LINCOLN COUNTY – Local races for the Tuesday, April 7 Spring Election have taken shape.
Locally, voters will head to the polls to cast ballots for Mayor of the City of Tomahawk, the City of Tomahawk Common Council, the School District of Tomahawk Board of Education, the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors and Judge of the Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court.
City of Tomahawk Mayor
The City of Tomahawk will have a new Mayor for the first time in ten years.
Current Mayor Steven. E. Taskay, who was elected in 2016 over three other candidates and went on to win four consecutive two-year terms, including one election against a challenger, will not seek another term.
Michael Habeck and Jeffrey Koth will square off for the position.
City of Tomahawk Common Council
The City of Tomahawk Common Council will see a shake-up in membership this spring.
The council is made up of nine members, with three members representing each of the city’s three districts for three-year terms. One seat from each district is up for election each spring.
District 1 alderperson Patricia Haskin will seek another term without a challenger.
District 2 alderperson Dale Ernst filed a declaration of non-candidacy. Former alderperson Donald Nelson will run for the seat unopposed.
District 3 alderperson Steve “Ding” Bartz did not file candidacy paperwork. He may still run as a write-in candidate.
Two other seats are also up for election following a pair of mid-term resignations.
Ed Nystrom resigned from his post in District 1 last May. Bob Soward was appointed by the council to fill the seat. Although Soward did not file candidacy paperwork, he may run as a write-in candidate. No other candidates are seeking the post.
Tadd Wegener will seek to return to the council after resigning from his position in District 3 last summer. He will not face an opponent.
School District of Tomahawk Board of Education
At least one seat on the School District of Tomahawk Board of Education will be decided by write-in.
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 are expiring: Board President Ron Zimmerman and Kay Kissinger Wolf, who each represent the apportioned area encompassing the Towns of Birch, Bradley, Rock Falls, Skanawan and Tomahawk; and David Long, who represents 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 is up for election in the current cycle. Zimmerman filed paperwork to seek another term, while Kissinger Wolf will not seek reelection.
Long filed candidacy paperwork and will run for reelection unopposed.
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 post, meaning it will be decided by write-in.
Individuals interested in registering as a write-in candidate may contact the district at 715-453-5555. The deadline to file is Friday, April 3.
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.
This April’s election marks the second of three that will 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 will be several competitive races for the Lincoln County Board of Supervisors this spring.
District 1 Supervisor William R. Bialecki will seek another term unopposed.
In District 2, incumbent Lori Anderson-Malm filed a declaration of non-candidacy. Mark Bares and Scott Doer will face off for the seat.
Elizabeth McCrank will not face a challenger in her bid to represent District 3 for another term.
District 4 Supervisor Derek Woellner did not file candidacy or non-candidacy paperwork, according to the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office. Scott Pergolski will seek the seat without an opponent.
District 5 Supervisor Andrew Zelinski, District 6 Supervisor Norbert Ashbeck, District 7 Supervisor Donald Dunphy and District 8 Supervisor Laurie J. Thiel will each run for reelection unopposed.
In District 9, incumbent Supervisor Christine Vorpagel will not run for another term. Former Supervisor and Board Chair Don Friske will be the lone candidate seeking the post.
District 10 Supervisor and Board Chair Jesse Boyd will go up against challenger Joshua Oxborrow.
District 11 Supervisor Randal John Detert and District 12 Supervisor Julie DePasse will each seek another term unchallenged.
In District 13, incumbent Supervisor Alan Bishop filed a declaration of non-candidacy. No other candidates filed paperwork in the district. If there are registered write-in candidates, those names will be available at the polls upon a voter’s request, according to the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office.
District 14 Supervisor Marguerite Lyskawa, District 15 Supervisor Marty R. Lemke and District 16 Supervisor Dana Miller will each run for another term unopposed.
Donald Nelson will challenge incumbent Supervisor James Meunier in District 17.
Incumbent District 18 Supervisor Kenneth L. Wickham will not seek another term. Andrew Tomaszewski will be the lone candidate on the ballot in the district.
Four other incumbents – District 19 Supervisor Joseph Dorava, District 20 Supervisor Angela Cummings, District 21 Supervisor Eugene Simon, and District 22 Supervisor Greg Hartwig – will not face challengers in their bids to return to their posts.
Judge of Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court
One candidate will be on the ballot for Judge of the Merrill and Tomahawk Municipal Court.
Thomas N. Hayden will seek the post unopposed after incumbent Judge Ned Seubert filed a declaration of non-candidacy.
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