Rhinelander voters favored Democratic candidates in the Nov. 3 general election, setting the city apart from an Oneida County electorate that shifted further toward Republicans, according to unofficial results. A total of 20,290 voters cast ballots across the county’s 21 towns and the city. In the governor’s race, Republican Tom Tiffany and running mate David Varnam carried the county 11,564 to 8,551 over Democrats David Crowley and Sara Godlewski, about 57.4% to 42.4%. That is a slightly wider Republican margin than in 2022, when Republican Tim Michels took 55.8% of the county vote to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ 42.8%. Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, defeated Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in the race to succeed Evers, who did not seek a third term. Crowley will be the first Black governor in Wisconsin history.
City vs. country
Rhinelander was the only municipality in the county to favor the Democratic ticket. City voters backed Crowley and Godlewski 1,689 to 1,198, or about 58% to 41%. Every town went Republican, though by widely varying margins. The towns of Monico (114-33) and Enterprise (163-48) were the most lopsided, each giving Tiffany more than 77% of the vote. The closest contests came in Pelican, where Tiffany won 763-657, and in Crescent (629-514) and Pine Lake (778-628), all near the 55% mark.
Minocqua, the county’s largest voting unit with 3,029 ballots cast, favored Tiffany 1,881 to 1,123.
Clark outpaces the top of the ticket
Local voters split their tickets more in the race for the open 7th Congressional District seat than in any other partisan contest on the ballot.
Republican Michael Alfonso carried Oneida County 10,891 to 9,062 over Democrat Fred Clark, a margin of 1,829 votes. That is about 1,200 votes narrower than Tiffany’s margin. Clark, a former state Assembly member, drew more votes than Crowley in every one of the county’s 22 reporting units, and Alfonso drew the fewest votes of any Republican on the countywide ballot. The Associated Press called the race for Alfonso at 10:02 p.m. Tuesday. Unofficial results at that point showed the 26-year-old son-in-law of former Rep. Sean Duffy with 56.1% of the vote to Clark’s 43.9%, with about 79% of votes counted. In the 34th Assembly District, incumbent Republican Rob Swearingen easily defeated Democrat Merlin Van Buren. Oneida County voters chose Swearingen over Van Buren 11,007 votes to 8,180.
While Oneida County remained red, the state Democratic Party celebrated an electorial trifecta, holding the governor’s office while claiming majorities in the Senate and Assembly.
Amendments pass locally; city splits
Three constitutional amendment questions also appeared on the ballot statewide. Voters statewide narrowly approved a proposal to limit the governor’s veto power, with 50.7% supporting the amendment and 49.3% opposed. A proposed amendment to limit government officials’ ability to close places of worship during a health emergency was rejected by voters, and an amendment aimed at limiting diversity, equity and inclusion programs was approved by voters.
Voters in Vilas and Oneida counties supported all three referendum questions.
Uncontested races
Running unopposed on the ballot, Oneida County Sheriff Grady Hartman, a Republican, received 15,197 votes while candidate Christopher Roddy received 393, including 159 in Rhinelander. Republican Brenda Behrle, also unopposed, received 15,518 votes. More than 4,400 voters skipped each of those two races.
Strong turnout in Rhinelander
In Rhinelander, 2,913 voters cast ballots, topping the goal of at least 2,700 that City Clerk Austyn Zarda set at midday.
By about lunchtime on Election Day, roughly 1,450 people had voted in the city, and poll workers were more than halfway through processing about 815 absentee ballots, which included mail, in-person absentee and retirement-home ballots.
“We broke our early voting record for a midterm election for the city of Rhinelander,” Zarda said. “I would definitely see us above 2018 or 2022 if everything goes right.”
Steady rain did little to slow voters, Zarda said.
“Even with all this rain, we’re still getting people in here,” Zarda said, adding that the lunch hour and the after-work dinner rush tend to bring the biggest crowds.
The day ran without major problems.
“Knock on wood, everything’s going smoothly right now,” Zarda said. “The occasional paper jam, but stuff that you tend to have happen on election day.”
Zarda said reports from other polling places pointed to busy lines throughout the area. In one town, Zarda had heard, workers set up cardboard voting booths because the regular booths were full.
“Every election brings something different,” Zarda noted. “We have a really, really good team here, poll workers that have been doing this for decades, so couldn’t do it without them.”
Two provisional ballots were outstanding countywide on election night, one in Rhinelander and one in the town of Newbold. Results remain unofficial until the county canvass is complete.
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