Dane County voters narrowed the county supervisor race in Tuesday’s non-partisan primary, according to the Dane County website.
In District 13, incumbent Jay Brower and challenger Travis Austin pushed out Ronan Rataj for a bid in the April election, according to the website. District 13 covers a densely populated strip of South Madison, encompassing most of the University of Wisconsin campus, according to Dane County Supervisors website.
Brower captured 67.6% of the vote in the Feb. 20 primary, while Austin came away with 18.8%, with a total of 494 votes in the District 13 primary, according to The County of Dane.
Brower hopes to maintain his lead by continuing to meet with voters face to face.
Four bus stops on State Street, Capitol Square area close for BRT construction
“My plan is to keep engaging constituents directly,” Brower said. “The best part of running for office is talking with people about their issues and concerns and trying to identify ways to address those concerns, and the very best way to go about that is getting out and talking with people.”
Brower has held the position of county supervisor since his appointment in Sept. 2023, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald.
For Austin, a UW alum, increasing voter turnout among students will continue to be a major goal of his campaign. Non-student residents were significantly overrepresented in the primaries, according to Austin.
“I did the math, and it turns out that for the most part, all of [Brower’s] votes came from the non-student residence in the western half of the district in wards 63 and 64,” Austin said. “If you look at the breakdown, those are the ones that have the highest concentration of non-student residence.”
Austin served for two years as a town board supervisor in the town of Berry, Wisconsin and plans to pursue a masters at UW in the fall, according to previous reporting from The Badger Herald.
Brower and Austin will face off in a general election April 2. Dane County residents can register to vote through the County of Dane.
