Next Tuesday, August 11, is the date of Wisconsin’s August partisan primary election. The WASB government relations staff has identified at least 19 current or former Wisconsin school board members whose names will appear on the ballot, running for seats in either the Wisconsin Legislature or Congress. (If you are aware of others who we may have missed, please let us know and we will update this post accordingly.)
While the WASB is forbidden from making political contributions or endorsing candidate, we can take note of which of our current and former members have stepped forward to place their names on the ballot. These include:
Current and Former School Board Members Running for the Wisconsin Legislature or Congress (I)=Incumbent
|
Assembly District |
Candidate |
School Board (status) |
Party Affiliation |
Current Elective Position |
|
1st |
Joel Kitchens (Inc.) |
Sturgeon Bay (former) |
GOP |
State Representative |
|
11th |
Tomika Vukovic |
Glendale-River Hills (current) |
Dem |
Board Vice-President |
|
14th |
Linda Boucher |
Elmbrook (current) |
GOP |
Board Clerk |
|
20th |
Christine Sinicki (Inc.) |
Milwaukee (MPS) (former) |
Dem |
State Representative |
|
26th |
Mary Lynne Donohue |
Sheboygan (former) |
Dem |
Common Council |
|
29th |
Clint Moses |
Menomonie Area (current) |
GOP |
Board Clerk |
|
43rd |
Don Vruwink (Inc.) |
Milton (former) |
Dem |
State Representative |
|
55th |
Lauri Asbury |
Neenah (current) |
GOP |
Board Treasurer |
|
59th |
Timothy Ramthun (Inc.) |
Kewaskum (current) |
GOP |
Board Vice-President/ State Representative |
|
60th |
Chris Reimer |
Cedarburg (current) |
GOP |
Board President |
|
62nd |
Robert Wittke (Inc.) |
Racine Unified (former) |
GOP |
State Representative |
|
76th |
Nicki Vander Meulen |
Madison Metropolitan (current) |
Dem |
Board Clerk |
|
79th |
Dianne Hesselbein (Inc.) |
Middleton-Cross Plains Area (former) |
Dem |
State Representative |
|
82nd |
Jacob Malinowski |
Greendale (former) |
Dem |
N/A |
|
90th |
Kristina Shelton |
Green Bay (current) |
Dem |
Board Vice-President
|
|
Senate District |
Candidate Name |
School Board (status) |
Party Affiliation |
Current Elective Position |
|
10th |
Patty Schactner (Inc.) |
Somerset (former) |
Dem |
State Senator |
|
16th |
Andrew McKinney |
Monona Grove (current) |
Dem |
Board President |
|
20th |
Duey Stroebel (Inc.) |
Cedarburg (former) |
GOP |
State Senator |
|
Congressional District |
Candidate Name |
School Board (status) |
Party Affiliation |
Current Elective Position |
|
7th |
Tricia Zunker |
Wausau (current) |
Dem |
Board President |
In addition, we note that two former school board members–Sen. Luther Olson (R-Ripon), who served on the Berlin Area School Board from 1976-97, including as board president from 1986-95; and Rep. Debra Kolste (D-Janesville), who served on the Janesville School Board from 2000-2009–decided not to seek re-election to the Legislature this fall. We recognize their public service at both the local and state level and wish them well in their future endeavors.
