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Wauwatosa school board race heats up as early voting begins
Early voting is underway in Wisconsin as a Marquette poll shows 53% undecided in the Supreme Court race, while the Wauwatosa school board contest draws increased political attention.
WAUWATOSA, Wis. - Early voting is now underway for Wisconsin’s spring election, with major races and local school board contests drawing increasing attention.
What we know:
Voters can cast ballots ahead of Election Day by checking with their local clerk’s office for locations and hours.
With two weeks until the election, a new Marquette Law School Poll shows 53% of voters remain undecided in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The poll finds liberal-backed Chris Taylor supported by 23% of voters and conservative-backed Maria Lazar at 17%.
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Seven percent of respondents say they do not plan to vote.
The survey was conducted March 11-18, 2026, interviewing 850 Wisconsin registered voters, with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points. For likely voters, the sample size is 597 with a margin of error of +/-5.3 percentage points.
Marquette Law Poll: State Supreme Court race, voters largely undecided
A new Marquette Law School Poll of Wisconsin released on Tuesday, March 24, finds registered voters have begun to tune into the state Supreme Court election on April 7, but many remain undecided.
Local school board races are also drawing attention, including in Wauwatosa, where voters will choose four members from eight candidates.
The district faces aging buildings, declining enrollment and a budget shortfall, raising stakes in the race.
Local perspective:
Neighborhood signs reflect competing groups of candidates.
One group includes incumbents Lynne Woehrle, Liz Heimerl-Rolland, Jason Wautier and newcomer Melissa Lamers.
Another group, known as the "2030 Slate," includes challengers Heather Birk, Todd Koehler, Dan Stemper and Chris Merker.
"The slate is intended to be a check on what looks to be a single-vote board," said Merker.
Merker said the slate relies on grassroots donations and focuses on local issues.
"We have no outside affiliations. There's no PAC money," Merker said. "There's nothing, and that's because the people running are nonpartisan."
What they're saying:
Heimerl-Rolland said political involvement in school board races is not new.
"I think there's a lot of conservative groups that have done it, and I think progressive groups now are seeing the importance of having progressive candidates in all levels of government," said Liz Heimerl-Rolland.
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UW-Madison professor Mike Wagner said outside spending has increased in local races.
"And you kind of combine the ability to spend more money in races where there are fewer candidates and fewer voters, now you have a big bang for your buck," said Mike Wagner.
A conservative voter guide from WISN radio host Dan O’Donnell, called The Heartland Post, also endorses the 2030 Slate, so there is political focus both ways.
But ultimately, it’s the voters who will decide when ballots are cast over the next two weeks.
Merker later posted the following statement on Tuesday evening:
"2030 SLATE GENERAL STATEMENT ON POLITICS AND PARTISANSHIP IN SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS
While the 2030 candidates welcome support from any person, regardless of background or political persuasion, what we will not accept is the incorporation of partisan politics into school board races.
There is a reason school board elections were originally established as nonpartisan. Earlier generations understood that partisan politics has no constructive role in the governance of public education. Over the past decade, the descent into culture-war politics has helped fuel crisis in our schools -- financial, academic, social, and organizational. It has encouraged mission drift, governance failures, administrative and bureaucratic expansion, and, above all, it has harmed the very people the system is supposed to serve: our students and the teachers responsible for their education.
For that reason, while we acknowledge Dan O’Donnell’s interest in this election, we respectfully decline to be identified as a "conservative favorite" or as aligned with any political faction. Our slate is committed to nonpartisan principles in public education, and given our policy focus, we do not seek or welcome political endorsements from parties, partisan media figures, or their affiliates.
It is for the same reason that we strongly denounce not only the Democratic Party’s involvement in the Wauwatosa School Board race, but also the about-face of candidates who spent months cloaking themselves in claims of nonpartisanship and non-affiliation, only to abandon those claims when convenience and campaign necessity intervened.
If elected, the 2030 Slate will work vigorously through the WSD advocacy process and with state policymakers to pursue reforms that would prohibit partisan involvement -- financial or otherwise -- in school board elections going forward.
If voters agree and the 2030 slate is elected, the era of partisanship in the Wauwatosa School District will end on April 7, 2026, and we will set the example for the state and the nation."
Milwaukee in-person absentee voting underway for April 7 election
The Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) announced on Tuesday, March 24, the start of In-Person Absentee Voting (IPAV), commonly known as early voting, for the April 7 election.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by the Marquette Law School Poll and the Milwaukee Election Commission.