Published: Aug. 16, 2018
Voter turnout up in the county for Tuesday’s primary
More than double the turnout of the
previous two August primaries
By Nicholas Dettmann
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
WEST BEND — The voter turnout for Tuesday’s
partisan primary election more than doubled the turnout of the previous two
August primaries.
The Washington County Clerks Office reported
36.23 percent of registered voters in the county voted in Tuesday’s election,
which included the races for Sheriff, the 59th Assembly District, the governor
and the U.S. Senate.
“I think the Sheriff’s race had a lot to do
with it,” said Ashley Reichert, county clerk. “It was a highly contested local
race. There was lot more contested races than there have been in past years.”
Looking back, the August 2016 primary had
14.06 percent voter turnout and the August 2014 primary had 18.21 percent.
Looking further back, the September 2010
primary had 35.61 percent turnout and the September 2008 primary had 16.2
percent.
Reichert said she anticipated a high turnout,
considering the races on the ballot, as well as the quantity of candidates in
those races.
“The ballots were so long,” she said. “They
were 18 inches long. We had to anticipate a higher turnout.”
Reichert added, “I haven’t seen any (ballots)
longer than 14 inches, maybe 17 at most. I believe the August election in 2016,
they were 14 inches. They had to be 18 inches because of the quantity of
candidates.”
There were five candidates listed in the
Republican primary for U.S. Senator in a bid to go against Democrat Tammy
Baldwin in November. The winner was Leah Vukmir.
There were four candidates listed in the race
for the 59th Assembly seat, being vacated by retiring Jesse Kremer. That race
was won by Tim Ramthun.
There were 10 candidates listed in the
Democratic primary for governor to go up against Gov. Scott Walker. That race
was won by Tony Evers.
“The amount of time the candidates spent
campaigning I think played a major role,” Reichert said.
The predicted turnout was around 50 percent,
which was above what it turned out to be. However, Reichert was still pleased
with the turnout.
“But it’s always better to have more,” she
said.
There were no reports of issues at polling
stations or with ballot counting.
“It went extremely smooth,” Reichert said. “Our
municipal clerks, my staff did an excellent job.”
Absentee balloting was about normal, Reichert
said.
On Tuesday, of the 29,218 votes cast, 19,746
(76 percent) were for Republican and 6,201 (23.87 percent) were for Democrat.
In the race for the 59th Assembly District,
Rachel Mixon, who finished second to Ramthun in the county, won the town of
Hartford and city of Hartford. Mixon is a Hartford alderperson. Ty Bodden’s
lone victory within the county was the town of Addison.
In the Sheriff’s race, Jason Guslick easily won
town of Germantown (68.85 percent to 31.15 percent) and narrowly won town of
Jackson (50.39-49.61) and village of Jackson (50.96-48.94). Otherwise,
Schulteis easily carried the other municipalities and districts en route to the
victory.
Now it’s on to November’s general election.
“For the general election, I wouldn’t be
surprised to have similar turnout like for the presidential election in 2016,”
Reichert said. “That’s what we’ll base our November predictions on.”
In that election, the voter turnout was 89.57
percent.
The November 2014 general election had 78.54
percent voter turnout. In 2010 it was 67.52 percent and in 2006 it was 63.32.
What also may drive up voter turnout in
November is the possibility of as many as six referendums countywide, including
an advisory referendum about the dark store tax legislation. Hartford Jt. 1
School District has a $5.5 million referendum for upgrades to Lincoln
Elementary and Rossman Elementary schools scheduled for the ballot. Cedarburg
School District, which includes parts of the town of Jackson, has a referendum
set to go on the ballot.
The West Bend School District is exploring
options to have a referendum but nothing has been filed with clerk’s office as
of Wednesday. The deadline for it is Aug. 29, Reichert said.
Richfield Village Board will discuss a road
project referendum option at its meeting tonight.
“We’re already getting ready for November,”
Reichert said.
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