Incumbents win Mequon-Thiensville school board recall
MEQUON, Wis. - Voters in the Mequon-Thiensville School district rejected the efforts to recall four board members Tuesday, Nov. 2, and this was a pretty remarkable turnout for this single item on the ballot.
According to unofficial election results, more than 11,500 votes were cast in Tuesday's election, with nearly half of those coming in the early voting period.
All four incumbents won nearly 60% of the vote in the non-partisan election. That, experts say, is a bellwether that the formerly solid Republican stronghold is changing.
By the time polls closed Tuesday and the results were tallied, more than 11,000 ballots were cast, with all four incumbents receiving nearly 60% of the vote.
"I’m saddened that there are people in this district, 40% of people, that feel they are not being heard," said Nancy Urbani, Support MTSD treasurer. "I mean, that’s not OK."
Supporters of the incumbents hope with the election put to bed, for now, yard signs will come down and the rift that's formed in the community can be healed.
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"So we, clearly, have work to do," said Urbani. "I am happy that a majority of residents spoke and said that a recall is not the right way to go."
"I don’t know if anything necessarily went wrong," said Amber Schroeder, Restore MTSD organizer. "Our voters just didn’t turn out as they typically do."
Restore MTSD says, ultimately, the loss likely came from a variety of factors: lack of "get out the vote," some of the electorate bristling at the use of a recall election and challenges from Democrats supporting the school board despite the race being non-partisan.
"I think that change is coming," said Schroeder. "I think opening up people’s eyes in the community and transparency issues our district has had in the last several years and a historical decline."
The effort was rooted with COVID-19 mitigation plans, saying the district's academic standing has declined, and transitioned to other conservative rallying points of claims of critical race theory, claims board members and their supporters pushed back against.
Mequon-Thiensville School District
"This was a blowout of a result," said Mordecai Lee, UW-Milwaukee. "Generally speaking, in politics, if you have results that are almost 60%, that’s really a landslide."
To Lee, the results indicate a major shift is underway, with its roots in Milwaukee's North Shore, and that as younger people move into the former Republican stronghold, demographics and political positions are moving, as well.
"This is an indication that a layer of the voters has become unanchored from the Republican base," said Lee. "Mequon is becoming an extension of the North Shore, and I think it’s an indication that Ozaukee County is not going to be a reliable Republican County as it has been in the past."
Even with the recall over, another school board election is around the corner. The terms of two of the incumbents who won re-election, Akram Khan and Chris Schultz, are up this spring. Those behind the challengers say that they intend to field candidates in that regularly-scheduled race, as well.
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