Winker among those not seeking county re-election

County Supr. Tom Winker, who has represented the Belgium area on the County Board for the past 16 years, has filed a letter of noncandidacy and will not run for re-election in April.

“I’ve been on the County Board for 16 years, and I feel I left it in a better place than where I found it,” he said last week.

Winker said he hopes to continue as a county appointee to the East Wisconsin Counties Railroad Consortium Board of Directors, which he has served on for 14 years.

He also is chairman of the Belgium Town Board and is running for re-election to that job.

He was recently named vice chairman of the Wisconsin Towns Association.

The deadline for filing a notice of noncandidacy was Friday, Dec. 22. Other supervisors who said they will not be running for re-election in April include Joshua Haas of Fredonia and Paul Melotik of the Town of Grafton.

Melotik was elected to the 24th state Assembly District seat in July and said his trips to Madison would interfere with his duties as a county supervisor.

Melotik is a 12-year veteran on the County Board representing the 10th District. He is vice chairman of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.

Melotik also resigned from the Grafton Town Board shortly after the July election.

Candidates who have announced they are running to replace Melotik are Daniel E. Vogel, a member of the Town of Grafton Plan Commission, and Doug Johnson, a retired compliance officer with American Transmission Co.

Haas, who represents the 2nd District, was elected to the County Board in 2019. He did not return phone calls seeking comment.

He also is a member of the Fredonia Village Board.

Haas was a leading advocate for using federal American Rescue Plan Act money to fund  the creation of a northern Ozaukee paramedic service, combining the emergency services of the Belgium, Fredonia and Waubeka fire departments.

Fredonia Trustee Bruce Paape has declared his candidacy to replace Haas. Paape is also up for re-election to the Fredonia Village Board in April.

Supr. John Hagen in the Village of Grafton said earlier this month he was “95% certain” he would not run for re-election but as of the end of the day Friday had not filed a notice of noncandidacy.

Hagen could not be reached for comment.

If an incumbent does not run for re-election but fails to file a certificate of noncandidacy, the deadline for others to file nomination papers is extended 72 hours, according to state law. The incumbent does not get to benefit from the extension.

The deadline to file nomination papers is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2.

Claude Taylor, who retired from the Coast Guard after 28 years and is chaplain of the American Legion Rose-Harms Post 355 in Grafton, is running to replace Hagen.

In other County Board races:

• Art Laubenstein is challenging Supr. Barbara Jobs for her 3rd District seat. Laubenstein is owner of Rotten to the Core apple orchard and a former supervisor, serving on the County Board from 1978 to 1983. Jobs has been a county supervisor since 2012 and is a former chairman of the Town of Saukville.

• Village of Saukville Trustee Trevor Seitz has announced he will oppose incumbent Donald Clark for the 5th District seat.  Seitz has served on the Village Board since 2018 and twice run unsuccessfully for village president. Clark is owner of Village Printer and has served on the County Board since he was appointed in 2015.

• In Cedarburg, School Board member Connie Kincaide is running against Supr. Shannon Whitworth in the 16th District. Whitworth, an attorney, was appointed to the board on Dec. 1, 2021, to replace Christopher Duecker, who resigned.

• In Mequon, Ariba Khan is challenging Supr. Michelle Godden for the 20th District seat. Godden was appointed on Sept. 1, 2021, to replace Pat Marchese, who resigned.

• Also in Mequon, Jeffrey Hansher is challenging James Krane in District 24. Krane was elected in 2022.

All 26 seats on the County Board will be on the April 2 ballot.