Liam Beran
The Memorial Union voting location on February 18, 2025.
Slow voting day: As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, only one student had used same-day registration to vote at the Memorial Union polling location.
Madison voters braved sub-zero temperatures — but experienced few lines — at the polls Tuesday.
“We have had about 10 voters today, which is very, very slow,” said Izzie Behl, chief inspector at the Memorial Union polling place, at 2:00 p.m. No voters were in the room as she spoke with Isthmus.
Around 17% of eligible voters, 34,215 people, cast ballots in the Feb. 18 primary. In February 2024, 5% of city voters turned out for an election with no statewide races and a couple of Dane County supervisor races. In February 2023 — with a primary for Madison mayor and a state Supreme Court justice on the ballot — turnout in Madison surpassed 36%.
On Tuesday, voters chose their top pick for state schools superintendent, and those in city council districts Districts 9, 10 and 12 trimmed their choices down to two candidates.
The city issued 16,000 absentee ballots, said city communications manager Dylan Brogan. Speaking at 3:45 p.m., Brogan said operations had been running smoothly in the “teeny tiny” election.
City council
In Madison’s District 10, Ald. Yannette Figueroa Cole and former city council administrator Lisa Veldran will advance to the April 1 spring election with 37% and 34% of the vote respectively; former Ald. Sheri Carter received 29% percent and will not advance.
Figueroa Cole will start the spring campaign season with $7,300 on hand, according to a campaign finance report submitted Feb. 6. As of Feb. 12, Veldran had $1,378 on hand.
District 9 candidates Ald. Nikki Conklin and Joann Pritchett will advance to the spring election with 40% of the vote and 49%, with one ward left at 9:20 p.m. Rick Cruz received 11%. Conklin has around $2,000 on hand, and Pritchett has about $3,000.
In a repeat face off from 2023, District 12 candidates Ald. Amani Latimer Burris, with 52.5% of the vote, and Julia Matthews, with 42% of the vote, will advance to the April 1 election. Though his name still appeared on Tuesday’s ballot, candidate Hussein Amach announced in January that he was dropping out of the race. Matthews has around $1,900 on hand. Burris has not yet submitted a pre-primary election finance report that was due Feb. 10.
State superintendent
Incumbent one-term state Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly is facing her first challenge for reelection. With 37.1% of the vote after 86% of statewide precincts reported results, Underly and Brittany Kinser (35.3%), an education consultant and school choice advocate, will face off in the April 1 election. The winner of that race will serve a four-year term. Sauk Prairie Superintendent Jeff Wright came in third with about 30% of the vote.
Though the race is officially nonpartisan, Kinser is backed by conservatives and as of Feb. 14, had received around $200,000 in funding from the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Underly was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and received a little over $100,000 from the party in February, according to campaign finance forms.
“From now until April 1, I will continue to travel the state and share my plan to bring a clean slate, a fresh start, and a fundamentally new approach to DPI,” Kinser said in a Tuesday night statement. She encouraged Wright’s supporters to vote for her: “Jeff Wright ran a strong race and we agree on several important issues like restoring the high standards Jill Underly lowered for our children.”
Underly thanked her supporters in a statement Tuesday night. “We have a shared commitment to Wisconsin’s public schools, educators, and most importantly, our kids.”
