Underly Defeats Kerr In State Superintendent Race
Deborah Kerr conceded just after 9:30 p.m.
State superintendent candidate Jill Underly holds a campaign event Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at the Waukesha County Democratic Party office. Angela Major/WPR
Jill Underly will be Wisconsin’s next state superintendent, taking over leadership of the Department of Public Instruction in July.
Underly, who was supported by the state’s largest teachers’ union and many Democratic lawmakers, beat former Brown Deer superintendent Deborah Kerr.
“She fought hard, and now I hope for her success,” said Kerr. “Our kids always come first.”
Gov. Tony Evers held the state superintendent position for nearly a decade, resigning when he was elected governor in 2018. His appointed replacement, Carolyn Stanford Taylor, did not run.
Tuesday’s election dealt primarily with education — an even more contentious issue than usual after a year of pandemic learning — but voters also cast their ballots for appeals court judges, a northeastern Wisconsin state assembly seat, and a state senate race in south central Wisconsin.
As of 9:30 p.m., the Associated Press had only called the District 1 Court of Appeals race, in which Maxine White ran uncontested.
In some areas, voters weighed in on their local school boards. Some, like Wausau’s, were particularly contentious because of disagreements over how board members have handled reopening schools during the pandemic. In addition, there were 69 school referendums on the ballot, in 55 school districts.
Wisconsin has had several pandemic elections, including a headline-grabbing primary last April, but this one came with particular confusion over mask rules after the Wisconsin supreme court struck down Gov. Tony Evers’ mask mandate last week.
Jill Underly Defeats Deborah Kerr In State Superintendent Election was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
