerman and Kay Kissinger Wolf, who each represented the apportioned area encompassing the Towns of Birch, Bradley, Rock Falls, Skanawan and Tomahawk; and David Long, representing the area comprised of the Towns of Harrison, King, Little Rice, Nokomis and Wilson.
Due to the reapportionment process, only one seat in the area made up of the Towns of Birch, Bradley, Rock Falls, Skanawan and Tomahawk was up for election in the current cycle. Zimmerman filed candidacy paperwork, while Kissinger Wolf did not seek reelection. No other candidates sought the post. Zimmerman will serve another term.
Long was unchallenged in his bid to return to the board.
A City of Tomahawk seat was moved into the current election cycle as part of the reapportionment process. No candidates filed paperwork to seek the position, meaning it will be decided by write-in.
The board approved a reapportionment plan in Sept. 2024. Under the plan, the board will move to a “3-3-3” model, with the district divided into three apportioned areas: The City of Tomahawk; the Towns of Birch, Bradley, Rock Falls, Skanawan and Tomahawk; and the Towns of Harrison, King, Little Rice, Nokomis and Wilson.
Each area will have three representatives on the board, allowing the board to retain its current nine-person membership.
One seat from each area will be up for election in each election cycle, allowing for residents in each apportioned area to run for a three-year term in each election year.
Last week’s election marked the second of three to occur before the new makeup of the board is put in place. When current terms expire next year, one seat in each newly-designated area will be up for election. The new model will be fully implemented after the April 2027 Spring Election.
The board had previously utilized a “4-3-1-1” representation model. Under that model, which had been in place since 1972, the board was composed of nine members representing four designated areas within the district for three-year terms.
Four members represented the City of Tomahawk; three represented the apportioned area covering the Towns of Birch, Bradley, Rock Falls, Skanawan and Tomahawk; one represented the apportioned area that included the Towns of Little Rice, Nokomis and Wilson; and one represented the apportioned area encompassing the Towns of Harrison and King.
Lincoln County Board of Supervisors
There were several competitive races for the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors last Tuesday.
District 1 Supervisor William R. Bialecki will return to the board after seeking another term unopposed.
In District 2, incumbent Lori Anderson-Malm filed a declaration of non-candidacy. Mark Bares and Scott Doer faced off for the seat, with Doerr emerging victorious by a razor-thin 133-vote to 129-vote split, according to preliminary results.
Elizabeth McCrank did not face a challenger in her bid to represent District 3 for another term.
Scott Pergolski will replace Derek Woellner in District 4. Woellner did not seek another term.
District 5 Supervisor Andrew Zelinski, District 6 Supervisor Norbert Ashbeck, District 7 Supervisor Donald Dunphy and District 8 Supervisor Laurie J. Thiel each ran for reelection unopposed.
In District 9, incumbent Supervisor Christine Vorpagel did not seek another term. Former Supervisor and Board Chair Don Friske was the lone candidate to seek the post and will return to the board.
District 10 Supervisor and Board Chair Jesse Boyd defeated challenger Joshua Oxborrow by a 180-vote to 79-vote margin.
District 11 Supervisor Randal John Detert and District 12 Supervisor Julie DePasse each sought another term unchallenged.
In District 13, incumbent Supervisor Alan Bishop filed a declaration of non-candidacy. No other candidates filed paperwork in the district. The seat was decided by write-in, with Bishop ultimately receiving three votes and accepting the position, according to Lincoln County Clerk Chris Marlowe. Randy Greenfield and Trish Hoffman each received two write-in votes, while Tina Elvins, Dale Ernst, David Boshen, Debbie Yennie Price, David Long, Tom Jones, John Baltitch and Paula Thomas each garnered one write-in vote, preliminary results showed.
District 14 Supervisor Marguerite Lyskawa, District 15 Supervisor Marty R. Lemke and District 16 Supervisor Dana Miller did not face opponents in their bids to return to the board.
Donald Nelson (259 votes) defeated incumbent Supervisor James Meunier (119 votes) in District 17.
Incumbent District 18 Supervisor Kenneth L. Wickham did not seek another term. Andrew Tomaszewski was the lone candidate on the ballot in the district and will replace Wickham.
Four other incumbents – District 19 Supervisor Joseph Dorava, District 20 Supervisor Angela Cummings, District 21 Supervisor Eugene Simon and District 22 Supervisor Greg Hartwig – did not face challengers last week and will return to the board.
Judge of Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court
One candidate appeared on the ballot for Judge of the Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court.
Thomas N. Hayden sought the post unopposed and will replace Judge Ned Seubert, who did not seek another term.
City of Merrill Mayor
In the City of Merrill, incumbent Mayor Steve J. Hass defeated challenger Derek Woellner by a roughly 75% to 25% margin, according to preliminary results.
City of Rhinelander Mayor
In a race decided by just 15 votes, incumbent City of Rhinelander Mayor Kris Hanus narrowly won reelection over challenger Thomas Barnett, preliminary results showed.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
The lone statewide race on Wisconsin ballots saw liberal state Appeals Court judge Chris Taylor defeat conservative state Appeals Court judge Maria S. Lazar by a roughly 60% to 40% split.
According to preliminary results, Lincoln County voters backed Lazar over Taylor by a slim 3,582-vote (roughly 51%) to 3,379-vote (about 49%) margin.
Taylor’s double-digit victory, the fourth in a row for liberal State Supreme Court candidates, expands the court’s liberal majority to 5-2.
Conservative Justice Annette Ziegler will retire next year, setting up another State Supreme Court race.
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