Oconomowoc Area School District elections (2017)
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Two of seven seats on the Oconomowoc Area School District school board were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. Incumbent Sandy Schick and newcomer Dan Raasch won the race. Incumbent Mike Bickler and challenger Glenn Cochrane were defeated.[1]
A primary election was held on February 21, 2017. The top four vote recipients in the primary election advanced to the general election. Incumbents Mike Bickler and Sandy Schick faced challengers Glenn Cochrane and Dan Raasch in the general election after defeating candidates Samuel Levin and James Wood in the primary. Schick and Raasch won the two seats up for election.[2]
Oconomowoc’s school board elections grew more competitive with a 200 percentage point increase in the average number of candidates to file for election per seat between 2015 and 2017. Click here to see how the district stacks up against other districts in Waukesha County.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Oconomowoc Area school board consists of seven at-large members elected to three-year terms. A general election is held each April with a February primary for any seat with more than two candidates. The board members elect a president, vice president, clerk, and treasurer during an organizational meeting within 30 days of the fourth Monday in April.[3]
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.[4]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.[4]
Candidates and results
At-large General Election
Results
| Oconomowoc Area School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Dan Raasch |
35.17% | 1,931 |
| Sandy Schick Incumbent |
22.40% | 1,230 |
| Glenn Cochrane | 22.30% | 1,224 |
| Mike Bickler Incumbent | 20.13% | 1,105 |
| Total Votes | 5,490 | |
| Source: Waukesha County Clerk, "2017 Spring Election Unofficial Results," accessed April 4, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Mike Bickler | Sandy Schick 
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| Glenn Cochrane | Dan Raasch
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At-large Primary Election
Results
| Oconomowoc Area School District, At-Large Primary Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Dan Raasch |
28.40% | 987 |
| Sandy Schick Incumbent |
21.12% | 734 |
| Mike Bickler Incumbent |
17.81% | 619 |
| Glenn Cochrane |
15.77% | 548 |
| James Wood | 11.57% | 402 |
| Samuel Levin | 5.32% | 185 |
| Total Votes | 3,475 | |
| Source: Waukesha County Clerk, "2017 Spring Primary," accessed February 21, 2017These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available. | ||
Candidates
| Mike Bickler
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Sandy Schick
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Glenn Cochrane
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| Samuel Levin | Dan Raasch
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James Wood | |||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017
The district's school board election shared the ballot with elections for state school superintendent and state courts.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:[5][6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 16, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1 |
| February 13, 2017 | Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| February 21, 2017 | Primary election day |
| March 27, 2017 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
| April 24, 2017 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2017 | Post-election campaign finance deadline |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[7]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[8]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[9]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016
2015Donald Wiemer, John Suttner, and Jessica Karnowski won election without opposition on April 7, 2015.[10] 2014Mike Bickler and Sandy Schick won election without opposition on April 1, 2014.[11] 2013Dave Guckenberger and Steve Zimmer won election without opposition on April 2, 2013.[12] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Election trends
Between 2015 and 2017, the Oconomowoc Area School District saw steady growth in the number of candidates per seat in school board elections. In 2015, the district’s elections were unopposed after only three candidates filed in the race for three seats. District elections drew more competition in 2016 with an average of 2.5 candidates per seat. That average increased to three candidates filing per seat in 2017. In both 2016 and 2017, the average number of candidates per seat in Oconomowoc surpassed eight other Waukesha County school districts covered by Ballotpedia. The average number of candidates to file per seat for all nine Waukesha County school districts grew from 1.37 in 2015 to 1.70 in 2017.
Issues in the district
District's funding could increase
Gov. Scott Walker (R) promised to add $649 million to the state's education funding in his proposed 2017-2019 budget. Under that proposal, the Oconomowoc Area School District was expected to see an increase in funding for the 2017-2018 school year. The district stood to receive an additional $750,000 per year in state aid and an increase in per-pupil funding.[13]
The proposal included a requirement that school employees would have to pay at least 12 percent of all costs and payments associated with health care plans. That requirement was set in place by Wisconsin's Act 10. In order to qualify for funding under the proposed budget, the district would have had to certify its compliance with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction prior to receiving any increased funding.[13]
“There are a lot of questions about the implications of the proposal and what this means. It is a significant change for employees with little notice,” said Beth Sheridan, the district's director of business services. She said that requirement would have shifted approximately $353,000 in health care premium costs from the district to the district's employees.[13]
When they reviewed Walker's proposed budget, members of the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature deleted the governor's recommendation to require school employees to pay 12 percent of health care plan payments. That requirement was not included in the final budget that was passed in September 2017.[14]
About the district
Oconomowoc Area School District is located in Waukesha County in southeastern Wisconsin. The county seat is Waukesha. Waukesha County was home to 396,488 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[15] The district was the 29th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 5,264 students.[16]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Waukesha County outperformed Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 41.2 percent of Waukesha County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.8 percent for the state as a whole and 29.8 percent for the United States.[15]
Median household income
Between 2011 and 2015, the median household income in Waukesha County was $76,545, compared to $53,357 for Wisconsin.[15] During that same time period, the median household income for the entire United States was $53,889.[17]
Poverty rate
Between 2011 and 2015, the poverty rate in Waukesha County was 4.7 percent, while the statewide poverty rate was 12.1 percent. During the same time period, the national poverty rate was 13.5 percent.[15][17]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[15] | ||
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| Race | Waukesha County (%) | Wisconsin (%) |
| White | 93.4 | 87.6 |
| Black or African American | 1.5 | 6.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Asian | 3.4 | 2.8 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 4.7 | 6.6 |
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Oconomowoc Area School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Oconomowoc Area School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Waukesha County Clerk, "2017 Spring Election," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Waukesha County Clerk, "2017 Spring Primary," accessed February 21, 2017
- ↑ Oconomowoc Area School District, "100. Board Operations," accessed November 13, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates: 2017 Spring Election Edition," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Guided for Candidates," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Jefferson County, Wisconsin, "Spring General Election: April 7, 2015," April 14, 2015
- ↑ Jefferson County, Wisconsin, "Notice of Spring Election and Sample Ballots April 1, 2014," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Dodge County, Wisconsin, "Spring Election: April 2, 2013," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Lake Country Now, "Oconomowoc Area School District could see $750,000 additional state aid in 2017-18," February 27, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, "Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Summary of 2017 Act 59 Final 2017-19 Biennial Budget with Vetoes," accessed January 23, 2018
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 United States Census Bureau, "Waukesha County, Wisconsin," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 United States Census Bureau, "State & County QuickFacts: USA," accessed July 6, 2015
| Oconomowoc Area School District elections in 2017 | |
| Waukesha County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Mike Bickler • Incumbent, Sandy Schick • Glenn Cochrane • Samuel Levin • Dan Raasch • James Wood |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
