There were a mix of results in suburban Milwaukee school board elections April 7: Some incumbents kept their seats while others lost theirs.
Arrowhead at-large seat incumbent Chris Farris earned over 61% of the vote to defeat challenger John Marek. Marek was one of a group of residents who filed a lawsuit against Arrowhead alleging it had misrepresented the cost of the failed April 2025 $136.2 million facilities referendum.
In Wauwatosa, three incumbents – Liz Heimerl-Rolland, Jason Wautier and Lynne Woehrle – kept their seats, while challenger Melissa Lamers won the fourth seat. The four defeated challengers – Heather Birk, Todd Koehler, Chris Merker and Dan Stemper – all ran together as the 2030 Slate.
In Menomonee Falls, there will be three new board members, as Becky Derlein, Emily Kant Schlimme and Steve Taylor won seats on that board, defeating incumbent Joel Woppert and the other challengers in that race, Nicole Barker and Jefferson Davis.
In Waukesha, it appeared that incumbents Bette Koenig and Diane Voit kept their seats while challenger Mitch Gallagher earned the third seat up for election this year.
All results are unofficial until they are canvassed.
Three-year terms, three seats
There was one contested seat in this race, the at-large seat, between incumbent Chris Farris and challenger John Marek. Two other seats up for election – the Stone Bank seat held by incumbent Lynn Blazei and the Merton seat held by Amy Hemmer – were uncontested.
Farris (inc.): 5981
Marek: 3728
Three seats, three-year terms
Incumbent Sam Hughes faced challenger Elizabeth Theis for the at-large seat.
For the Area I seat, incumbent Scott Wheeler was challenged by Kevin Klandrud.
For the Area III seat, newcomers Robert Burlage and Jennifer Roskopf faced off; incumbent Preetha Kurudiyara is not seeking reelection.
At-large seat:
Theis: 9,502
Hughes (inc.):8,732
Area 1 seat:
Wheeler (inc.): 10,023
Klandrud: 7,924
Area III seat:
Roskopf: 9,837
Burlage: 8,251
More: Milwaukee-area election results for school boards, referendums in Waukesha and more
Two seats, three-year terms
Two seats were up for election in Germantown: Seat No. 3, between incumbent Kimberly Higgenbotham and Anne Utech, and Seat No. 5, between challengers Molly Bussie and Richard Yu. Seat 5 incumbent Eric Brown did not seek reelection.
It is unclear from Washington County election results whether totals included absentee ballots, but here’s where the count stood as of 11:43 p.m. April 7:
Seat 3:
Utech: 3,993
Higgenbotham: 3,869
Write-ins: 38
Seat 5
Yu: 3,929
Bussie: 3,897
Write-ins: 35
Results of these races have not been finalized.
Three seats, two three-year terms, one two-year term
Two of the three seats up for election were contested. Challengers Cassie Hoehnen and Tom Seiler ran for the board’s at-large seat; that seat’s incumbent, Tom Lodzinski, lost in the Feb. 17 primary election. The other contested seat was the Village of Sussex seat, which was being contested by incumbent Ashlie Schaffner and challenger Adam Gegare. Whoever earns the Village of Sussex seat will receive a two-year term. The Village of Lannon seat was uncontested, as challenger Jay Jones is running unopposed; that seat’s incumbent Katie Streblow is not seeking reelection.
At-large seat:
Seiler: 3,982
Hoehnen: 3,729
Village of Sussex seat:
Schaffner (inc.): 4,403
Gegare: 3,174
Three seats, two three-year terms, one two-year term
Five of the six candidates in this race – Nicole Barker, Jefferson Davis, Rebecca Derlein, Emily Kant Schlimme and Steve Taylor – were challengers; Joel Woppert was the only incumbent running. The other two incumbents whose seats are up for election this year – Sarah Renn and Shelley Holzman – did not seek reelection.
Two seats, three-year terms
Incumbents Sheryl Cerniglia and Mark Verhalen ran against challengers Genene Hibbler and Jen Knor.
Three-year terms, three seats
Two of the three incumbents with seats up for election this year – Brian Genduso and Patrick Hintz – faced off against challengers Tory Elliott, Melissa Ellis, John Nuck and Terrence Talley. Incumbent Nathan Jurowski did not run for re-election.
Here’s where the results stood as of midnight, with some results too close to call:
Three-year term, one seat
There will be a new member on the board, as incumbent Mike Hoida did not seek re-election. Two challengers – Colin Chance and Katie Bergmann – faced off for the seat.
Chance: 477
Bergmann: 427
Three seats, three year-terms
Five candidates were actively seeking seats on the board, with incumbents Bette Koenig and Diane Voit and challengers Chase Allen, Mitch Gallagher and Melissa Toledo running this year. Maria Carrillo, who had also filed to run, stepped back from active campaigning, but her name remained on the ballot.
Here’s where the results stood as of midnight, with some results too close to call:
Three-year terms, four seats
Eight candidates ran this year: incumbents Liz Heimerl-Rolland, Jason Wautier and Lynne Woehrle, along with challengers Heather Birk, Todd Koehler, Melissa Lamers, Christopher Merker and Dan Stemper. Birk, Koehler, Merker and Stemper ran as the “2030 Slate”.
Contact Alec Johnson at 262-875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @AlecJohnson12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Who won suburban Milwaukee school board elections
