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'We really need to have a level of respect for the person that’s actually willing to put the time in and show up,' says Karl Green, who trains local elected officials through his work at UW-Madison Extension.
Most Madison-area candidates can expect to cruise to victory without an opponent this spring as local races on the ballot drew little competition.
Both Madison school board incumbents up for reelection are running unopposed, as are five Dane County circuit court judges. For the Dane County Board, 27 of 37 races are uncontested. Seven open seats drew just one candidate for each race. There will be primaries for only two seats. (Madison city council elections won’t take place until 2025.)
In 2022, two-thirds of local elections in Wisconsin were uncontested according to data compiled by Ballotpedia.
“I have seen quite a few towns that haven’t found a clerk to run because no one was willing to run,” says Karl Green, who helps train local elected officials across Wisconsin on such things as budgeting and taxes as part of UW-Madison Extension’s Local Government Education Program. “It’s a very thankless job, so we really need to have a level of respect for the person that’s actually willing to put the time in and show up.”
In Monona no candidates at all filed to run for municipal judge before the Jan. 2 filing deadline, meaning the winner could be decided by write-in votes alone, according to Monona City Clerk Alene Houser.
“Someone at this point can run a write-in campaign,” says Houser. “Because no one else is on the ballot for that particular seat, all write-ins count.” No minimum qualifications are required for the position.
Houser says Alyssa Mahaffay filed paperwork to become a registered write-in candidate on Jan. 31, although registering is not required. Mahaffay is a family law attorney and was previously a public defender and nonprofit lawyer.
To hold office, one must be over 18, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of Monona. In order to take the seat, a winner who had not previously registered as a write-in would have to file the required forms (statement of candidacy, statement of financial interest, and campaign finance report) within three days of being notified of their win, says Houser.
Green cautions that a lack of candidates is not necessarily a sign of a lack of democracy — citizens may simply be satisfied with their representation. But Green says he’s also seen “divisional politics” bleed down “even to the local level,” where the offices are nonpartisan, that drives candidates away. He says social media also turns up the temperature and the aggression toward officials that keeps some from entering public service.
In Madison, some have argued that low pay for local elected officials discourages qualified candidates from running. The city council has tried multiple times to give alders raises from their current $15,128 salary, most recently failing on Jan. 23, even after trying to muster support for smaller raises than initially proposed. Dane County supervisors make $11,227 per year.
