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Dane County board candidates (from left) Kelly Danner, Nancy Bogue and Al Matano
Almost all of the supervisors on the Dane County Board will be elected without opposition this year. Supv. Al Matano isn’t one of them.
He’ll face Nancy Bogue and Kelly Danner in a Feb. 20 primary to represent part of the west side of Madison on the county board. The top two vote getters will move on to the general election on April 3.
Danner, a former Epic employee who manages an equine veterinary clinic, says she’s generally in agreement with Matano on the issues. But she believes new “leadership and dynamism” is needed in the district and has been campaigning since early August.
“We’re seeing nationwide that we have a lot of upper middle-class, middle-aged, white men in office” Danner says. “We should have more people of color, more women, more people who have been low-income at some point in their lives. A diversity of ideas and experiences makes for better government.”
Danner wants to make county government more accessible and “culturally competent.” She also intends to champion a crisis restoration center to reduce the “population of incarcerated individuals with mental health issues.”
Bogue, who has lived in the district for 30 years, wanted to run for county board when Matano was first elected in 2000, but decided against it because her children were young at the time. Eighteen years later, she’s eager to jump into elected politics. She intends to finally solve the issue of farm runoff polluting the county’s lakes.
“We are still dealing with the same issues that we were in the 1990s. There’s still an urban-rural schism that we keep hassling with,” Bogue says. “I was an organizational development consultant with a speciality in conflict in groups. I just think it’s time we understood each other and I think my experience will help get us there.”
Matano is the only incumbent facing a challenger on the 37-member board. He hasn’t had a challenger since 2008 and welcomes the “democratic process.” Actually, he’s kind of excited about it.
“I’m okay with earning my keep,” Matano says. “With all the years off from having [no] opponent, I’ve been spending each election cycle extolling the virtues of another candidate. Now I can focus on me.”
Matano lists as accomplishments his leadership on trying to require Enbridge Inc., which operates an oil pipeline in the county, to have additional insurance in case of a spill. He says he’s advocated for mass transit, criminal justice reform and homeless services. He also helped ban elephant circus performances in the county starting in 2020.
He was one of a handful of supervisors to vote against the $76 million jail proposal.
“I don’t think realistically we are going to end incarceration,” Matano says. “The hope is to change our priorities to improve mental health services — to help people, rather than punish them.”
Two other seats have primaries on Feb. 20. Four candidates are running to replace the retiring John Hendrick on Madison’s east side. The other primary race is in outgoing Supv. Ronn Ferrell’s district in the town of Middleton (and a small chunk of Madison). Steven Peters, a legislative aide for state Rep. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay), is running against town of Middleton board member Brent Renteria. Joseph Ryan, the other declared candidate, has dropped out of the race. However, Ryan’s name will still appear on the Feb. 20 ballot.
