La Crosse 2024 Spring Election field set

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLCX) – The 2024 Spring Election field is set for La Crosse.

In county-wide races, there will be no February primary, as all 30 county board elections, as well as the open municipal court judge seat, have only one or two candidates each.

Of the 30 county board seats, 20 of the elections will be contested with two candidates running. The remaining 10 have a single unopposed candidate, including two districts with no incumbent running for re-election. All told, should non-incumbents win their elections, the county board could see up to 22 new faces, according to county officials.

The municipal court judge seat will be contested by Nikki Swayne of La Crosse and Daniel Norland of Onalaska. They’ll be replacing Dennis Marcou, who is not running again for the seat.

The La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Branch 3 election will see incumbent Mark Huesmann, who was appointed to replace Todd Bjerke, who retired last July, face Candice Tlustosch. Tlustosch is an attorney and was previously the Branch 5 Circuit Court Judge in La Crosse County.

In the City of La Crosse, three of the six City Council seats in this spring’s election will be contested, including a February primary in District 2 to replace Scott Neumeister, who did not seek re-election.

The School District La Crosse Board of Education will try to fill three open seats this spring one year after having a primary to narrow down a field of nine candidates to four elected board members. Just two candidates, Tim Alberts and Adam Manka, are running for the three vacant spots on the board, meaning all write-in votes for the school board will be counted. Anyone interested in registering as a write-in has until the Friday before the April 2 Spring Election to file their paperwork.

In Onalaska, four people, including three incumbents, filed to run for the school board. Current board members Tesia Marshik, Aaron McDonald and Mark Cassellius will be challenged by Tracy Laufenberg for the three available board seats.

School districts that are considering a referendum for the April 2 election have until Jan. 23 to finalize their paperwork with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and their local clerks. No La Crosse County school districts have a referendum on the Feb. 20 ballot.

For most people in La Crosse County, there won’t be a primary on Feb. 20, except for the District 2 City Council seat. The Spring Election is on April 2.

To find your voter registration status, see a sample ballot, or look up your voter information, you can visit MyVote Wisconsin.

For information on Wisconsin’s elections, including how to register as a write-in for a local race in this spring’s election, you can visit the Wisconsin Elections Commission. You can also see who has registered to run in different races and see candidate nomination paperwork.