Donna Magdalina
Yogesh Chawla, at left, and Pam Porter knocked on so many doors in District 6 that they once ran into each other at an undecided voter's house, shown here. Chawla emerged the victor on Tuesday night with 53 percent of the vote.
On a snowy election night, Yogesh Chawla celebrated victory at the Harmony Bar after winning a seat on the Dane County Board to represent Madison’s east side, beating Pam Porter by 305 votes.
Chawla — who won with 52.6 percent of the ballots cast — told supporters that in the final days of the campaign, he kept bumping into Porter while courting votes around the neighborhood. At one undecided voters’ house, he even answered the door when Porter came knocking.
“Who else would be ringing a doorbell in District 6 today? It’s probably Pam,” Chawla said. The interaction was an example of how each candidate fought hard to win every vote but never let the race devolve into negativity, he said.
“Politics should be issue-based. Politics should be positive. Politics should be tough. Politics should take hard work,” Chawla said. “But in the end, we always need to come together.”
The political newcomer and son of Indian immigrants will replace veteran board Supv. John Hendrick, who has represented the liberal district since 1994.
Chawla was one of seven new people elected to the board of supervisors Tuesday. Although all 37 seats were up for election, only five districts saw competitive races.
On Madison’s west side, 30-year-old Kelly Danner ousted the only incumbent with a challenger. Danner defeated longtime supervisor Al Matano with 52.6 percent of the vote. Matano has represented the district since 2000.
Danner says her victory comes after knocking on 4,001 doors and talking to 1,599 potential voters.
“I’m very appreciative of all my neighbors who stuck their neck out for somebody running against an incumbent,” Danner told Isthmus. “I’m also grateful to Al Matano for his years of service. I really respect his dedication to community.”
In Monona (and part of the east side of Madison), cartographer Tanya Buckingham will replace retiring Supv. Robin Schmidt. Buckingham defeated disability rights activist Anna Gouker with 63.4 percent of the vote.
Two county board seats formerly held by conservatives — at least by Dane County standards — fell into liberal hands Tuesday night. In Verona, high school teacher Jason Knoll easily beat business owner Jacob Luginbuhl, with over 60 percent of the vote, to replace retiring Supv. Mike Willett. In the Town of Middleton district (which includes a sliver of Madison), legislative aide Steven Peters crushed Republican Brent Renteria by over 30 points to replace outgoing Supv. Ronn Ferrell.
There were two other open seats for county board with only one opponent on the ballot. Former Supv. Analiese Eicher, program and development director for the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, will replace Supv. Nick Zweifel in Sun Prairie. Julie Schwellenbach, a retired speech pathologist, will represent the DeForest area in the seat held by Dennis O’Loughlin since 1998. Thirty incumbents were also re-elected without opposition.
Turnout was strong in Dane County, especially for a spring election, with 43.5 percent of registered voters casting ballots. In Madison, turnout was slightly higher, at 45.4 percent. The highest turnout in the city was in Ward 40 at Olbrich Gardens, which turned out nearly 74 percent.
