Cities and school districts across Wisconsin held primaries on February 19 for any office that attracted more than two candidates per seat. The winners advanced to the general election on April 2.

 

In Madison, primaries were held for mayor, four common council seats, and three school board seats. Out of those races, only the mayor and one school board seat had incumbents running. The rest of the races are open and guaranteed to see a newcomer win in April. Mayor Paul Soglin faced four challengers in the primary. He received 28.6 percent of the vote and advanced to the general election along with Satya Rhodes-Conway, who received 27.7 percent of the vote, according to unofficial election night results. They defeated Mo Cheeks, Raj Shukla, and Nick Hart.

 

The District 3, 12, 13, and 15 seats on the Madison Common Council held primaries to narrow the field of candidates from three, four, or five candidates to two. Out of the 20 common council seats on the ballot in April, 11 have incumbents running.

 

TJ Mertz, Seat 5 incumbent on the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education, advanced to the general election along with Ananda Mirilli. The Seat 3 and 4 primaries narrowed the open races from three and four candidates, respectively, to two.

 

Milwaukee Public Schools held a primary for one of the five seats up for election this year. Three candidates filed to run for the open District 8 seat. Kathryn Gabor and Megan O’Halloran advanced to the general election. Out of the five school board seats on the ballot in April, only one has an incumbent running for re-election.

 

A Wisconsin recall election was also on the ballot on February 19. It sought to remove two of the seven members of the Flambeau School District Board of Education, and it was approved by voters. Board President Sam Stewart and board clerk Danielle Zimmer were voted out of their positions. Challengers Sara Baker and Ruth Opachan won election to the seats.