GERMANTOWN, Wis. — For a primary election, with only one of two races for the Germantown School Board to see impacts, voters trickled into polling sites Tuesday. The voters who came in say it’s their civic duty to come out and vote.
“As far as I’m concerned, whether it’s for school board or the President of the United States, it’s important,” John Ganiere said.
“It’s very important because I don’t want to put people in office who don’t have my grandchildren’s best interest at heart,” Joyce Davis said.
“School board is important,” Joanne Corrigan said. “Although I don’t have any kids in school, it does affect me one way or another. I believe in education and what they have to offer.”
The race for seat number one in Germantown is between three candidates for the primary: incumbent Tracy Pawlak and challengers Jeff Voyer and Bruce Warnimount. The two with the highest vote totals will move on to the general election in April.
The other spot up for grabs is seat number seven. That race is between incumbent Tom Barney and challenger Fred Fleitz. Because it’s only two people vying for this position, both will advance to the general election.
Among the voters' biggest concerns are curriculum choices in the district.
“Critical race theory is the biggest one,” Tim Eichner said. “The candidate is totally against it anywhere, that’s the one I’m going for.”
“The school board has taken a very conservative approach looking at banning books and raising the salary of the school board while leaving teachers hanging with no raises,” Archie Reeder said.
“What sex they want to be versus who God created them to be,” John Ganiere said. “I think some of those things are very important.”
TMJ4 News spoke to a handful of voters, none of which have children actively in the school district. While they may differ on opinions, they share one common theme; they want who they believe is best in office to make decisions that will benefit future generations.
“The kids in school now, they’ll be running the country eventually,” Cindy Christensen said. “You want to know what they’re doing in school, what they’re learning. You want to know how to think, not what to think.”
“We’re voting for our children’s school board,” Davis said. “We need to make sure we’re voting right and we get out and vote in the local elections.”
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