Wisconsin Rapids School District elections (2018)
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 17 (online or mail), or Nov. 2 (in-person)
- Early voting: Varies by locality
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Voter ID: Photo ID required
- Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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Three of the seven seats on the Wisconsin Rapids School District Board of Education in Wisconsin were up for at-large general election on April 3, 2018. Incumbents John Benbow Jr., Katie Bielski-Medina, and Larry Davis won re-election, defeating challenger Troy Bier.[1][2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Wisconsin Rapids Board of Education consists of seven members elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis. All members are elected at large, and elections are held every year.[3]
School board candidates in Wisconsin had to be U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, 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 2, 2018. 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 5, 2018. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 23, 2018.[4]
Voter registration
- See also: Voting in Wisconsin and Voter identification laws by state
To vote in Wisconsin, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state for at least 10 days prior to the election. A voter must be at least 18 years old.[5][6][7] One can register to vote by mail, online, or in person. For voters registering to vote in this 2018 school board election by mail, the application had to be postmarked by March 14, 2018. The online voter registration deadline was March 30, 2018, and the in-person deadline was April 3, 2018.
Candidates and results
At-Large
General election
General election for Wisconsin Rapids School District school board At-large (3 seats)
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | John Benbow Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 26.4 | 3,086 |
| ✔ |  | Katie Bielski-Medina (Nonpartisan) | 26.2 | 3,057 |
| ✔ |  | Larry Davis (Nonpartisan) | 23.9 | 2,793 |
 | Troy Bier (Nonpartisan) | 23.5 | 2,747 | |
| Total votes: 11,683 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2018
Key deadlines
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.
Past elections
To see results from past elections in the Wisconsin Rapids School District, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2018
All three of the incumbents up for re-election to the Wisconsin Rapids School Board in 2018 filed to run in the election, joined by one challenger. Since 2013, incumbents on the board have had a 100 percent success rate. This statistic is higher than the average school board in Wisconsin and in the United States, which saw 68.97 percent and 82.39 percent incumbent success rates in 2016, respectively, and 84.00 percent and 82.66 percent incumbent success rates in 2015, respectively.
| School board election trends | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers |
| Wisconsin Rapids School District | ||||
| 2018 | 1.33 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1.5 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| 2016 | 1 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| 2015 | 1 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| 2014 | 1.5 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| 2013 | 2 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| Wisconsin | ||||
| 2016 | 1.57 | 29.73% | 68.97% | 45.95% |
| 2015 | 1.38 | 32.00% | 84.00% | 35.29% |
| United States | ||||
| 2016 | 1.90 | 34.05% | 82.39% | 41.04% |
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% |
About the district
The Wisconsin Rapids School District is located in Wisconsin Rapids, the seat of Wood County, in central Wisconsin. The county was home to 73,435 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[8] The district served 5,241 students during the 2015-2016 school year.[9]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Wood County residents underperformed compared to the state of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 19.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years or older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.8 percent of all state residents.[8]
Median household income
The median household income for Wood County between 2011 and 2015 was $48,961. During that same time period, the median household income for Wisconsin as a whole was $53,357, and it was $53,889 for the entire United States.[8]
Poverty rate
From 2011 to 2015, the poverty rate in Wood County was 11.3 percent, while it was 12.1 percent statewide. During that same time period, the poverty rate for the country as a whole was 13.5 percent.[8]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[8] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Wood County (%) | Wisconsin (%) | |
| White | 95.1 | 87.6 | |
| Black or African American | 0.8 | 6.6 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.9 | 1.1 | |
| Asian | 2.0 | 2.8 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Two or more races | 1.1 | 1.8 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2.9 | 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 Wisconsin Rapids School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Wisconsin Rapids School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Email communication with district clerk," January 3, 2018
- ↑ Wood County, Wisconsin, "Election Results," April 3, 2018
- ↑ Wisconsin Rapids School District, "Board of Education," accessed December 28, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates," accessed November 26, 2017
- ↑ DMV.org, "Voter Registration in Wisconsin," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ State statutes stipulate that an individual must have resided in Wisconsin for at least 28 days prior to the election in order to register to vote in that election. However, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled that "the increase of the durational residency requirement from 10 days to 28 days is unconstitutional." Consequently, the earlier 10-day requirement took effect once again. An appeal of the district court's decision was pending as of September 20, 2016.
- ↑ Wisconsin Statutes, "Section 6.10," accessed November 7, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 United States Census Bureau, "Wood County, Wisconsin," accessed December 29, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Local Education Agency (School District) Universe Survey Data," accessed January 29, 2018
| Wisconsin Rapids School District elections in 2018 | |
| Wood County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 3, 2018 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, John Benbow Jr. • Incumbent, Katie Bielski-Medina • Incumbent, Larry Davis • Troy Bier |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
