Hakes elected sheriff; Liedl clerk of circuit court

Election results are in for Tuesday, Nov. 8, and these are the results for each: For County races

At Boyd:

Chippewa County Sheriff Chris Kowalczyk – Travis

Hakes 125 – 113 Clerk of Circuit Court Karen J. Hepfler – Nate Liedl 110 – 121 Coroner Ronald Patten 204 At Stanley:

Chippewa County Sheriff Chris Kowalczyk – Travis Hakes 330 – 425 Clerk of Circuit Court Karen J. Hepfler – Nate Liedl 309 – 440 Coroner Ronald Patten 545 For state races

At Boyd:

Governor/Lieut. Governor Tony Evers/Sara Rodriguez – Tim Michels/Roger Roth – Joan Ellis Beglinger 87 – 142 – 10 Attorney General Josh Kaul – Eric Toney 93 – 131 Secretary of State Doug La Follette – Amy Loudenbeck – Neil Harmon Sharyl McFarland 82 – 132 – 6 – 8 State Treasurer Aaron Richardson – John Leiber – Andrew Zuelke 87 – 125 – 11 Assembly District 68 Nate Otto – Karen Hurd 70 – 150 State Senate District 23 Jesse James – write in 196 – 0 At Stanley:

Governor/Lieut. Governor Tony Evers/Sara Rodriguez – Tim Michels/Roger Roth – Joan Ellis Beglinger 295 – 454 – 17 Attorney General Josh Kaul – Eric Toney 302- 457 Secretary of State Doug La Follette – Amy Loudenbeck – Neil Harmon Sharyl McFarland 275 – 447 – 15 – 15 State Treasurer Aaron Richardson – John Leiber – Andrew Zuelke 268 – 455 – 28 Assembly District 68 Nate Otto – Karen Hurd 249 – 495 State Senate District 23 Jesse James – write in 586 – 20 For National races

At Boyd:

U.S. Senate Ron Johnson – Mandela Barnes – write-in 87 – 155 – 1 U.S. House District 7 Richard Dick Ausman Tom Tiffany 83 – 151 At Stanley:

U.S. Senate Ron Johnson – Mandela Barnes 257 – 488 U.S. House District 7 Richard Dick Ausman Tom Tiffany 256 – 483 Apparent differences in aggregate vote totals for different races are explained by the fact that voters could simply leave a spot blank if they didn’t like any candidate, resulting in no vote cast for that particular race.

Outside Boyd and Stanley, the U.S. House District 3 race saw the vote split 271 to 121 for Derrick Van Orden over Brad Pfafff in Edson, helping secure Van Orden’s election to the seat being vacated by Ron Kind.

Returning to the county level, Nate Leidl received 15,011 votes to 13,439 for incumbent Karen Hepfler to become the new clerk of circuit court once sworn in this next year. For sheriff, meanwhile, it’s Travis Hakes taking office in January. Regarding the Sheriff’s race, Hakes had the following to say.

“I think when you have public safety employees and they enjoy what they do, they treat the public better,” Hakes said, saying he hoped the transition would go smoothly. Hakes will take over the sheriff’s post from current officeholder Jim Kowalczyk, who had earlier announced he would not seek another term.

For Chippewa County coroner, it’s Ron Patten. Patten ran unopposed and received a countywide total of 21,270 votes to just 272 write-ins.

In statewide races from the Stanley-Boyd area, Assembly District 67 Representative Rob Summerfield won reelection to another term, receiving 285 votes to 90 for Jason Bennett at Colburn, 313 votes to 108 for Bennett at Delmar, and 169 to 39 for Bennett at Edson. Districtwide Summerfield received 16,878 votes to 9,807 for Bennett, with Summerfield thus retaining the incumbent seat.

For Assembly District 68 Representative it’s Karen Hurd, receiving 495 votes to 249 for Nate Otto in Stanley and 150 votes to 70 for Otto at Boyd. Districtwide Hurd received 14,338 votes to 9,281 for Otto.

As to State Assembly District 87 affecting southwest Taylor County, James Edming retained his seat against challenger Elizabeth Riley, receiving 69.5 percent of the vote or 18,355 total to 8,125 for Riley.

State Senate races saw the election of Jesse James to District 23 unopposed on the official ballot, with 586 votes in Stanley to 20 writeins, while Boyd voted 196 for James to zero write ins. Edson contributed 321 votes to James with zero write-ins, while Colburn saw 313 for James to 3 write-ins. Delmar voted 343 for James to 13 write-ins.

For Senate District 29 touching on southwest Taylor County, Cory Tomczyk was elected over Bob Look with 99 votes to 35 for Look in Taft and 117 votes to 42 for Look in Roosevelt.

Finally in state races taken on a broader level Chippewa County saw 16,791 total votes for Michels to 11,994 for Evers and 396 for Beglinger, while Evers took the overall statewide vote to win the governor’s race.

As for Attorney General, Josh Kaul won reelection with 50.7 percent of the statewide vote to 49.3 percent for Eric Toney. More locally Toney received 457 votes to 302 for Kaul across the city while Boyd contributed 131 votes to Toney and 93 to Kaul.

In the race for Secretary of State, incumbent Doug La Follette won over Amy Loudenbeck statewide while the trend was reversed locally, with Loudenbeck getting more votes than LaFollette with Harmon and McFarland taking low double digits.

As for the state treasurer’s race, John Leiber won over challengers Aaron Richardson and Andrew Zuelke, a result that was mirrored in local results.

In national races incumbent Senator Ron Johnson won both locally and statewide, securing a third term against challenger Mandela Barnes, currently the lieutenant governor. Johnson won handily in the area, with Stanley voting 488 for Johnson and 257 for Barnes while Boyd contributed 155 for Johnson and 87 for Barnes, with one write-in.

In U.S. House races the local vote likewise mirrored districtwide trends, with U.S. District 7 Representative Tom Tiffany defeating challenger Richard Dick Ausman with 483 Stanley votes to 256 for Ausman, while Boyd split 151 for Tiffany and 83 for Ausman. Delmar went 302 to 125 for Tiffany, while Colburn split 287 to 91, also for Tiffany.

Turnout at Edson past noon showed a full parking lot, just off County MM. Photo by Joseph Back.