Justin Running will remain mayor of Viroqua winning his race over Patrick Robbins 843-239. In a social media post Robbins congratulated Running on his win stating:
“Congratulations Justin Running on your second term as Mayor of Viroqua. I wish you the best over the next two years. I pray you will keep Viroqua and its citizens’ best interests in mind. To my fellow citizens of Viroqua, I will keep working towards making the city great through local non-profits. I want to thank everyone who supported me. I greatly appreciate it. I want to thank all of Viroqua for allowing me to run for office. This has been an amazing experience and one I will never forget. Thank you!”
Mayor Running also posted a message via social media saying:
“I am thrilled to continue to serve our community as the Mayor. The support from our community has been great. I encourage everyone to be active by attending city meetings, volunteering for community events, finding civic organizations to join and…don’t forget to take time to enjoy everything our community has to offer. Many thanks for showing up to the polls today!“
Two of the three school referendums in the county passed. Kickapoo (362-320) and Westby (1033-683) both passed their referendums but De Soto’s voters rejected their referendum (851-369).
City of Viroqua Alderpersons Andrew Bergum (District 2) , Emma Hood (District 4) , Cyndy Hubbard (District 6) and Kristal Welter (District 8) all ran unopposed. Hood replaces Alderperson Tanja Birke who stepped down after moving out of District 4.
| Justin Running (I) | 843 |
| Patrick Robbins | 239 |
Vernon County
A couple of incumbent Vernon County Board supervisors lost their races to challengers. In District 7 incumbent Mary-Meehan Strub lost her race to challenger Nathaniel Slack 165-131. In District 14 long-time board member Ole Yttri lost his seat to challenger Wayde Lawler 275-113.
District 1 incumbent Will Beitlich hung onto his seat by defeating challenger Benjamin Hein 252-159.
In the vacant seats David Strudthoft wins his way back onto the board in District 2 by defeating Loren Bechtum. Strudthoft had previously served in the same seat and decided to run again when incumbent Kyle Semke decided to step down.
In District 5 were two newcomers and Bruce Kilmer appears to have squeaked past Nicolas Erlandson 176-175.
In District 17 Lonnie Muller (144), who was running to replace his wife who decided to step down, defeated first time candidate Holly Liska (52) and held off surging write-in candidate Greg Lawton (106).
A couple of brand new candidates had no challenger. District 4 Kevin Walleser (fills a seat vacated by Mary Bringe) and District 18 Patrick Sullivan (fills a seat vacated by Kelli Mitchell)
For detailed results of other races around Vernon County you can go to the Vernon County Clerk election results spreadsheet here.
Vernon County Board of Supervisors
Percent vote reported 100%
District 1 – Will Beitlich (incumbent) and first time candidate Benjamin Hein
| Will Beitlich (I) | 252 |
| Benjamin Hein | 159 |
District 2 – first time candidate Loren Bechtum and David Strudthoft (who previously served on the board)
| Loren Bechtum | 172 |
| David Strudthoft | 181 |
District 3 – Lorn Goede (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Lorn Goede | 264 |
District 4 – Kevin Walleser will run unopposed to fill the seat being vacated by Mary Bringe.
| Kevin Walleser | 378 |
District 5 – two first time candidates, Nicolas Erlandson and Bruce Kilmer.
| Nicolas Erlandson | 175 |
| Bruce Kilmer | 176 |
District 6 – John Pedretti (incumbent) is unopposed.
| John Pedretti (I) | 197 |
District 7 – Mary Meehan-Strub (incumbent) and Nathaniel Slack will be on the ballot. Slack previously ran for that seat and narrowly lost to Lavon “Spanky” Felton. Meehan-Strub was appointed to that seat by Board Chair Lorn Goede after Felton resigned due to a state statute regarding conflict of interest that prevented him from serving.
| Mary Meehan-Strub (I) | 131 |
| Nathaniel Slack | 165 |
District 8 – David Eggen (incumbent) is unopposed.
| David Eggen (I) | 275 |
District 9 – Martha Olson (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Martha Olson (I) | 309 |
District 10 – Frank Easterday (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Frank Easterday (I) | 222 |
District 11 – Charles Jacobson (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Charles Jacobson (I) | 249 |
District 12 – Mary Henry (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Mary Henry (I) | 324 |
District 13 – Alycann Taylor (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Alycann Taylor (I) | 365 |
District 14 – first time candidate Wayde Lawler and Ole Yttri (incumbent).
| Wayde Lawler | 275 |
| Ole Yttri (I) | 113 |
District 15 – Sandy Schweiger (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Sandy Schweiger (I) | 89 |
District 16 – Paul Wilson (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Paul Wilson | 194 |
District 17 – first time candidate Holly Liska and Lonnie Muller will be on the ballot. Muller’s wife Gail currently serves in that seat and has decided not to run again.
| Holly Liska | 52 |
| Lonnie Muller | 144 |
| Greg Lawton (Write in) | 106 |
District 18 – first time candidate Patrick Sullivan is unopposed.
| Patrick Sullivan | 161 |
District 19 – Kay Stanek (incumbent) is unopposed.
| Kay Stanek (I) | 94 |
Westby School Board
Eric Evenstad ran against Gary Brueggen for Westby School Board seat 5
| Eric Evenstad | 848 |
| Gary Brueggen | 602 |
City of Westby
The Westby City Council Ward 1 seat is the only contested race. Incumbent Mark Hendrickson is being challenged by Joel Strangstalien. Incumbent Phil Strand, who represents Ward 3, is unopposed. Sue Kastensen is running for the Ward 2 seat unopposed.
| Mark Hendrickson (I) | 49 |
| Joel Strangstalien | 98 |
Coon Valley Village Trustees
In the village of Coon Valley three incumbent candidates Amy Stakston-Wiedemann, Russ Cornford and Matthew Helgerson ran for three positions on the Board of Trustees.
School referendums
De Soto Schools Referendum
| Yes | 369 |
| No | 619 |
Kickapoo Schools Referendum (Vernon County Only)
| Yes | 362 |
| No | 320 |
Westby Schools Referendum
| Yes | 1033 |
| No | 683 |
Statewide referendum questions (Vernon County Only)
Question 1
| Yes | 2869 |
| No | 3237 |
Question 2
| Yes | 3209 |
| No | 2884 |
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