One Door County race requires a February primary election and just a handful of other local races will be contested by registered candidates following the state’s Jan. 6 deadline for them to file nomination papers for the April 7 election.
The spring 2026 election will see all 21 County Board seats up for grabs, including one seat that has no candidates for a second straight election cycle and will require write-in votes. There also are contested races for seats on one of the Peninsula’s five school districts, two seats on the Sturgeon Bay City Council and seats on several village and town boards.
Here’s a roundup of what’s going to be on your ballots in April.
County Board (two-year terms)
Five contested races are on tap for the Door County Board, including one primary election, while one district has no candidates for its seat on the board.
The primary, which takes place Feb. 17, is required to narrow the field to two candidates in District 17, where incumbent Supervisor Bob Bultman is challenged by Dave Smith and Mariah Goode.
Two supervisors filed noncandidacy papers to indicate they’re not seeking reelection, Morgan Rusnak in District 11 and Joel Gunnlaugson in District 21. Helen Bacon is the only candidate for Rusnak’s seat, but District 21 has a contested race between candidates Joe Rogers and Nancy Barnowsky Goss.
There also is a contested race for the seat in District 3 that became open when Supervisor Roy Englebert, who’d served the district since 2012, died in November. Running to succeed Englebert are Jan Guilette and Jason Tlachac.
As with the 2024 election, no registered candidate is seeking the vacant board seat in District 19. The seat will be offered to the person who wins the highest number of write-in votes in the election, county clerk Jill Lau said. But if that person doesn’t accept the seat, the board will ask people to submit letters of interest for the position and appoint someone to fill it for remainder of the term.
The other contested County Board races are in District 9, between incumbent Supervisor Ryan Shaw and challenger Any Austad Labott, and District 10, with Supervisor Phillip R. Rockwell facing challenger Alexis Heim Peter.
All other current board members are running unchallenged for reelection.
School districts (three-year terms)
The Sturgeon Bay school district is the only one in Door County with a contested race for its school board while another district is short of candidates to fill its seats.
Sturgeon Bay has four candidates for three seats. Current members Allison Haus and Damion Howard seek to retain their seats and are joined on the ballot by Jeff Matson and Cliff Wind, while incumbent Tina Jennerjohn is not running for reelection.
Three seats are up for grabs in Southern Door, but there’s only one candidate, with board president Kim Starr running to retain her seat, current members Marissa Norton and Sam Counard (who are up for reelection) choosing to not run and no one else filing candidacy papers.
The other three school board races in the county are uncontested with incumbents in line to retain their seats.
Current Gibraltar School Board members Karen Nordahl, Kari Baumann and Don Helm are running unopposed for reelection to the three available seats. The top two finishers earn three-year terms while the third-place finisher gets a one-year term
Sevastopol School Board members Jerry Worrick and Richard Weidman are running unopposed to retain their seats.
Incumbent Terry Foster is the only candidate for the one seat available for the Washington Island School Board.
City of Sturgeon Bay (two-year terms)
Three of the City Council’s seven seats are up for election in April, and two of those races are contested.
District 4 alderperson Spencer Gustafson is being challenged by Joshua Julian, while in District 6, incumbent alderperson Seth Wiederanders will face challenger Susan Hilsabeck.
Meanwhile, District 2 Matthew Huston is running unopposed to retain his seat on the council.
Villages (two-year terms)
The three Door County villages that have reported candidate rosters to the Advocate (Forestville has not responded as of Jan. 7) have uncontested races for their village boards this April, although two of them will have new faces following the election.
Incumbent trustee Louise Howson, Steven G. Basci and Terry Kelly are candidates for the three board seats up for election in Sister Bay, with incumbents Kurt Harff and Denise Bhirdo not seeking reelection.
Two trustee seats are up for election in Egg Harbor, where incumbent Joe Megan and Kaaren Northrup are the only registered candidates. Incumbent Lisa Van Laanen is not seeking reelection.
Meanwhile, Ephraim Village Board members Matthew Meacham and Tim Nelson will run unopposed for reelection to their seats.
Towns (two-year terms)
Eight Door County town boards have two seats up for election this April, and four of them have contested races.
Sevastopol and Liberty Grove each have four candidates for the two seats on their boards. In Sevastopol, incumbent Trent Olsen filed noncandidacy papers but Supervisor Jeanne Vogel is seeking reelection against candidates Stacie Leist Denil, Kimberly Denil and Keith (Buck) Felhofer.
Liberty Grove has current Supervisor Dan Watts and challengers Rick Kingsbury, Sylvann Welcome and William David Sherman on the ballot, with Supervisor Bill Appel not seeking reelection.
The Town of Washington has a three-way race for two town board spots between incumbent Supervisors Brian Mann and Rich Ellefson and challenger Lee Baxter.
In another contested town board race, incumbent Glenn Dart is challenged by Bryan Ford for his Supervisor 4 seat in Gardner while incumbent Ted Anderson is unopposed for Supervisor 3.
All other town board races this spring have incumbent supervisors running unopposed to retain their seats. These are in the town of Egg Harbor, with Mark Graupman for Supervisor 3 and Myles Dannhausen, Sr., for Supervisor 4; Baileys Harbor, with Susan Tishler and Paul Kordon; Gibraltar, with John Selenica and Jayson Merkel; and Nasewaupee, with Supervisor 1 Mark Hilsabeck and Supervisor 3 Tim M. Smith.
Meanwhile, the towns of Brussels, Clay Banks, Forestville, Jacksonport, Sturgeon Bay and Union won’t have races for their town boards until the election of April 2027.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@usatodayco.com.
MORE: Two banks with Door County branches named among best in America for 2026
MORE: Door County Granary, Fish Creek motel win USA TODAY 10BEST national honors
FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS: Check out our website
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County, here’s who’s on your ballots for the April 2026 election
Reporting by Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
