Primary results reflect light voter turnout
By Barbara Lyon
Editor
Sunday, September 14, 2008 7:08 AM CDT
Turnout was, as expected, light for Tuesday’s primary election. For example, only 594 Dunn County residents went out to the polls to decide whether Democrat L. John Peters of Menomonie or Chris Buckel of Hammond will face incumbent John Murtha (R-Baldwin) in the District 29 Assembly race on Nov. 4.
Although the county results were close, with Peters receiving 184 nods, Buckel won the day with 246 votes. District-wide, the tally was Buckel with 1,583 (74 percent) to 567 for Peters.
Elsewhere in Dunn County, voters in the wards one and two in Weston and in the towns of Dunn, Eau Galle and Peru mirrored the rest of District 93 in selecting Republican Darcy Fields to take on incumbent Jeff Smith for his Assembly seat. Fields garnered 1,290 votes (60 in Dunn County) to a total of 275 for challenger John Schiess.
A pair of Libertarians sought their party’s spot on the ballot for the U.S. House District 3 seat currently held by Congressman Ron Kind (D-La Crosse.) Joining Kind and Republican Paul Stark will be Kevin Barrett, who edged out Ben Olson III by a 332 to 226 vote margin.
Wood gets competition
Newly-declared Independent incumbent Jeff Wood of rural Chetek will face Republican write-in winner Don Moga of Jim Falls to represent the 67th Assembly.
In July, Wood left the Republican Party and declared himself an Independent. Because of the timing of his announcement, the Republicans were unable to field a new candidate in time for the filing deadline for the September primary.
To qualify for the November general election ballot, Moga needed a minimum of 485 write-in votes; he garnered more than 700.
On Wednesday, Wood released the following statement: “Mr. Moga got on the ballot with untrue last minute attacks that I could not respond to on time. I can accept that; I welcome the challenge. What I won’t accept is him deceiving people with mass phone calls and e-mails insinuating I am not pro-life and saying, ‘If we can’t count on Jeff Wood to protect the lives of the unborn, what can we count on him for?’
“He knows I am pro-life, and I am endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life with a 100 percent voting record. ... Moga preaches about family values. Values are not something to be preached, they are to be practiced.”
Barbara Lyon can be reached at barbara.lyon@lee.net. |
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