Voters say yes

Voters in the Rib Lake School District approved a $19.5 million referendum to connect the middle and high schools, build a new gym and make other repairs and upgrades around the school buildings.

While vote tallies remain unofficial until reviewed by the board of canvassers, voters approved the referendum 677 to 522 a 56% to 44% split among voters in the district which includes crosses into southern Price county.

“I am incredibly proud of and thankful to our community for their support of the Rib Lake School District,” said Rib Lake District administrator Travis Grubbs. “Our community has been incredibly helpful in the entire planning process for the last year and half and I am excited for the plan we have created and the community support for that plan to become a reality. Not only will this See ELECTION on page 5 allow for us to maintain our facilities for many years to come, but it addresses safety and security needs, infrastructure improvements and updates many of our academic and support areas in the middle and high school to better prepare and support our students in the future.”

In addition to the referendum question, three seats on the Rib Lake School Board were up for deletion with Nicole Glenzer representing the town of Rib Lake and Stacy Tlusty representing the town of Westboro winning reelection with no opponents for their seats. Incumbent Jackie Mohr was challenged in the At Large seat on the board by Peter Meyer. Meyer won with 533 to 444 votes.

With 4,544 voters in Taylor County, the turnout was the lowest seen in the county in recent years. In 2023, 5,658 people voted in the county. While in 2022 turnout was 4,941 and was 5,140 in 2021.

The lack of a high-profile statewide race and a winter storm that rolled into the area Tuesday likely impacted the election turnout.

In addition to the nonpartisan local races, there was the partisan presidential primary. However, due to Wisconsin’s later primary the primary contests were decided several weeks ago when president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump each clinched the number of delegates needed to secure their party nominations.

In Taylor County on the Democratic ticket, Biden received 933 votes with Dean Phillips getting 56 and 37 voters choosing “uninstructed delegation.”

On the Republican side, Trump had 2,828 votes with Nikki Haley receiving 294, Ron DeSantis had 86, Chris Christie had 59 and Vivek Ramaswamy had 12. There were 67 votes for uninstructed delegation.

Unofficial statewide results show that Biden received 88.6% of the Democrat vote with 8.4% voting “uninstructed” while Trump received 79.2% of the Republican vote wth Hailey receiving 12.8% of the vote.

Other statewide races on the ballot included two Republican-backed statewide referendum questions on constitution amendments.

The first prohibits governments in the state from receiving or even applying for private donations and grants to help cover election costs. The second question states that “only election officials designated by law” may perform tasks to run elections.

Among county voters, 2,831 were in support of the first question with 1,483 opposed. The second question drew 3,165 in support and 1,212 opposed. Unofficial statewide totals show that they easily surpassed the majority needed to be enacted.

County board

While most county board members were reelected with no opposition, there were a handful of contested races and there will be two new faces on the board at the April 16 reorganization meeting.

In district 1, Lisa Carbaugh was unopposed and received 186 votes.

In District 2, incumbent Tim Hansen received 98 votes to surpass challenger and political newcomer Ryan Hillebrand with 55 votes. Hansen had been appointed to the board last spring when previous office holder Greg Knight moved from the area.

In District 3, Sue Swiantek was unopposed and received 115 votes.

In District 4, Mike Bub was unopposed and received 114 votes.

In District 5, Jim Metz was unopposed and received 206 votes.

In District 6, Scott Mildbrand retained his seat with 272 votes compared to 99 votes received by challenger Nathaniel Rinehart.

In District 7, Lori Floyd was unopposed and received 221 votes.

In District 8, Chuck Zenner was unopposed and received 181 votes.

In District 9, Diane Albrecht was unopposed and received 204 votes.

In District 10, incumbent Catherine Lemke retained her seat with 181 votes compared to challenger Adam Keeling who had 99 votes.

In District 11, incumbent James Gebauer retained his seat with 305 votes compared to challenger Jessica Mudget’s 99 votes.

In District 12, incumbent Rollie Thums retained his seat with 243 votes compared to 113 votes for challenger Billy Leggett Jr.

In District 13, Harvey “Bud” Suckow was unopposed and won reelection to a full term with 341 votes. Last summer Suckow had won a recall election against Lester Lewis for the seat.

In District 14, challenger Karen Cummings received 152 votes to defeat incumbent Myron Brooks who had 96 votes.

In District 15, Lynn Rosemeyer was unopposed and received 197 votes.

In District 16, Darrell Thompson was unopposed and received 252 votes. Thompson will replace Ray Soper who chose not to seek reelection.

In District 17, incumbent Rod Adams retained his seat and received 113 votes compared to 78 votes for Joseph Kohn.

With the results of the 2024 election, the number of women versus men on the county board edged closer to being even. There are currently seven women on the county board and 10 men.

School board races

In the Medford School District the incumbents David Fleegel, Donald Everhard and Jodi Nuernberger retained their seats from a challenge by Dennis Becker. Voters could vote for up to three candidates with the top 3 vote getters being elected. Among Taylor County votes, Fleegel had 1,922 votes, Everhard had 1,775, Nuernberger had 1,720 votes and Becker had 1,046 votes. The Medford School District extends slightly into Marathon County among Marathon County voters, Fleegel received 13 votes, Everhard had 9 votes, Nuernberger had 8 and Becker had 5.

In Gilman School District Phillip “Butch” Grunseth received 540 votes and Darrell Thompson received 442 votes to be elected to the board.

Municipal races

In addition to the school and county races, there were elections in the village of Rib Lake, city of Medford and village of Gilman and the village of Stetsonville.

In Stetsonville, Joseph Dowden received 81 votes and Will McMarron received 74 votes for both to be elected to the village board.

In the village of Gilman, Cheryl Rosemeyer had 67 votes, Ericka Bertsinger had 60 votes and Dee Bornheimer had 59 votes for all three to be elected to the board. There were 7 write-in votes.

In the village of Rib Lake, top three vote getters Bryan Marschke with 181 votes, Cliff Mann with 178 votes, and Jack Buksa with 160 were elected to the board, edging out incumbent Megan Beckstrand with 93 votes and David Glenzer with 78 votes.

In the city of Medford, Mayor Mike Wellner was unopposed for his bid to seek another term and received 561 votes.

District 1 alderperson Dave Brandner was unopposed and received 175 votes.

District 2 alderperson Ken Coyer was unopposed and received 130 votes.

District 3 alderperson Christine Weix received 102 votes and was unopposed.

District 4 alderperson Clem Johnson was unopposed and received 125 votes.

In addition to the board seats there were also three local town referendum questions.

Voters in the towns of Grover, Holway and Medford were asked to change the town clerk and treasurer positions from elected to being appointed by the board.

In the town of Grover, there were no votes reported as of Wednesday morning.

In the town of Holway, voters rejected making the change 78 votes to 63 votes.

Voters in the town of Medford also opposed making the change to the positions rejecting the referendum with 321 opposed and 230 in favor.

Action was busy first thing Tuesday morning at the Medford City Hall as voters came out to weigh in on city, county and school board races as well as a presidential primary. Across the county turnout was down compared to recent years with just over 4,500 voters heading to the polls. BRIAN WILSON/THE STAR NEWS