Whitewater’s local election list is now available, and as with most years, it’s a mostly-uncontested affair. There are no challengers for the WWUSD School Board seats, and only Aldermanic District 4 has challengers for a seat on Council. (District 4 has always produced a fair share of candidates for one office or another; it’s a politically active neighborhood.)
There’s nothing surprising among the names of those running (or those declining to run).
A reader wrote in to ask, though, how the list of candidates squares with my prediction for 2014 that, after the spring election, Council would be a bit farther to the left. My answer is that the election will have an influence both in results among those running and for how those results will influence incumbents not running this year.
Overall, Whitewater is turning slightly more blue, and I think we’ll see a bit more of that trend in Council when we look back at the end of 2014.
(I’m a third-party voter, by the way, and a particular left-right balance in Whitewater matters far less to me than does an expansive view of rights and exacting standards in the city.)
No doubt, there are at least a few people in town who have a romantic view of politics, but it’s worth mentioning that the spring primary is February 18th (not 14th). Wisconsin’s spring general elections, however, will be April 1st, confirming that at least a few within state government have a sense of humor.
Although the candidate list is unsurprising, between now and the spring general election we’re likely to hear at least one or two surprising things from one candidate or another.
All in all, it will be well worth the listening.