Little Chute Matters

Tuesday we’ll have Primary elections for Governor across the state. There are also some Primaries in the Senate recall races as well, although not for the Fox Valley area. Click on the image to the left to see a larger map of the Senate districts, and the four Districts that have Primary races on Tuesday.

The purpose of the Recall election of the Governor, is for Democrats to try to unseat our current Governor Scott Walker. Democratic activists collected between one half million and one million signatures on recall petitions, allowing them to force a Recall election under Wisconsin State Law.

On Tuesday there will be both a Republican and a Democratic Primary. There will be a Republican Primary because there is a “protest” candidate challenging Governor Walker on the Republican ticket. More about that candidate later on. While the “protest” challenger in the Republican primary isn’t a credible candidate for Republicans, it’s still remotely possible for the Governor to lose the Republican Primary, if democrats turn out in force and crossover-vote against the Governor in the Republican Primary, and the Republican turnout is lackluster. So if you’re a Republican, be sure to vote for Governor Walker in the Primary on Tuesday. continue reading…

This week is full of questions. And the darndest thing is that good questions often have tough answers, or sometimes, no answers at all.

Take our elections on Tuesday for example. Who do we vote for on Tuesday? How many of us will even vote at all? Will it make a difference who wins?

We have both local elections and the Presidential Primary on Tuesday, of course. Will the outcome of the Presidential Primary determine the fate of this great nation of ours? Maybe not: after all, we’re only one state, and it’s only a Primary election. But then again, maybe so: every vote counts.

But consider this: if we don’t see a clear victor in the primary elections this spring, we may see a “Brokered Convention” for the Republican Party later this year. That is, if there aren’t enough “pledged” delegate votes to elect a Republican candidate on the first round of voting, then there could be multiple rounds of negotiation and arm-twisting and debates and continue reading…

Two more State Senators will face off with their challengers at the voting booths tomorrow (Tuesday, August 16): Jim Holperin versus Kim Simac (district 12, to the North of us) and Bob Wirch versus Jonathan Steitz (district 22, in the Southeastern-most corner of Wisconsin). For a quick review of the candidates and the issues, click on the image to the left (or alternately click here). This will open a clickable map of the elections in a separate window. There’s summary information about the races, available by hovering your mouse over a Senate District. Clicking the District connects you to additional candidate information including endorsements of the candidates by PACs, unions and public welfare organizations. There are also links to the Voter Public Access website, that will tell you precisely which Senate District you’re in, and where you go to vote.

Last week’s recall election guaranteed a majority for the Republicans in the state Senate, but a very slim one (17 to 16). If Republicans gain another seat in tomorrow’s elections, the majority will be 18-to-15, a more comfortable margin. If Republicans win both elections (the 12th and the 22nd districts), they will have the same 19-to-14 margin that they held before the recall elections.

On the other hand, if Democrats succeed in holding on to both seats tomorrow, the 17-to-16 majority from last week’s election remains. While we’ve seen slim majorities in the past (see Wisconsin Party Majorities from 1985 through 2009), the slim majority is advantageous to Democrats. Republican party discipline would have to be excellent in order to pass any measure opposed by the Democratic Party as a whole. Any single Republican Senator who voted against such a measure would cause the measure to fail.

Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s election, this year’s recall elections have had a powerful effect on Wisconsin politics, which will likely continue for the rest of this year, and well into next.

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Six State Senators will face off with their challengers at the voting booths tomorrow (Tuesday, August 9): Rob Cowles versus Nancy Nusbaum (district 2), Alberta Darling versus Sandra Pasch (district 8), Sheila Harsdorf versus Shelly Moore (district 10), Luther Olsen versus Fred Clark (district 14), Randy Hopper versus Jessica King (district 18) and Dan Kapanke versus Jennifer Shilling (district 32). For a quick review of the candidates and the issues, click on the image to the left (or alternately click here). This will open a clickable map of the elections in a separate window. There’s summary information about the races, available by hovering your mouse over a Senate District, and clicking the District connects you to additional candidate information including endorsements of the candidates by PACs, unions and public welfare organizations. There are also links to the Voter Public Access website, that will tell you precisely which Senate District you’re in, and where you go to vote.

By the end of the day Tuesday, we may know if the Republicans are going to hang on to the State Senate or not. However, there will be two more recall races a week from tomorrow, so this could be a drawn-out nail-biter.

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Tuesday, July 12, there’s a Primary election for Senate District 2. Remember to vote, if you live in the northern or eastern part of Little Chute, or in any part of Senate district 2 outside of Little Chute. This district covers parts of Outagamie, Shawano, Oconto and Brown counties.

The incumbent in this election is State Senator Rob Cowles, a Republican (VoteRobCowles.com/about-rob-2.html). He has no opposition on the Republican ticket, so there is only a Democratic party primary on Tuesday. There are two candidates on the Democratic Primary ticket: Nancy Nusbaum (NancyForSenate.com/about) and Otto Junkermann (www.wisconsinvote.org/candidateProfile.cfm?id=715, and www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Otto_Junkermann).

Because Senate district 2 cuts through Little Chute, only residents in the northern and eastern wards will go to the polls Tuesday. Residents in wards 2, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18 and 19 will vote at the Village Hall Tuesday, while those in wards 1, 4, 9, 10 and 15 will vote at the Civic Center. Residents in wards 3, 5, 6, 7, 11 and 14 will not vote in this election, because they’re in Senate district 1, not district 2. Click on the map above to open a new window of the Senate Districts map at the Wisconsin Interactive Map Server. There is also a detailed ward map of Little Chute at wi-littlechute.civicplus.com/DocumentView.asp?DID=62 (in PDF format, 290 KB).

The General Election for Senate district 2 will take place on Tuesday, August 9 between Republican Senator Rob Cowles and the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary.

As confusing as all this may be for our Village, it’s even more complicated when you look at the Fox Valley as a whole. There are two more Democratic party primaries in the Fox Valley on Tuesday, for Senate districts 14 and 18. The other Senate District in the Fox Valley that is undergoing a recall election is Senate district 30. There is no primary for Senate district 30, because this district has only one Democrat (the incumbent) and one Republican (the challenger).

The General election will take place on Tuesday, July 19 for Senate district 30. The General election will take place on August 9 for Senate districts 14 and 18, just as it will for Little Chute’s Senate District 2 race.

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