After months of campaigning, University of Wisconsin senior Analiese Eicher was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors’ District 5 seat last night.
Candidates called the race between the democratically endorsed Eicher and her opponent, Progressive Dane candidate Michael Johnson, not long after polls closed at 8 p.m. The victory marks the first time in 12 years progressive Dane has not won the seat.
Eicher received a total of 161 votes to Johnson’s 100. There were three write-in votes cast throughout the day, according to the Dane County Clerk’s Office.
Voter turnout in District 5 was considerably lower than the last election that brought outgoing District 5 Supervisor Wyndham Manning into office.
In 2008, a total of 460 votes were cast in the race between Manning and UW freshman Conor O’Hagan. In yesterday’s elections, 264 votes were tallied among the five voting wards.
“In terms of the low numbers, we didn’t have the best weather today and I completely understand,” Eicher said. “I was outside Holt Commons for hours today, and it was misting all morning.”
Eicher added she understands many students may not necessarily see the relevance of voting in countywide elections, but that for those who did make the effort to come out and make their voice heard, she was glad to see such enthusiasm for the democratic process.
Johnson said though he was disappointed to not come out on top, his decision to campaign more heavily in some areas led to lower turnouts in other voting wards.
“I think [Eicher] did well in very key areas. I think what really cost me was in Ward 62, the Lakeshore area. I wasn’t able to campaign there as often as I would have liked and that showed,” Johnson said.
Johnson garnered 18 votes in the primarily student-based ward compared to Eicher’s 44.
Johnson said he intends to watch Eicher’s actions on the board closely and added he hopes she maintains her promises to constituents, noting she will also be representing him for the next two years.
“If she’s unwilling to do things the constituents want, we’ll push hard and make sure she’s held accountable,” Johnson said.
Johnson added he is interested to see how Eicher will fare on the board, but in the end he respected what he characterized as a better-run campaign.
“We both worked really, really hard on this, and it takes a lot to do this; it takes a lot out of you,” Eicher said. “I know that we both ran really good campaigns, and we were both in this for the right reasons, and I don’t think that he’s going anywhere.”
Eicher will assume her position as District 5 supervisor in the coming weeks.
Also on Tuesday’s ballot was the race for Wisconsin’s District 4 Court of Appeals between Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard and Richland County Circuit Judge Edward Leineweber. Blanchard emerged victorious over Leineweber by nearly 40,000 votes from throughout the 4th district.
