Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Six new faces are headed to the Shawano County Board after Tuesday’s countywide spring elections.
Voters unseated three incumbents and selected three other newcomers to clear the way for a bit of a reconfiguration on the 27-member board.
In District 21, incumbent Bert Huntington was defeated by Roger Miller, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Indian tribe. Unofficial results show Miller with 272 votes to Huntington’s 196 votes.
Miller said he believes he will become the first Stockbridge-Munsee tribal member ever elected to the County Board.
“It’s an honor, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty excited. It’s a new adventure.”
Another incumbent, Richard Giese, lost his District 20 seat to challenger Tom Madsen, a former county administrative coordinator seeking to join the county’s legislative branch. Unofficial final results show Madsen finishing with 332 votes, just nine ahead of Giese’s final tally of 323 votes.
In District 4, incumbent Michael McClelland was defeated by challenger Aimee Zeinert by a margin of 199-163.
Other new faces emerged from contested races without incumbents.
In District 2, Mark Bolin defeated Wesley Bucholz by a vote of 233-149, after both of them finished ahead of incumbent Patrick Hoffman in the primary.
In District 5, Steven Borroughs handily defeated Lynnae Zahringer in another contest without an incumbent, while William Berkhahn was elected without opposition in District 15, where incumbent Marlin Noffke decided not to run again.
Eighteen other incumbents were re-elected Tuesday without opposition.
Three incumbents, meanwhile, survived challenges to retain their seats.
In District 27, incumbent Jon Zwirschitz turned back a challenge from Marion Wnek in what was a rematch of a race two years ago. Zwirschitz finished with 296 votes to 218 for Wnek.
District 17 incumbent Bonnie Olson also emerged victorious, defeating challenger Al Kuhn, 318-277.
In District 8, voters narrowly re-elected incumbent Rosetta Stern over challenger John Krizan, with Stern collecting 265 votes to Krizan’s 236 votes.