Voter turnout for the April 3 election was 32 percent in Lincoln County, as local voters preferred Rick Santorum over Mitt Romney and other Republican challengers in the presidential primary. Santorum garnered 2,001 votes to Romney’s 1,365 in Lincoln County, although Romney carried Wisconsin as a whole.
There were plenty of decisions to be made in local races as well. Unofficial results are as follows.
Voters in the Merrill area will have some decisions to make as they take to the voting booths April 3. Along with the national presidential preference primary, local races on the ballots include those for school board, city council and county board.
City of Merrill
Three incumbent aldermen did not seek re-election: Don Heyel in District 1, David Sukow in District 6 and Jeremy Thompson in District 7. Chris Malm defeated fellow challenger Dean Haas, 166-103, to succeed Heyel in District 1. In District 6, Mark Peterson was elected to succeed Sukow. Rob Norton was unopposed in his bid to replace Thompson in District 7.
District 2 incumbent Steve Hass defeated challenger John Spiegelhoff, 281-58.
Incumbent aldermen re-elected without opposition are Ryan Schwartzman, District 3; Kandy Peterson, District 4; John Burgener, District 5; and Anne Caylor, District 8.
Lincoln County
Three incumbent supervisors did not seek re-election. In District 8 (city of Merrill Wards 18 & 19), incumbent Ron Krueger stepped down, with Wayne Plant winning the seat unopposed. In District 11 (Corning Ward 1 & Scott Ward 1), incumbent Ron Mittelsteadt is retiring from the board, with Hans Breitenmoser elected to replace him. In District 12 (Corning Ward 2, Harding, town of Tomahawk), incumbent Richard Berndt did not seek re-election. Paul Gilk was the sole candidate to replace him.
In District 4 (city of Merrill Wards 8, 9 & 10), incumbent Ramona Pampuch did not file for re-election and there are no other declared candidates for the seat. There were 17 write-in votes for that seat, with Pampuch the unofficial winner.
Incumbent District 14 (Bradley Wards 1 & 2) supervisor Bob Lussow narrowly defeated challenger Brian Hafeman, 139 votes to 137. District 20 (Russell, Schley Ward 1) incumbent Arlene Meyer was defeated by challenger Carl Vander Sanden, 212 votes to 95). In District 21 (town of Merrill Wards 1 & 2), incumbent E. Richard Simon was defeated by challenger Kortney Pike, 203 votes to 120.
Incumbent supervisors re-elected without opposition are: Dan Caylor, District 1 (city of Merrill Wards 1 & 2); Robert Weaver, District 2 (city of Merrill Wards 3, 4 & 5); Ray Bloomer, District 3 (city of Merrill Wards 6, 7 & 16); Frank Saal Jr., District 5 (city of Merrill Wards 11 & 12, town of Merrill Wards 6 & 7); Patsy Woller, District 6 (city of Merrill Wards 13, 14 & 15); Greta Rusch, District 7 (city of Merrill Ward 17, Scott Ward 2); Bill Zeitz, District 9 (town of Merrill Ward 3, Pine River Ward 3, Schley Ward 2); Bruce Giese, District 10 (Pine River Wards 1 & 2); James Alber, District 13 (Bradley Ward 4, Somo, Wilson); Robert Lee, District 15 (city of Tomahawk Wards 1 & 2); Michael Loka, District 16 (city of Tomahawk Wards 5 & 6, Bradley Ward 3); Donald Nelson, District 17 (city of Tomahawk Wards 3 & 4, Bradley Ward 5); John Bailey, District 18 (Harrison Wards 1, 2 & 3, King Ward 1); David Fox, District 19 (Birch, Skanawan, King Ward 2); Graham Rankin, District 22 (town of Merrill Wards 4 & 5, Rock Falls Wards 1 & 2).
Merrill School Board
Four seats on the Merrill Area Public Schools Board of Education were up for election. Five candidates – three incumbents and two challengers – faced off for the offices.
The top three vote-getters were elected to full three-year terms on the board. They are incumbents Brad Kanitz (2,515 votes) and Jen Seliger (2,520), along with challenger Kelly Collins (2,376). Incumbent Eugene Bondioli, with the fourth highest vote total (2,265), was elected to serve out the two years remaining in a partial term on the board. Challenger John Shull Jr. (2,052 votes) was unsuccessful in his bid for a school board seat.