By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
Voters head to the polls Tuesday, April 7, to decide the outcome of local, county and state positions.
• Waterford Graded School Board. The WGSD Board election has garnered the most local and vocal interest, with three, three-year board positions open.
A trio of self-proclaimed Conservative candidates – Bill Unke, Jason Karweik and Andrew Ewert – are vying Tuesday against three candidates who do not self-identify with a political label – Amanda Fiehweg, Grant Strobel and Matt Kranich.
With the exception of Strobel, who was appointed in November to fill a board vacancy, the candidates are newcomers to the WGSD board.
Other local races on the April 7 ballot include:
- Village of Rochester. Trustees Ed Chart and Chris Bennett are vying for the board president position. Board president Paul Beere is not seeking re-election.
Chart’s trustee position is up for election in April. He is not seeking re-election to the board as a trustee.
Vying for the board’s three open trustee positions Tuesday are incumbents Gary Beck and Mike Weinkauf and newcomer Nick Ahlers.
- Village of Waterford. Incumbent board president Tom Roanhouse is challenged by Village Trustee Don Houston.
Vying for three open board trustee positions are incumbent trustees Tom Christensen, Jerry Filut and Tamara Pollnow and challenger Judith Spencer, a former trustee.
Municipal Judge Gregory K. Miller is unopposed for re-election.
- Town of Waterford. Incumbent supervisors Lisa Jeschke and Nick Draskovich face a challenge from Dale Gauerke, a former supervisor and current plan commissioner, for two open board supervisor positions.
Incumbent Town Chairman Tom Hincz, Sanitary District Commissioner Dan Dickinson and Judge Jill Mitchell are running unopposed.
- Union Grove High School. Incumbent board member Paula Jasperson faces a challenge from political newcomer Jeffrey Zeller.
- Town of Dover. Incumbent Town Board Chairman Tom Lembcke is challenged by former Supervisor Mario Denoto for the town chairman position.
Incumbent trustees Samuel Stratton and Mike Shenkenberg are unopposed.
- Town of Norway. Board Chairman Jean Jacobson and supervisors Robert Helback and Mike Lyman are unopposed for re-election.
Incumbent Norway municipal Judge Douglas Pachucki is challenged by Michael J. Gabbey.
- Washington Caldwell School District. One incumbent and one newcomer are on the ballot Tuesday, with two positions open on the school board.
Incumbent board member Tim Szeklinski is seeking re-election. Incumbent Todd Bluhm is not seeking re-election. Political newcomer Todd Galkowski is seeking election.
Uncontested races
The following local elections feature incumbents who are running unopposed in the April 7 election: Village of Union Grove; towns of Yorkville and Raymond; Waterford High School; Kansasville, North Cape, Union Grove, Raymond, Yorkville and Drought elementary schools.
Supreme Court on ballot
Two statewide elections also appear on the ballot – both related to the state Supreme Court.
Voters will decide between incumbent Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and Rock County Circuit Court Judge James Daley.
Bradley, who is generally considered a liberal judge, is seeking her third 10-year term on the state’s highest court. Daley, a former prosecutor, has received support from conservative groups. The position is non-partisan, but other recent Supreme Court elections have attracted large sums of money aligned to specific candidates from groups touting liberal and conservative causes.
Voters will also decide whether the chief justice of the Supreme Court should be elected by the justices or should remain an honor that goes to the longest-tenured justice.
The referendum question reads: “(Should the state’s constitution) be amended to direct that a chief justice of the Supreme Court shall be elected for a two-year term by a majority of the justices then serving on the court?”
Voter ID not in effect
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for enforcement of the state’s 2011 law in March, but because the ruling came so close to the spring election, Attorney General Brad Schimel has advised state election officials not to implement it on April 7.
Even though voters will not have to show an ID to receive a ballot at this election, voters who are registering now in the municipal clerk’s office or at the polling place on Election Day will have to show a form of ID – which includes a driver license or state ID card, if it contains a current address – to establish their residence.
“You may use a valid driver license or state ID card for proof of residence when you register to vote, either before or on Election Day,” said Kevin Kennedy, director of the state Government Accountability Board. “But you are not required to show a photo ID to get your ballot.”
 Also, voters who have a Wisconsin driver license or state ID card are required to provide the card number on the voter registration form. Voters who do not have a driver license or state ID card can use the last four digits of their Social Security number instead.
Editor-in-Chief Ed Nadolski contributed to this article.
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