The spring primary election is here, and this time around at the polls, Dane County voters are casting ballots for a handful of local government representatives.
Voters county-wide will narrow a pool of candidates vying for Circuit Court Branch 1, while voters within County Board Districts 12, 15 and 28 will narrow the elections for their representatives, as well.
In each race, the top two candidates with the most votes advance to the spring general election April 7.
Here are four key questions today’s primary election will answer:
1. Will Madison’s elections run smoothly under a new clerk?
City Clerk Lydia McComas is administering her first Madison election since starting last summer in the wake of a fiasco over nearly 200 uncounted absentee ballots. In an email, McComas said she’s confident everything will go smoothly.
McComas outlined a few changes Madison voters should be aware of this election. For example, voters’ absentee ballots will be delivered by city workers directly to polling places for counting on Election Day moving forward. In the past, these ballots were sealed and delivered in cages along with other materials, which has caused confusion and uncertainty about their location.
Election officials will also be told how many absentee ballots they should expect to receive per voting ward, so if there’s a discrepancy, it can be corrected immediately, McComas said.
2. Who will advance in three Dane County Board races?
In District 12, representing the northeast side of Madison, incumbent Tommy Rylander faces two challengers, Sean Burke and Otis Harris Jr.
In District 15, representing part of Middleton and Madison’s far west side, Nino Amato, Rick Cruz and Amy Larson are campaigning for a seat that was vacant until the County Board this month appointed Larson to be its interim representative.
In District 28, representing the Black Earth-area of the Marsh Valley, incumbent Michele Doolan faces two challengers, Nathan McGree and Aaron Linas.
In April, all 37 seats of the County Board will be up for election.
3. Who will advance in the race to be a Circuit Court judge?
The county’s Circuit Court includes 17 branches and handles criminal, civil, family, probate and traffic cases. Huma Ahsan and Nathan Wagner are challenging incumbent Judge Ben Jones, who was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in August last year.
The city of Madison and the League of Women Voters recorded interviews with each of the candidates and posted them online for voters: Ahsan, Jones and Wagner.
4. Will voter turnout be more or less than previous spring primaries?
When the full County Board was last up for election in 2024, only two County Board seats required spring primary elections along with a few other local races. Voter turnout for that primary was about 8% of nearly 62,000 eligible registered voters, or about 4,900 ballots, according to the county clerk.
The year before — when the ballot included a spring primary election for Madison mayor and several City Council races — about 37% of voters turned out to vote. Of nearly 389,000 eligible registered voters, about 143,000 ballots were cast.
To learn more about this year’s elections and what’s on your ballot, visit myvote.wi.gov.
