Candidates line up for spring election

Election season is upon us with contested races this spring for the Rhinelander Common Council, the Oneida County Board of Supervisors and the School District of Rhinelander Board of Education.

According to City Clerk Austyn Zarda, incumbent Dist. 3 alderperson Carrie Mikalauski is being challenged by Josh Raith while candidates Luke Kramer and Dustin Chronister will square off for the District 7 aldermanic seat about to be vacated by Eileen Daniel. 

Daniel, the current city council president, filed a notice of non-candidacy in December.

Incumbent aldermen Thomas Barnett (Dist. 1) and Gerald Anderson (Dist. 5) are running unopposed.

As of late December, there were no nomination papers filed for any of the council seats up for election in 2024, prompting the clerk’s office to issue a press release advising the public of the upcoming election and how to run for office.

According to the election information section of the Oneida County website, there will be three contested races for the Oneida County Board of Supervisors.

 Dan Hess, who is retiring from the Oneida County sheriff’s office this month, will square off against incumbent Jim Winkler for the District 10 seat while Kathleen Cooper is challenging Debbie Condado in District 6.

In District 15, Lenore Lopez has filed papers to run against incumbent Michael Roach.

The website also notes that the “deadline to file candidacy paperwork for County Board Supervisory District 12 has been extended to 5 p.m. on Friday, January 5th due to the incumbent not filing a non-candidacy notification and not filing candidacy paperwork by 5:00 p.m. on January 2nd.”

Interested parties are asked to contact the County Clerk’s Office at 715-369-6125 for information about running for this seat. 

The incumbent in District 12 is Anthony Rio. 

According to the county website, Mitchell Ives of Crescent has filed papers to run for the seat. 

Finally, Michael Tautges will run unopposed for the District 18 seat being vacated by Tom Ryden, who chose not to run for re-election, and Rhinelander Mayor Kris Hanus will run unopposed for the District 2 seat currently held by supervisor Tom Kelly. 

Kelly is not running for re-election.

In announcing his bid for county board, Hanus indicated it could be beneficial to have someone serving on both panels, as Kelly has for a number of years.

 “There’s a lot of stuff where if there’s more (communication) between the county and city we can do a lot more,” he said.

“Both of my businesses and doing well where I can be more hands-off and I think the upside of what could happen with both bodies being more open to each other, I think is a bigger win for everyone,” he added.

As for the School District of Rhinelander Board of Education, all three incumbents whose seats are up for election this spring — Ron Counter, David Holperin and Ben Roskoskey — are running for another term, according to the district office.

They are being challenged by Patricia Townsend. The top three vote-getters will be elected. 

The spring election is on April 2, coinciding with the state’s presidential preference primary.