Local Wisconsin primaries coming up on Tuesday


On February 19, Wisconsin is holding primaries for local offices where more than two candidates filed to run per seat. Wisconsin holds annual elections each spring. Primary winners will advance to the state’s general election on April 2. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central.

Ballotpedia is covering primaries in Madison for mayor and four city council seats. Mayor Paul Soglin is facing four challengers in the primary. The council primaries are for District 3, District 12, District 13, and District 15; all four are open-seat races without an incumbent running for re-election. Ballotpedia is also covering school board primaries in Madison and Milwaukee. The Madison primaries are for Seat 3, Seat 4, and Seat 5; the only incumbent running for re-election is the Seat 5 member, TJ Mertz. In Milwaukee, only the District 8 seat is on the primary ballot. Out of the 21 Wisconsin school board seats up for election this year that Ballotpedia is covering, 17 of the seats had their primaries canceled.

Primaries were also canceled for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and Wisconsin Court of Appeals seats on the ballot in 2019. Brian Hagedorn and Lisa Neubauer were the only candidates to file for the supreme court seat. Mark Gundrum, Lisa Stark, and Jennifer Nashold were the only candidates to file for the District II, District III, and District IV seats on the appeals court, respectively. More than two candidates would have needed to file for a given seat in order to require a primary. Wisconsin’s filing deadline passed on January 2.

Of the eight states holding some form of statewide election in 2019, Wisconsin’s primary and general elections are the first to take place. The next round of statewide elections are scheduled for May 21:

*Idaho: a statewide general election is on the ballot for a state supreme court seat
*Kentucky: statewide primaries are on the ballot for state executive offices and a court of appeals seat
*Pennsylvania: a statewide primary is on the ballot for five appellate court seats, along with a special general election in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Marino (R) following his January 23 resignation