Frederickson wins Rhinelander mayoral race
Record voter turnout also ousts Young, Freudenburg from county board
BY NAOMI KOWLES
FOR THE STAR JOURNAL
Voters turned out in record numbers, despite the snow, to write in Chris Frederickson as the mayor of Rhinelander for the next four years. Frederickson won 57.6 percent of the vote, with 1,356 ballots cast according to unofficial results.
Frederickson spent the evening with family and friends at Brown Street 151, where he said he felt confident in the results. He wants his first mayoral undertakings to be one-on-one meetings with the members of city council.
Frederickson’s campaign had a rocky start with an error in his nomination papers that kept him off the ballot, but a vibrant support base and a focus on leadership and open dialogue underscored his run. Although he has never served in public office, he has said throughout his campaign that his experiences as a respiratory therapist and youth soccer coach as well as his abilities in leadership and communication make him suited for the job.
Alex Young, defeated by Frederickson for mayor and William Leibert for the Oneida County board, said that it has been his honor and privilege to serve the citizens of Rhinelander for the past fourteen years.
Election workers at both polling locations said there was a high voter turnout despite the weather, with the demographic being a good mix of ages and a notable number of new voter registrations. Rhinelander city clerk Val Foley estimated the turnout to be 40 percent of registered voters, which she said was “pretty high” for a spring election. Frederickson said he believed his campaign had made an impact on the size of the turnout, saying the record for a spring election was previously 30 percent.
On city council, incumbent Tom Kelly kept his seat with 79 votes to Kyle Rogers’ 66. Andrew Larson, Dave Holt, and Ryan Rossing will replace incumbents in districts 2, 6, and 8.
On the county board, two incumbents lost their seats, with Young being defeated by William Leibert in District 3 and Steven Schreier taking Bill Freudenberg’s spot in District 4.
Rebecca Dallet defeated Michael Screnock in the statewide supreme court race, prompting a series of tweets from Governor Scott Walker on a potential “Blue Wave” in the fall.
Mayoral Race
Chris Frederickson: 781
Alex Young: 526
Scott Counter: 49
Oneida County Contested Races
District 3: Rhinelander (Wards 5 and 10)
William Leibert: 142
Alex Young: 106
District 4: Rhinelander (Wards 7, 11 and 13)
Steven Schreier: 161
Bill Freudenberg: 131
District 5: Rhinelander (Wards 9, 12 and 14)
Russ Fisher: 243
Gerald Anderson: 202
District 7: Enterprise, Schoepke, Monico, Peihl, Three Lakes (Ward 2) Stella (Ward 2)
Bob Mott: 243
Dennis Schoeneck: 228
District 19: Minocqua (Wards 5 and 6) Lynne (Ward 1)
Robert Almekinder: 202
Jeff Volmer: 189
City Council Contested Races
District 4:
Tom Kelly: 79
Kyle Rogers: 66
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