It’s Official: Two Challengers Vying to Unseat State Superintendent

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – Three people are running for State Superintendent, current superintendent Jill Underly and two challengers. 

January 7 is the deadline for candidates to file their paperwork with the Wisconsin Elections Commission. They needed at least 2,000 signatures to get on the ballot. 

Superintendent Jill Underly announced last year she’d be running for a second term. 

Vying to unseat her are Jeff Wright, superintendent of the Sauk Prairie School District, and Brittany Kinser, a former teacher and education consultant in Milwaukee. 

Underly has the endorsement of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. 

Wright entered the race with support from the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which is the largest teachers’ union in the state. 

Because there are more than two candidates running, there will be a primary February 18. Voters will narrow it down to two people. Then, the winner will be selected in the April 1 spring election. 

The state superintendent leads the Department of Public Instruction, which oversees the state’s 2,200 public schools. The department has about 600 employees.