Wisconsin Spring Election is here

Rachel Mergen, Staff Reporter

Wisconsin welcomes the 2018 Spring Election on April 3, while snow plummets down upon residents racing to the polls to vote for a variety of positions within their local and state governments. In the city of La Crosse, voters will decide upon six positions, along with three referendums.  

After being included in the primary election earlier this year, the Justice of the Supreme Court election has been reduced to two candidates: Michael Screnock and Rebecca Dallet.  

Screnock has experience as a judge in Sauk County and is backed by Governor Scott Walker. He is expected to be the conservative choice for judge. He hopes to support the stability of the court system.  

Current Milwaukee Judge Dallet has as her first priority the families and citizens of Wisconsin, especially as they face times of need. She hopes to, through the court system, enable them to have a bright future for them and their children.  

Current Court of Appeals Judge for District 4 JoAnne F. Kloppenburg looks to receive another term in her position. She is unopposed in the election.  

Isaac Carlton-Tahiri looks to continue his experience as the La Crosse County Supervisor for District 5. According to Randy Erickson at The La Crosse Tribune in October 2017, “Isaac Carlton-Tahiri has been appointed to fill out the remaining months of District 5 member Keyla Rosa, who resigned from the board this summer after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and moving to Milwaukee.” 

“Carlton-Tahiri was one of six people to apply for the appointment and was unanimously chosen by the search committee. A sophomore majoring in public administration, he is in his second year serving on the UW-L Student Senate and on the Segregated University Fee Allocation Committee.” 

The La Crosse Municipal Judge position will also be found on the ballot with the current incumbent looking to continue his time, Dennis Marcou. No other candidate is looking to challenge Marcou. 

Three positions are open this year in the La Crosse District School Board, with voters placing three checkmarks on the ballot to fill them. The candidates are Jeff Meyer, Keonte Turner and Brad Quarberg.  

In addition to this, the La Crosse County Treasurer position is between Democrat Amy Twitchell and Republican Pamela Hollnagel. Twitchell has approximately ten years of experience with the county, as she held jobs at the register of deeds, clerk’s office, and the treasurer’s office.  

A statement written by Hollnagel, published in The La Crosse Tribune, said, “For more than 25 years, I have had the honor of serving the taxpayers of La Crosse County with outstanding service as part of the Land Information Office. I currently serve as real property lister, and I work closely with various municipal, county and state officials on a daily basis.” 

According to Wisconsin’s My Vote website, three referendums will be included in La Crosse residents’ ballot. A state referendum will ask voters about the possible elimination of the state treasurer. The state is asking residents, “Shall sections 1 and 3 of article VI and sections 7 and 8 of article X of the constitution be amended, and section 17 of article XIV of the constitution be created, to eliminate the office of state treasurer from the constitution and to replace the state treasurer with the lieutenant governor as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands?” 

The City of La Crosse has also proposed a referendum reading, “Shall the City of La Crosse adopt a resolution supporting a U.S. Constitutional amendment stating: (1) Only human beings are endowed with constitutional rights, not corporations, unions, nonprofits or other artificial entities; and (2) Money is not speech and, therefore, regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting speech?” 

The final referendum that will be included on the ballot is presented by the La Crosse School District. The referendum is as follows: “Shall the School District of La Crosse, La Crosse and Vernon Counties, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $4,175,000 per year beginning with the 2019-2020 school year and ending with the 2023-2024 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of maintaining educational programs, maintaining district facilities and maintaining and replacing technology?” 

For more information on voting within Wisconsin, go to myvote.wi.gov. Voting will be open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If living on campus, voting should be completed at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Recreational Eagle Center. If living off campus, visit the My Vote website to find the designated polling place for the ward of residence.