South Milwaukee Blog

So, how did South Milwaukeeans vote on Tuesday?

For starters, strongly Republican. Scott Walker and Ron Johnson did well here in their gubernatorial and senatorial races, respectively, and Jess Ripp and Mark Honadel also polled strongly in our city. Even dark horse Dan Sebring outperformed in South Milwaukee.

Local residents also turned out in big numbers on Tuesday. Turnout of registered voters was 60.8 percent, with more than 8,000 residents hitting the polls. That’s a very large number for a non-presidential election.

Those were a couple facts gleaned from formal election results posted to the city’s website late Tuesday night. See the report here. (And thanks to City Clerk Jim Shelenske for getting these up so quickly.)

Among the local results:

• Walker and Lt. Gov.-elect Rebecca Kleefisch tallied 4,156 votes, or 52.1 percent, to 3,759, or 47.1 percent, for Tom Barrett and Tom Nelson.
• Johnson got 4,206 votes, or 52.4 percent, to Russ Feingold’s 3,379, or 46.6 percent.
• Sebring did even better than Walker and Johnson in South Milwaukee, with 4,220 votes, or 54.7 percent, to Democrat Gwen Moore’s 3,361, or 43.5 percent. Moore easily won the overall 4th House District race.
• Ripp narrowly beat Larson in South Milwaukee, 3,860 votes (50.8 percent) to 3,707 (48.8 percent). Larson, however, rolled to victory in his 7th Senate District race.
• Honadel easily won locally, with 4,587 votes, or 59.2 percent, to 3,149, or 40.6 percent, for Tom Michalski, an Oak Creek alderman.

That’s a lot of numbers. But what does this all mean? What are your insights? Post your comment below.

So, is it Chris Larson or Jess Ripp? Mark Honadel or Tom Michalski? Gwen Moore or Dan Sebring? And how did Scott Walker, Tom Barrett, Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold do in South Milwaukee?

Check back later tonight for complete local election coverage … and post your comments below!

I’m also interested in who you voted for for governor. Vote in the poll on the right-hand side of this page.

Democrat or Republican, I hope all my blog readers get out and vote today.

Here are some particulars …

• Who: Access a sample city ballot here. Not sure who you’ll pick? I’d encourage you to start with the Journal Sentinel’s PolitiFact section here. It’s a great source of truth during a time of year when truth can be elusive, and too often in the eye of the beholder.
• When: Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Where: The city has four polling locations, with all 4th District residents voting at Rawson Elementary School. The other locations are the South Milwaukee Library, City Hall and Lakeview Elementary. Click here to access a PDF map to see where you should vote.
• Why: Because it’s your duty as a citizen of the greatest country in the world.

Learn more at the city’s election information page here.

See you at the polls!

Can’t make it to the polls on Tuesday? There is another option.

Any city resident can vote prior to election day by filling out an absentee ballot at City Hall through 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 1. Those ballots will then be set aside and run through the voting machines at local polling places on Tuesday, election day.

City Hall hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Of course, most people will vote on Tuesday (including me). You can get all of your election information, including a map of polling places, here.