Six of seven candidates running for three seats on the Merrill Area Public Schools Board of Education are advancing to the April general election following Tuesday’s primary.
Top vote-getter in the primary was challenger Jeff Verdoorn with 979 votes, followed by challenger John Shull with 879 and incumbent Lin Kautza with 861. Also advancing to the general election are incumbent Chuck Bolder, 620 votes, and challengers Norbert “Nubs” Ashbeck (486) and Linda Yingling (439). Challenger Vicki Lindstrom did not make it past the primary with 425 votes. Incumbent Meridith Prebeg is not seeking re-election.
The general election will be held April 2. School board members serve three-year terms.
Voter turnout was light for the primary in Lincoln County, with less than 10 percent of registered voters casting ballots (2,224 of 22,441 registered voters). The only other race on the primary ballot was for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice. Results in Lincoln County were indicative of the state as a whole, with Ed Fallone and Pat Roggensack advancing to the general election over Vince Megna. Lincoln County voters cast 1,290 votes for Roggensack, 620 for Fallone and 152 for Megna.