Story originally printed in the Vernon Broadcaster or online at www.vernonbroadcaster.com
Published - Friday, April 04, 2008
Fanta re-elected; four incumbents voted off county board
Viroqua Mayor Larry Fanta was re-elected to his sixth two-year term, Tuesday.
Fanta defeated challenger Mike Bankes by an unofficial vote total of 500-365. Fanta defeated Bankes in a similar race in 2006, 461-203.
A total of 879 voters went to the polls in the spring general election in the city. Viroqua City Clerk John Severson said Viroqua has the potential of having 3,000 voters if it had 100 percent participation.
“Still, this is not a bad turnout for a spring election,” Severson said, Tuesday night.
All other races in the city of Viroqua were uncontested.
Vernon County Board of Supervisors
Among candidates running in contested races for the Vernon County Board of Supervisors the following unofficial vote totals were reported by the county clerk’s office. Totals won’t be official until after canvassing takes place Wednesday afternoon.
District 4: Philip Hooker 78, Ralph Hicks (i) 73
District 6: John McClelland Jr. 114, Richard Hanson (i) 67
District 13: Dennis Brault 71, Orvis Primmer (i) 37
District 14: Kevin Larson 98, Tom Wilson 54
District 15: Todd Overbo (i) 113, Justin Running 92
District 19: Jerry Cade (i) 141, Dan Peper 68
District 23: Ole Yttri (i) 84, Joe Swanson 82
District 24: Jack Robinson (i) 83, George Wilbur 72
District 25: Francis Hynek 141: David Ebbert (i) 57
Hynek was one of four candidates challenging a county board incumbent who won. He said on Wednesday that he had gone door-to-door through his district and did his best to get to know the voters.
“I think really getting out there and meeting people is what did it for me,” Hynek said. “I enjoyed that and I will do my best to represent the interests of my district.”
Viroqua School Board
Five candidates were running for four spots on the Viroqua School Board.
Three of the positions, three-year terms, were won by Sarah Johnson (949), Scott Mills (900) and Amanda Running (880). A two-year term was won by Vicki Koppa (778). The fifth candidate was not distant in the race, as Linda Weilnau received 737 votes.
Westby area vote totals
In the village of Coon Valley five people were looking to fill three open trustee positions on the board. Incumbent trustees Robert Kerska and Trustee Mary Schmidt both retained their positions on the board, while long-time village police chief Mike Raasch filled the third open trustee seat.
The city of Westby had three council seats up for election in wards 1, 2, and 3/5. In the only contested race, Lyle Lund challenged Dan Helgerson in Wards 3/5 to replace retireing incumbent LaVonne Buckmaster. Lund narrowly defeated Helgerson 53- 47.
In Ward 1, Incumbent Ron Janzen ran as a write-in candidate on the spring ballot after he failed to turn in his re-election papers on time. Janzen retained his board position earning 32 votes, while former city clerk Delaine Jefson received four write-in votes.
In the village of Chaseburg, incumbent Shirley Wilson held off a challenge from Marvin Peterson, a former village board trustee, 31-24.
On the Westby Area School Board, two positions are up for election. Current school board president Mike Sebion and vice president Cary Joholski both ran unopposed and retained their positions.
Other election information
As for how Vernon County residents voted on statewide races, in the seat for Justice of the State Supreme Court, Vernon County agreed with the rest of the state, backing Justice Michael Gableman 2,029-1,981 over incumbent Justice Louis Butler. Gableman’s win in Wisconsin marked the first time since 1967 that an incumbent Supreme Court justice was unseated in a general election.
Also, Vernon County agreed with the rest of the state to limit the line item veto powers of the governor’s office. In Vernon County, 2,742 voters supported the referendum question to limit the veto while 1,202 were opposed.
Next week’s edition of the Broadcaster will include countywide vote totals.
All stories copyright 2006 Vernon Broadcaster and other attributed sources.