Several school board incumbents eliminated in Spring Primary

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - The 2022 Wisconsin Spring Primary featured a number of school board races across the western side of the state, and several school board incumbents failed to advance to the Spring Election.

School boards have become politically contentious areas in the past year as debates over COVID-19 mitigation and critical race theory have fueled interest in school administration.

Menomonie’s school board president, David Styer, will not advance to the Spring Election after finishing behind six others on the ballot. In Sparta, school board treasurer Ed Lukasek was the one candidate eliminated as eight others, including two other incumbents, advanced to the Spring Election. La Crosse school board member Dawn Comeau and Glenwood City school board member Steve Davis are among others who were incumbents on their school boards in western Wisconsin who did not make it out of the primary, according to unofficial election results posted on Wisconsin county clerk websites.

Election turnout was higher for the spring primary this year than last year in Eau Claire County, partly fueled by the Eau Claire Area School District primary. The Eau Claire County Clerk’s Office reported a 14.11% voter turnout among eligible voters, up from approximately 5.9% in 2021 and 12.6% in 2020. La Crosse County said 16.48% of voters turned out, casting 5,671 ballots. For both counties, the turnout is a percentage of voters eligible to vote in the primary, which does not include all eligible voters over the age of 18 in each county since not all areas had a primary election.

You can view results for the Spring Primary here. The 2022 Spring Election in Wisconsin will be held on April 5, where voters will decide on several school board, county and city administrator races. The 2022 Fall Primary will be held on August 9 with the 2022 Fall Election happening on November 8.