First, I'd like to welcome the hundreds of new readers to this blog. Blog traffic has been 10 times normal this week, and I hope I've provided a service to the public with this election series. Stick around.
When I first started writing about Whitefish Bay's election, I attempted to be an objective observer for the public. I admitted I would make endorsements at the end of the race. After interviewing all the candidates, it was easy to select who I wanted to vote for .. it was excruciating writing about it. It's tough to pick one person over another and let the world know about it.
First, the judicial race. Christensen trounced Peterson by 26 points. How did that happen? Christensen ran a great campaign. He was out shaking hands on the street, in front of schools. Sent out a couple smartly targeted mailings. At first, I didn't get it. It is a municipal judge race. Why work so hard? The answer is: to win. Lots of effort = lots of votes.
I was at Christensen's house for their election party .. I've never been to one before. I admit, it was pretty exciting hearing the results read off.
As for the Trustee race, Siegel was the top vote getter, with Fehring 3% behind. Siegel won the same way the Judicial race was won, with effort. She bought and planted a large number of lawn signs, brightly colored, with good placement, and that makes a huge difference.
Fee losing was slightly surprising, as incumbents rarely lose. But how many voters actually could name their Trustee? Probably not many. This was Fee's first contested election, and I think he struggled to find his stride. I don't recall getting any literature from his campaign. I had endorsed Fee, as I was impressed with his skills, and believe the board will miss his voice.
I am unabashedly pleased that Tom Fehring won a seat on the Board. I met Tom through writing this blog, as he had a number of ideas to share about Silver Spring's renewal. When I realized the Trustee race was going to be uncontested, I thought of Tom and encouraged him to run. I'd like to believe I goaded him in to running, but I'll bet it was his wife who wanted him out of the house. Fehring ran a smart campaign, and will be a fantastic addition to the Village Board.
Pritchard won handily by 35+ points over the withdrawn-Weas. I wouldn't say that all 32% of Weas' votes were "protest" votes against Pritchard .. Maybe half of them. The other half are people who probably couldn't name the current Village Board President. Pritchard is a solid leader for our Village, and if you don't think so, you're not paying attention.
The school board race results are not available on-line. One would guess Marie Greco and Jim Phillips won by large margins over the late write in candidate.
