Big Changes In Local Kenosha County Elected Offices

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Kenosha County Executive-Elect Samantha Kerkman Addresses Supporters
At Birchwood Grill Tuesday Night
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Some are calling the results of Tuesday night’s Kenosha County elections a “red wave.” Many conservative-leaning candidates defeated liberal-leaning candidates last night.

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More specifically, the next County Executive will be the first Republican ever elected to the post. Also, for the first time in perhaps the history of the county board, it will be controlled by a conservative majority.

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Kenosha County Executive

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Samantha Kerkman is the longest serving republican in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Tuesday night, she was elected as the County’s first woman executive. As a republican, she pointed out that in her decades as a state representative, she worked across the aisle and will do the same as executive. Kerkman was joined by her parents and children to celebrate her victory at Birchwood grill. “We have a lot of work to do….as you all know, I’ve always worked together with the other side, so my values are conservative, but we are going to put forth plans and get going on day one. Tomorrow, I know I’m meeting at the County Exec’s office at 9:30 tomorrow morning. We just have so much to accomplish.” said Kerkman to a room full of supporters. Outgoing County Executive Jim Kreuser arrived to the gathering late and spoke with Kerkman. When asked by KCE if his endorsement of Rebecca Matoska-Mentink (Kerkman’s opponent) was the “kiss of death,” for her, he responded by saying “I think we have a new county executive, the people [of Kenosha County] have spoken – we’re gonna start transition tomorrow and it’s going to be another great day in Kenosha County.” Kreuser was a big supporter of democrat County Court Clerk Matoska-Mentink from the beginning and was very critical of Kerkman in public.

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School Board

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Democrat Rebecca Stevens retained her spot on the board and conservative-leaning Kristine Schmaling and Eric Meadows are joining the board.

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New school board member Kristine Schmaling and her husband John
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
New KUSD School Board Members Kristine Schmaling and Eric Meadows looking at results
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

City Council

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Alderwoman-Elect Brandi Feree

Alderman Paff was unseated by Brandi Feree

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8th District Alderman-Elect David Mau and his partner Amy Listermann
Celebrating at Birchwood Grill Tuesday
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Alderman Bruce Fox was unseated by political new-comer David Mau. It was a wide margin
Alerwoman-Elect Ruth Dyson
(Open Seat) Ruth Dyson defeats Erick Hansen in the 12th District by 3 votes. A recount is expected.

County Board

County Board Supervisor-Elect Brian Thomas
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

Local business owner Brian Thomas defeated incumbent Dennis pierce who was recently appointed by the county board in an attempt to help his candidacy. Thomas and his wife Tamara were celebrating his victory at Birchwood.

County Supervisor-Elect Alyssa Williams
2-Term Supervisor Zach Rodriguez was unseated by Alyssa Williams by 2 votes. A recount is expected.
County Board Supervisor-Elect Zach Stock Celebrating at Birchwood
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Open Seat) Small business owner Zach Stock narrowly defeated Guida Brown.
County Board Supervisor-Elect Tim Stocker and his wife Sherri celebrating at Birchwood
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Political newcomer Tim Stocker defeated incumbent Boyd Frederick.
County Board Supervisor-Elect Amanda Nedweski
and School Board Member Tony Garcia
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Mom’s for liberty Kenosha Co-Chair Amanda Nedweski handily defeated LaVerne Jaros, a candidate that the Democratic Party of Kenosha County spent a lot of time and resources pushing for.
County Board Supervisor-Elect Brian Bashaw Celebrating at Birchwood with his wife Terri and daughter Jessica
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

(Open Seat) Brian Bashaw defeated Larry Zamba by a huge margin, almost 2-1.

County Board Supervisor-Elect John Pool being congratulated by Kenosha Judge Chad Kerkman
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Open Seat) Former county board supervisor and current Paddock Lake Trustee defeated Steve Brown by an almost 2-1 margin.
Twin Lakes Trustee and Supervisor-Elect Aaron Karow
Aaron Karow unseated Supervisor Kim Lewis who was appointed to the board recently.

Pleasant Prairie

Pleasant Prairie Trustee-Elect James Kedrow celebrating at Birchwood
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)

James Kedrow took a commanding lead against Brock Williamson, unseating him.

Samantha Kerkman’s Victory Speech

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21 Responses

  1. Kenosha Republicans expect fiscal conservatism. If we do not get it we will go back to not bothering to learni who the local conservative candidates are and to not getting out to vote in off year elections.
    Lower wastful spending and property taxes.
    Adios Kenosha union machine. Don’t let the door hit you in you fat asses on the way out.

    1. paul- you are correct- and to see just how close many of these races were. the conservatives of kenosha should be pure ashamed of themselves if they failed to vote- no excuse.
      in florida it is public record what party you are registered with at the elections office and to see who voted and who did not vote for what races. of course it is not public record to see who any voter voted for- just if they voted or not.

  2. kevin- i credit you for calling out the liberals and making it known how terrible most of them are. and to think all you had to do was to tell the truth about them. thank you kevin- you are such a force for saying and doing the right thing!
    good riddance to the bad apples.

  3. Not much of a red wave, maybe in the County to an extent. Several left leaning and progressive candidates also won big- I notice this article fails to mention victories like Monica Yuhas, John Franco, and Anthon Kennedy. Overall however, it seems like a giant message to the local good ole’ boy establishment and political insiders that people are ready for change. This should be the beginning of a new era of leadership for Kenosha and that involves all elected leaders doing what is best for the community despite any political idealism from electeds on both sides.

    1. I don’t know how else to describe it Kyle. The County Board went from an overwhelming majority of Democrats to now being majority conservative. The county exec was a liberal now is a Republican. This is the first time that that has ever happened in the history of the county. So that is not “to an extent”. This article did not mention any incumbents that retained their seats but instead focused on open seats and the unseating of incumbents, hence the title “change.”

      1. I hear what you are saying, but the County Board has a 1-3 vote conservative majority depending on the issue at this point. That is not a total take over for anyone and the results really represent how divided Kenosha is. Kerkman is the first conservative elected to the County Exec position (by a notably small margin) however what you haven’t reported on this site is that a lot folks felt Rebecca Matoska was leaning conservative in her campaigning when it comes to her very unapologetic support of Kenosha police and endorsement from someone like David Beth. I do see now that the incumbants are not mentioned, thanks for clarifying that.

    2. They aren’t ready for change considering some of the people who were re-elected. I would go further to say that people don’t really care at all based on the turnout.

    3. As a friend of Kathryn Woods, I was part of a group that campaigned for her. She worked her ass off up until the very end to get elected. Sadly, I think alot of people voted on name recognition or simply did not vote. I hope Mr. Kennedy sticks to his word by getting to know his new constituents and seriously considers their concerns.

  4. Beth, Kennedy will only do what is best for him. He took credit for U-Haul when it’s been recorded he didn’t want them in HIS district and is against their expansion. You can’t trust a person who has a forked tongue just to get elected. He would NEVER represent me. He should be very careful for the next two years. They might be his last.

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