From our friends at Sawyer County-Lac Courte Oreilles
As of Tuesday evening Feb. 18, with more than 95 percent of precincts reporting statewide, Underly won 38 percent of the vote with 177,397 votes, and Kinser claimed 34.5 percent of the votes with 161, 586 votes, according to the AP. Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright trailed with 27.5 percent of the vote with 128, 256 votes.
According to the New York Times, a total of 1,250 votes were cast in Sawyer County, with 34 percent of the vote going to Underly, 40 percent to Kinser, and 26 percent to Wright.
Underly has positioned herself as a champion of public schools, while Kinser is an advocate of the state’s private school voucher program and public charter schools.
As noted in the PBS Wisconsin article elsewhere on this page, although the superintendent position is officially non-partisan, the job of running the state’s public school system is anything but apolitical. This is largely because of school system funding battles between the governor and the state Legislature, but also due to high-profile contemporary political issues that include transgender student policies, school library book access and bans, police in schools, and other contentious matters. See the Wisconsin Public Education Network survey of the candidates elsewhere on this page for more information on Underly’s and Kinser’s positions on issues.
Note that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed Underly—giving her $106,000 in February, according to the Associated Press. After Dr. Jill Underly’s primary victory, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler issued the following statement:
“Jill Underly is a champion for Wisconsin’s public schools, educators, and kids, and is the proven leader we need at the Department of Public Instruction. As Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jill helped pass a new bipartisan literacy law, raised standards for math and science, and expanded career and technical education. Today, Wisconsin’s graduation rate is the highest in state history. Jill knows there’s more work to do and her proven record shows she will deliver. Wisconsin Democrats are ready to wage a strong door-to-door campaign to re-elect Jill Underly.
“This record of proven leadership stands in stark contrast to lobbyist Brittany Kinser, who has never even held a teaching license in Wisconsin. Kinser’s campaign is funded by Republican megadonors and stage-managed by a former Republican legislator because they love that Kinser has promised to drain funds from our public schools and give them to private for-profit schools. Kinser even advocated to remove teacher licensing requirements. Our kids don’t need a right-wing puppet to lead our schools. That’s why, come April 1, Jill Underly will be re-elected.”
Based on feedback from public school teachers from across the state, Underly also received the endorsement of the Wisconsin Education Association Council following the primary.
According to the AP, Kinser is backed by Republicans, including the state party—which has given her $200,000 so far.
For more information on the coming Underly-Kinser race, see this Feb. 18 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
*Credits: From our friends at Sawyer County-Lac Courte Oreilles