There was a big surprise in the spring primary election in the city of Darlington on Feb. 18 as incumbent Mayor Dave Breunig did not receive enough votes to advance to the spring general election on April 7.

Mayoral challengers Mike McDermott and Erin Gallagher both received significantly more votes in the primary than Breunig. McDermott received 307 votes followed by Gallagher with 119 and Breunig with 68. McDermott and Gallagher will face each other on the ballot in the spring general election.

Darlington had a primary challenge in its first aldermanic district with challenger Ray Spellman receiving 109 votes to face incumbent Cindy Corley, with 39 votes, in the spring general election. Another challenger, Bernie Biraki, received 12 votes.

Green County primary

In Green County, a total of 3,971 voters turned out in the spring primary election. There was only one statewide contested race on the ballot for a seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.

Green County voters cast 1,803 votes for incumbent state supreme court justice Daniel Kelly, 1,723 votes for challenger Dane County Circuit Court Judge Jill Karofsky and 440 votes for Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone.

Green County Deputy County Clerk Arianna Voegeli said the primary election went smoothly with the county’s entire vote being unofficially tallied just an hour after polls closed.

Wisconsin primary

In statewide vote tallies, Kelly and Karofsky were the top-two vote getters and will face off in the spring general election.

Conservatives currently have a 5-2 majority in the Wisconsin Supreme Court and if Kelly wins re-election that margin will be maintained.

The spring general election will include a handful of contested races in the City of Monroe and Green County overall.

Monroe spring election

In Monroe, incumbent Mayor Louis Armstrong is being challenged by Bill Ross. The mayoral position in Monroe is a two-year term.

Incumbent alderpersons seeing to renew two-year terms include Donna Douglas, Mickey Beam, Michael Boyce, Richard Thoman and Rob Driver.

Recently resigned city administrator Phil Rath filed papers to be a candidate on the spring election ballot.

The top-five candidates who receive votes in the six-candidate field will receive two-year terms on the council.

Green County spring election

In Green County, there will be two contested races for the Green County Board of Supervisors.

In District 16, incumbent Arthur F. Carter, who is currently the county board chairman, is being challenged by Lori Stern. In District 30, Skip Miller and Dawn Marie Sass have both filed papers to be on the ballot.

There is no candidate on the ballot for District 14, which means the person receiving the most write-in votes in that District will be asked if they want to serve in that position.

County Board candidates running unopposed include Linda Boll, District 1; Gary Neuenschwander, District 2; Joe Snow, District 3; Jerry Guth, District 4; Kate Maresch, District 5; Michael L. Furgal, District 6; Steve Borowski, District 7; Joan Rufenacht, District 8, Richard Thoman, District 9; Oscar G. Olson, District 10; Alex R. Lonien, District 11; Harvey Mandel, District 12; Jeff Williams, District 13; Nick Hartwig, District 15; Dennis Schwartz, District 17; Barbara Krattiger, District 18; Aaron Withee, District 19; John Bernstein, District 20; Russ Torkelson, District 21; Harvey W. Kubly, District 22; Karl Blumer, District 23; Erica Roth, District 24; Kristi Leonard, District 25; Jodi Hoesly, District 26; Roger Truttmann, District 27; Beth Luchsinger, District 28; Mark Gundlach, District 29; and Herb Hanson, District 31.

Monroe School District spring election

The April ballot will show four available spots for Monroe School Board members; three spots will serve three-year terms and one spot will serve a one-year term. The one-year term will fill the seat that was vacated by Amy Bazley and is presently held by Tim Wolff, who was appointed June 19, 2019.

The three-highest vote recipients will serve in the three-year terms and fourth-highest vote recipient will serve a one-year term.

Incumbents on the ballot include Nicole Matley, Cheryl McGuire, Jim Plourde and Wolff. Other candidates who filed to paperwork to be on the ballot include Jeffrey Prophett and Jordan Nordby.