P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
The past spring elections were a little quiet, perhaps a little more quiet than we would have liked; however, there was still plenty of electoral action going on. There were two open school board seats, with only one candidate for each seat. Progressive Dane had one endorsed candidate out of the two races. On the County Board, there five Progressive Dane incumbents running for reelection; three of them were unopposed and two had opponents. There was also a Progressive Dane supervisor who was moving on, so there was an open seat for Progressive Dane to defend as well. So without further ado, here is the race-by-race break down:
School Board Seat 6 – Endorsed Candidate: Marj Passman
Marj ran last time and lost in a very tough race. This time, Marj ran unopposed. She won. Marj has an excellent knowledge of the school district and will be a welcome addition to the school board. On a side-note, this brings the total of Progressive Dane-endorsed board members from three out of seven to a majority four out of seven total.
County Board Unopposed Incumbents
Progressive Dane re-endorsed three incumbents who were unopposed. They were Kyle Richmond (District 27), Chuck Erickson (District 13), and Barb Vedder (District 2). We welcome these three incumbents back to the board!
County Board District 5 – Wyndham Manning
This is the “student” district, previously represented by Progressive Dane supervisor Ashok Kumar. Ashok is moving on to other things outside of Wisconsin. So first of all, a hardy thank you to Ashok for all his hard work on the county board.
Wyndham set out to work very hard right from the beginning of the campaign. He campaigned on a platform of clean lakes, good transportation, and creative use of the arts. At the end of his campaign, all his hard work paid off with a victory in which he gained 66 percent of the vote.
County Board District 6 – John Hendrick
John is the dean of the Progressive caucus and is looked to for leadership given his institutional knowledge and attention to intricate details, especially on land use and environmental protection. Due to his longstanding service on the county board, John was heavily favored to win. And on election night, John won with an impressive 84 percent of the vote.
County Board District 11 – Al Matano
Al Matano had, perhaps, the most legitimate challenger out of all the Progressive Dane candidates. So Al buckled down and campaigned on his record of responsible transportation, environmental protection, and social justice. Al’s cats also returned for a cameo appearance on his campaign literature. The near-West side district liked Al’s record enough to send Al back to the county board with a comfortable 18 percent margin of victory. His cats probably helped too.
The Bottom Line: Progressive Dane ends up with six seats of out 37 on the county board, exactly the same as before. Despite the relatively small size, the Progressive Dane county board members work hard and get a lot done. Let’s hope they have a lot of success in the upcoming two years.
Now, it’s city council season.
Posted by prodane at April 20, 2008 09:39 PM
We, the members of Progressive Dane, join together to form an independent political party in Dane County with a major focus on local issues. We pledge to work to improve the quality of life in Dane County for all people, particularly those marginalized by economic and social discrimination. We will work to improve our local government by making it open, easier to understand, and accessible for all citizens of Dane County. We are working to achieve positive policy change by electing accountable progressive officials and mobilizing citizen action.
Progressive Dane's "In The News" blog keeps you up to date on the latest news from (and about) PD. Check here for information on PD's policy initiatives and to read about what our endorsed elected officials are up to.
