Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Voters in the city of Shawano went to the polls Tuesday at City Hall to choose from six candidates vying for the job of mayor. Jeanne Cronce and Jim Oberstein will move on to be on the spring election.
Voters on Tuesday chose candidates Jeanne Cronce and Jim Oberstein to compete on the ballot in April to be the next mayor of the city of Shawano.
Cronce, a 14-year member of the Shawano Plan Commission and former Shawano School District teacher and principal, led the primary battle with 563 votes.
Oberstein, retired director of credit and collections with Johnson Controls in Milwaukee, finished second with 288 votes.
The other candidates were Rich Belongia, owner of R&R Recycling; Kasey Hohn, who has worked at the Shawano Pawn Shop for 10 years and owns DotCom Vinyl; Brian Retzlaff, a former Common Council member employed at Little Rapids Paper Mill; and Sandy Steinke, an incumbent city alderperson and County Board supervisor.
The final tally as reported by the city Tuesday:
Cronce — 563
Oberstein — 288
Belongia — 135
Steinke — 132
Retzlaff — 90
Hohn — 40
The totals still need to be verified by the Board of Canvass to be official.
Voters will return to the polls on April 5 to choose between Cronce and Oberstein.
The abundance of primary candidates was seen as unusual in a city where incumbent Mayor Lorna Marquardt has faced opposition only once during her 14 years in office. Marquardt chose not to seek another two-year term.
Business and industrial growth, jobs and vacant downtown buildings have been top issues in the race, with some candidates saying the city has been making progress in addressing those issues and others calling for change.
“I’m very pleased and happy with this vote of confidence,” Cronce said after the results were in Tuesday.
Cronce also thanked the rest of the candidate field.
“All of them had viable reasons to run,” she said. “It was a good race.”
Cronce said the city does need change, but said those changes should go forward “in a positive way, not in a negative way.”
Cronce said the city should continue building on what it has done and continue to work in partnership with others.
Oberstein said the six-way primary spread out some of the vote and that he was hoping to sway those who supported the other candidates Tuesday to support him in April.
He said he would continue his door-to-door campaign calling for change and a new direction for the city.
“We need change, fresh ideas and a new approach,” he said.
Oberstein said the city needs more industrial and business growth and sustainable jobs and would continue to emphasize “a new direction” for the city.