Historical Outcomes in Local Elections

File photo by Suzi Hass.

The tie for Sister Bay Village Board President will be broken Thursday morning, April 6

A couple of outcomes that have never happened before took place Tuesday evening once the local results were tabulated for the April 4 election. 

The first was a tie for the Village of Sister Bay board president seat, with incumbent Rob Zoschke and challenger Nate Bell, who is a current village board trustee, each claiming 256 votes.

That race will be decided by a coin flip or another luck-of-the-draw method at 10 am on Thursday, April 6 by the village’s three-member board of canvassers, said Sister Bay village clerk Heidi Teich. That body will decide which luck-of-the-draw method it will use to break the tie – “that’s the guidance we are given in the election manual,” Teich said – and then execute that method.

“It will be a real quick process,” Teich said.

That process will take place in-person, but will also be offered virtually for the public to witness.

Once a winner is declared, either of the candidates could request a recount, which Teich referred to as a “very involved process.”

The Sister Bay race for three trustee seats among six candidates went to the top-three vote-getters: Patrice Champeau with 313 votes, Lilly Orozco with 263, and Alison Werner with 241. The vote distribution for the other candidates was as follows: Vivian Nienow 202, Andrew Torcivia 201 and Sarah White 180. White is already a seated trustee, appointed in February to serve a vacancy, but her name remained on the ballot because she filed her candidacy papers before she was appointed.

The election of the three women flips the gender majority of the village’s board from five men and two women to five women and two men. 

Town of Liberty Grove

The second historical outcome from the local election was the seating of a female chair to lead the Liberty Grove Town Board. Sitting town board supervisor Janet Johnson received 632 votes to the 356 votes cast for incumbent chair John Lowry.

Johnson said she was at home comfortably seated in a chair when she learned she had won.

“I was a little surprised and overcome,” she said, and added that it touched her heart that the public wanted her to serve as chair.

Johnson was in the middle of her second two-year term as a board supervisor, and because she believes in term limits, she said she would serve only one two-year term as chair. 

“If I am physically able and no one else will step forward, I will run again because it’s an important position,” she said, but she will try to recruit others to become involved in local government, particularly young people. 

“We need some new blood, new ideas, new ways of going about things,” she said.  

Voters Overwhelmingly Back Gibraltar Referendum

With a vote of 2,755 saying yes and 837 saying no, the outcome was more than 76% of votes cast in favor of the Gibraltar referendum, favoring the $29.8 million building renovation and reconstruction project.

“I’m extremely appreciative of the support of our school from the Gibraltar community,” said Superintendent Brett Stousland.

Stousland moved to the county for the position last summer, and Gibraltar school board president Stephen Seyfer said Stousland “did a wonderful job” of meeting with people throughout the district and arranging school tours to share accurate information with voters. 

A group of parents within the district was also instrumental in getting signs and information out to the public, Seyfer said, and the administrative team and staff members attended 22 community-engagement meetings over a two-month period to answer questions from the public.

Construction won’t begin right away. District officials have sold the public on the need for the project, but after a bond issue soon, the district will spend the next several months meeting with and collecting ideas from parents, students, teachers and staff members about the exact needs and features of the new and refurbished sections.

“I hope after the project is completed, the community will be proud of the new spaces and enjoy using them,” Stousland said.

Other Ballot Questions

• Town of Egg Harbor residents want the town to have town-wide, curbside garbage and recycling pickup for residential units, according to the votes cast for the advisory referendum: 409 yes to 210 no.

• In the Washington Island School District, voters approved a request for the district to exceed revenue limits by $935,000 for each of two school years for operational expenses with a vote of 309 yes to 136 no.

• All three of the Wisconsin ballot questions passed statewide – an outcome that also tracked with Door County’s results. 

• Janet Protasiewicz was declared the winner of the Wisconsin Supreme Court justice seat in her race against Dan Kelly, capturing 55.5% of the vote, with 95% reporting as of the time this issue went to press. Door County voters also went for Protasiewicz with 6,972 votes, versus 5,311 for Kelly.

Outcomes of the Remaining Contested Local Races

Town of Forestville

This race also had an interesting twist.

When incumbent town board chair Roy Englebert decided not to run for another term, two candidates filed for the seat: Kevin Guilette and Larry Huber, who is currently a town board supervisor. Huber’s supervisory seat was also up for election, but no one filed to run for that position. 

The election outcome was decided by only two votes: Guilette received 157 votes to Huber’s 155. Huber said he did not intend to request a recount.

“I trust the vote,” he said. 

In addition, Huber will still be on the board. No one officially ran for his supervisory seat, leaving it open for a write-in candidate. Of the 27 write-in votes cast for the seat, he received 14 of them.

“So I’m actually still on the board,” Huber said.  

Town of Baileys Harbor

David Eliot, the publisher and co-owner of this newspaper, will lead the town board after unseating incumbent chair Don Sitte by capturing 422 votes to Sitte’s 196.

Eliot had previously served as chair on an interim basis, August 2020 – April 2021, when the previous chair resigned. He said it’s an honor to be elected to the position and that “there’s plenty to do in town.” He issued an invitation to citizens to become engaged and involved so they can work together to get things done.

“Our community has always found a way to solve its own problems, take care of the needs of the residents, and prepare itself for facing future challenges,” he said. “I appreciate and respect all that the past chair, Don Sitte, has done for Baileys Harbor and hope that I can successfully complete the projects that he started.”

Town of Gibraltar

Incumbent chair Steve Sohns held on to his seat against a challenge from an existing town board supervisor, Bill Johnson. Sohns received 437 votes to Johnson’s 226. Because Johnson’s supervisory seat was not up for reelection, he will remain on the board. 

Among the four candidates who were vying for four open seats, Tom Birmingham was the big winner, receiving 507 of the votes cast. 

“I can’t thank the Town of Gibraltar voters enough for their overwhelming support of my candidacy, and I’m ready to serve them well,” Birmingham said.

The second-highest vote-getter was also seated: Vinni Chomeau, with 393 votes. The only incumbent supervisor was Brian Merkel, who did not retain his seat, with 212 votes. The final candidate, John Selenica, received 144 votes. 

Town of Gardner

Incumbent chair Carl R. Waterstreet held on to his seat, claiming 269 votes to Paul DeWitt’s 240. 

In the Supervisor 1 seat, Glen Merkle also fended off a challenge by claiming 312 votes to Keitha McDonald’s 192. Supervisor 3 incumbent Mark Lentz did not hang on to his seat against challenger Mike Marchant, who received 330 votes to Lentz’s 177.

Town of Nasewaupee

The top vote-getters in each of the three contested races on Nasewaupee’s town board are as follows: Supervisor 1: Mark Hilsabeck 390, Bill Krueger 330; Supervisor 2: Don Sixel Jr. 425, Mark Feuerstein 320; Supervisor 3: Tim Smith 402, Gene LaPlante 299.

Town of Washington

The top-two vote-getters received a seat in this race: Margaret Foss 304 and Martin Anderson 286. Valerie Carpenter received 181 votes; John Jessen received 45.

Uncontested Races

The towns of Brussels, Clay Banks, Egg Harbor, Jacksonport, Sevastopol and Union; the Villages of Egg Harbor, Ephraim and Forestville; and the City of Sturgeon Bay did not have any contested races, with incumbents running unopposed or newcomers running with no challengers.

None of the five school districts had contested races, with just enough candidates to fill the seats in Gibraltar, Sevastopol, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay and Washington.

Door County Circuit Court Judge, Branch 2, was also uncontested, with incumbent Judge David Weber receiving 8,709 votes.