Schoemann spoke at the Dane County Republican’s monthly “Pints and Politics” meeting on Tuesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann stepped up to the front of a room in the back of Kavanaugh’s Esquire Club on the east side of Madison with a grin and quickly started a chant about Gov. Tony Evers.

“Tony’s got to go. Who’s with me?” Schoemann said about the current second-term Democratic governor. He encouraged others in the room to join him. “Tony’s gotta go… Tony’s gotta go. I’d like him to hear it if you don’t mind.”

The crowd of about 30 clapped enthusiastically and slowly started to pick up the chant.

Schoemann, who wore a red UW-Madison quarter zip up, jeans and a camo hat with his campaign logo across the front, was at the restaurant for the Dane County Republican’s monthly “Pints and Politics” meeting. It’s the one of the latest stops for Schoemann, who is the first candidate of either major party to launch his campaign in the 2026 governor’s race. 

Evers’ decision on whether he will seek a third term is still up in the air. He recently told WisEye that he is “not spending very much time at all thinking about whether I’m going to run or not.” 

Getting a head start

With about 14 months before a Republican primary might be held, Schoemann is working to get a head start on other potential candidates. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is mulling a run for the office, was critical of Evers as he addressed party members at the state GOP’s annual convention. Bill Berrien, a Whitefish Bay businessman and Navy SEAL veteran, recently formed a political action committee.

Schoemann said that it’s “entirely possible” for Wisconsin to be more competitive for Republicans. He launches his campaign as the Republican Party of Wisconsin is reevaluating how to win after their preferred candidate lost in the state Supreme Court race and as Democrats have won 12 of the last 15 statewide elections.

Schoemann sought to start his “Tony” chant a couple times as he spoke to the group — at one point telling attendees that he is the son of a Lutheran Minister and “can’t handle a congregation unless they join with me.” The crowd joined the chant more quickly this time, but Schoemann cut it off quickly as he pulled his camo hat off and placed it over his heart and encouraged attendees to stand up to sing “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” with him.

Schoemann has worked in Washington County as the elected county executive for the last five years and as the county administrator for six years prior. He owns a farm in the town of Trenton, located between West Bend and Grafton, with his wife and is the father of two.

Schoemann told attendees that he joined the Army National Guard, attended UW-Whitewater and then served in Iraq in 2003. Throughout the event, Schoemann returned to his faith and military service, telling the crowd that “love your neighbor” has been central to his work and will be central to his campaign. 

“It’s changed the trajectory of my life permanently,” Schoemann said, describing a memory of his time in Iraq when he gave bottles of water to a child who was drinking from a puddle.

“As he approaches the puddle, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, he’s just going to jump around in the puddle and play.’ He kneels down, and starts cupping his hands and starts drinking out of that puddle,” Schoemann said. 

“When I came back home, that moment kept coming back to me over and over and over, and I dedicated the rest of my life to the service and sacrifice of the guys and gals who didn’t come home, either in whole or in part, and of my Lord, Jesus, by loving my neighbor,” he continued, “ and that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we are going to win this election. We are going to turn Wisconsin red by loving our neighborhood.”

Rush Limbaugh and Ronald Reagan

Schoemann said he grew up a “Rush Limbaugh” and “Ronald Reagan baby” — with beliefs in smaller government, lower taxes and strong defense — and that those ideas have shaped his service in local government.

Schoemann repeatedly criticized Evers and spoke about his record.

“Under the education governor, are your schools better than they were six years ago?” Schoemann asked, with answers of ‘no’ coming from some in the room. “He’s filling potholes right now — getting his picture taken in every community can get to… Are your roads really all that much better than they were six years ago? No, no. They’re not, and if you look across the state of Wisconsin on every issue issue after issue, things aren’t better.”

Evers has been traveling across the state last week helping fill potholes as a part of an annual effort to call attention to the issue of improving the roads and his recent budget proposal of to dedicate funds for that purpose —  though Republicans have removed that from the budget. At one stop on his trip, Evers told reporters that he didn’t know much about Schoemann but thinks he’s “gonna have to be another Donald Trump.” 

“That’s the only way Republicans can kind of move forward in this day and age,” Evers said, according to WSAW-TV 7.

Schoemann said that he decided to run because he is “sick and tired of our kids, leaving the state for other opportunities in different states and not coming back” and “sick and tired of our retirees leaving this state that has become a complete tax hell.”

Schoemann also compared himself to former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.

“Back when I was a kid in 1986, Tommy Thompson took out another Tony — [former Gov.] Tony Earl. A young, energetic Republican did very, very well in Dane County, and eventually by 1994, I believe he won Dane County,” said Schoemann, who is 43. 

Goal: Lose by less in Dane County

Thompson is the last Wisconsin governor to win a third term in office, and Schoemann wants to ensure that stays true by taking a page out of Thompson’s playbook. Schoemann said he would have three rules for his campaign: go to the Northwoods, go to Milwaukee and go to Dane County. He said that since his campaign launched he had visited Florence County to talk with a group of people, who, he said, likely “hadn’t seen a statewide elected official in decades,” had been on the radio in Milwaukee and his Tuesday evening stop in Madison was his second already. 

Schoemann said Republicans need to lose by less in Dane County, pointing out that President Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin with nearly 23% of the vote in the deep blue county. 

“We’ve got to be pushing back towards 26, 27, 28[%], and we’re only going to do it by having conversations with our neighbors and physically being present,” Schoemann said. “I can tell you you’re going to get sick of seeing me because I will be back again and again and again. I want to hear from you what this state needs to be. I want to hear from you what direction the state needs to go.”

Schoemann then took questions from the audience.

One attendee asked about what he would do about property taxes. Local communities across the state have been strapped for funds in recent years due to restrictions in the ways that they can raise revenue with many turning to raising property taxes through referendums to help afford services.

“How many of you live in the city of Madison? How are you liking that new referendum for the school district and the city — one-two punch?” Schoemann replied. He added that property tax rates in Washington Co. are low because of decisions he’s made. He said that at times when they have “considered alternatives where we needed additional resources, we go to the people and ask.” 

The county went  to referendum in 2024 to help prevent cuts to its public safety services. While the referendum failed, a deal on shared revenue and a local sales tax for Milwaukee that  lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers made helped the county avoid the cuts. 

That deal led to a back and forth over social media between Schoemann and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson after Schoemann took a jab at the city because of the tax. Milwaukee leaders were prominent advocates in helping secure the state funding, which has helped communities across the state, including Washington County.

Banning ‘Democracy in the Park,’ encouraging early voting

In response to a question about elections, Schoemann said that he believes in purging voter rolls, banning voting events including ‘Democracy in the Park” — a COVID-era effort held by the city of Madison where poll workers picked up absentee ballots from voters who dropped them off  — and having “significant election integrity” measures. He also talked about promoting early voting in more rural areas. 

“The clerks are part time, most of them work out of their houses. They don’t have an office at the town hall… In those places. If you want to have in-person absentee voting, you have to schedule an appointment at the home of the clerk. In Madison and in Milwaukee… the convenience level is through the roof right now,” Schoemann said. “It’s not quite seven days a week, 24 hours a day for those 13 days, but it isn’t far either, especially as compared to those towns.” 

Schoemann said his county sought to incentivize local municipal workers to add in-person absentee voting days and times by paying them 150% of the cost. He said the state needs to “completely transform how we think about elections in Wisconsin.” 

Schoemann segued to criticizing Evers for his relationship with lawmakers and the number of bills he has vetoed, saying changes in law need to come as the result of the governor working as a “coequal” branch with the Legislature. He said that the governor should work with bills before outright vetoing them.

“The fact that this governor doesn’t have the leadership capability to walk down the hallway and talk to legislative leaders is an embarrassment to our state,” Schoemann said, referring to communication difficulties between lawmakers and Evers, who are currently negotiating the next state budget.

Schoemann said that he wouldn’t want to “throw money” to help address education problems, though he thinks the system currently in place is outdated. He also said that he would seek to help change the veto power that governors have. 

This will be the first time Schoemann runs in a statewide election. He promised the room that no one would “outwork” him. 

“There might be more money. There might be worse press, there might be all kinds of things, but no one will outwork me,” Schoemann said.

In the weeks before deciding to run, Schoemann told the room that he asked his wife if she was sure she wanted him to run. 

“You know what she said to me?” Schoemann asked. “‘Well, can’t be worse than Iraq.’”

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State Sen. Kelda Roys, holding her toddler, speaks about legislation Democrats are proposing to provide ongoing funding for child care providers. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

Democratic lawmakers are circulating a draft bill to extend the soon-to-end state child care support program and fund it with $480 million that was stripped from the 2025-27 state budget.

The proposed legislation follows action earlier this month by Republican lawmakers to remove child care support and more than 600 other items that Gov. Tony Evers included in his draft budget.

Both Evers’ proposal and the Democrats’ bill aim to continue support that child care providers have been receiving since 2020 as part of federal pandemic relief.

“This funding has been essential in continuing successful programs that support our early educators, child care providers, parents, and most importantly, our kids,” said state Rep. Alex Joers (D-Middleton) at a Capitol news conference Thursday announcing the legislation.

The $20 million that Wisconsin paid out each month to providers through mid-2023 “kept our early educators in the workforce, held tuition down for parents and provided a direct investment in our children during the most crucial years of their childhood development,” Joers said.

Payments were cut to $10 million a month in June 2023, and the last of those funds will be paid out by early July.

“But with this impending deadline, child care providers and early educators are faced with the impossible decision to either raise rates or have to close altogether,” Joers said. “Without assurance of this funding lifeline, many have already made that decision and have devastatingly shut their doors forever.”

Citing recent reports, Joers said that there are 48,000 children on waiting lists for child care in Wisconsin. In a survey of providers, 78% said they would have to raise fees for infant care — the most expensive age group in most child care programs.

“Altogether, if nothing changes, parents are looking at having to find an additional up to $2,600 in their yearly budget,” Joers said.

First-term Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), the lead state Senate author on the legislation, said that when she was running for office last year, voters repeatedly shared their concerns about the cost and scarcity of child care.

“We have historically undervalued and underpaid child care and early education professionals,” Keyeski said. “This is no longer tenable.”

She described the plight of one constituent who had to change providers three times after the first and then the second provider went out of business because of financial difficulties or other constraints. The mother told her that her current provider — the third — had rates that are “at the top” of what the family could afford.

Keyeski said the provider has told the woman that unless the state can continue with its support, the center’s rates will go up $40 a week, or $160 a month. For the couple, “this increase is unsustainable,” she said. “Her family is left wondering, what to do next?”

Wisconsin’s rural communities have been especially hard hit, she added: In 70% of them, there are three or more children for every child care opening.

“In my district alone, over 34,000 children need care, but there are only about 26,000 available slots,” Keyeski said.

Child care should be viewed as essential infrastructure, said state Rep. Renuka Mayadev (D-Madison).

“And as a state, we support infrastructure. We maintain roads, we maintain bridges. Why is funding childcare such a fight?” Mayadev said.

Wages of less than $14 an hour are driving child care workers out of the field, she added. “There is no other industry where such high value work is being done at such dismal low wages.”

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) — accompanied by her toddler son before she took him to his child care provider near the Capitol — said the legislation calls for $480 million in state funds over the next two years.

“But I think the real question is what it will cost the state if we don’t do it,” Roys said. She forecast “continued massive closures” of child care centers.

“Already over 60% of child care providers have classrooms sitting empty or slots that can’t be filled because they don’t have the teachers to fill them,” she added.

Roys said child care was a critical need in order for the state to address persistent shortages of people to fill jobs.

“In critical areas like public safety, in K-12 education, in health care — what is it going to mean if the parents of even more kids can’t get child care?” Roys said. “We can’t afford that. We have to make this investment.”

Gov. Tony Evers celebrates "historic" tax cuts in the last state budget. Schools are still facing austerity. Photo via Gov. Evers' Facebook page

As Republicans in Congress struggle to deliver President Donald Trump’s massive cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, education, health research and just about every other social good you can think of, in order to clear the way for trillions of dollars in tax cuts to the richest people in the U.S., here in Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and state lawmakers are working on the next state budget.

The one thing our Democratic governor and Republican legislative leaders seem to agree on is that we need a tax cut.

After throwing away more than 600 items in Evers’ budget proposal, GOP leggies now say they can’t move forward with their own budget plan until  Evers makes good on his promise to meet with them and negotiate the terms for the tax-cutting that both sides agree they want to do. Evers has expressed optimism that the budget will be done on time this summer, and said the tax cuts need to be part of the budget, not a separate, stand-alone bill. Evers wants a more progressive tax system, with cuts targeted to lower-income people. In the last budget, he opposed expanding the second-lowest tax bracket, which would have offered the same benefits to higher earners as the lower middle class.

But what if we don’t need a tax cut at all?

It has long been an article of faith in the Republican Party that tax cuts are a miracle cure for everything. Trickle-down economics is  a proven failure:  The wealthy and corporations tend to bank their tax cuts rather than injecting the extra money into the economy, as tax-cutters say they will. The benefits of the 2017 tax cuts that Congress is struggling to extend went exclusively to corporations and the very wealthy and failed to trickle down on the rest of us. 

 In the second Trump administration, we are in new territory when it comes to tax cutting. The administration and its enablers are hell-bent on destroying everything from the Department of Education to critical health research to food stamps and Medicaid in order to finance massive tax breaks for the very rich. 

If ever there were a good time to reexamine the tax-cutting reflex, it’s now.

Evers has said he is not willing to consider the Republicans’ stand-alone tax-cut legislation, and that, instead, tax cuts should be part of the state budget. That makes sense, since new projections show lower-than-expected tax revenue even without a cut, and state budget-writers have a lot to consider as we brace for the dire effects of federal budget cuts. The least our leaders can do is not blindly give away cash without even assessing future liabilities.

But beyond that, we need to reconsider the knee-jerk idea that we are burdened with excessive taxes and regulations, that our state would be better off if we cut investments in our schools and universities, our roads and bridges, our clean environment, museums, libraries and other shared spaces and stopped keeping a floor under poor kids by providing basic food and health care assistance. 

Wisconsin Republicans like to tout the list of states produced annually by the Tax Foundation promoting “business friendly” environments that reduce corporate taxes, including Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska and Florida. They also like to bring up ALEC’s “Rich States, Poor States” report that gave top billing last year to Utah, Idaho and Arizona for low taxes and deregulation. 

What they don’t track when they lift up those states are pollution, low wages and bankrupt public school systems. 

I’m old enough to remember when it was headline news that whole families in the U.S. were living in their cars, when homelessness was a new term, coined during the administration of Ronald Reagan, the father of bogus trickle-down economics and massive cuts to services for the poor. 

Somehow, we got used to the idea that urban parts of the richest nation on Earth resemble the poorest developing countries, with human misery and massive wealth existing side by side in our live-and-let-die economy.

Wisconsin, thanks to its progressive history, managed to remain a less unequal state, with top public schools and a great university system, as well as a clean, beautiful environment and well-maintained infrastructure. But here, too, we have been getting used to our slide to the bottom of the list of states, thanks in large part to the damage done by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. 

We now rank 44th in the nation for investment in our once-great universities, and the austerity that’s been imposed on higher education is taking a toll across the state. Our consistently highly rated public schools have suffered from a decade and a half of budget cuts that don’t allow districts to keep pace with inflation, and recent state budgets have not made up the gap. 

Now threats to Medicaid, Head Start, AmeriCorps, our excellent library system, UW-Madison research and environmental protections do not bode well for Wisconsin’s future.

In the face of brutal federal cuts, we need to recommit to our shared interest in investing in a decent society, and figure out how to preserve what’s great about our state.

Tax cuts do not make the top of the list of priorities.

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Susan Poupart, who disappeared and whose remains were found in 1990, is now the subject of a reward for information relating to her death. (Wisconsin Examiner photo illustration)

The Lac du Flambeau (LDF) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is offering a reward of $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the 1990 murder of Susan “Susie” Poupart, a LDF tribal member.

The tribe has also offered a $25,000 reward for information concerning a tribal member, Melissa Beson, 37, missing since March 17. 

“Poupart was last seen on May 20, 1990, in Lac du Flambeau in Vilas County,” the band stated in a press release issued May 16. “She had left a house party at approximately 4 a.m. on that date and was walking home alone when two men in a car pulled up next to her. Witnesses saw her enter the car but never arrived at her home, and her family reported her missing two days later.”

There was no LDF Tribal Police Department at the time of Poupart’s disappearance, so the Vilas County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case and is still the lead investigative organization.

“Deputies and fire department personnel conducted ground searches for four or five days, hoping to find her alive and return her to her two young children,” said the press release. “Eventually, specially trained tracking dogs were brought in from Minnesota to assist in search efforts, to no avail.”

The release said deer hunters found her remains, along with her purse and tribal ID card six months later, on Nov. 22, 1990. They were found in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, about 12 miles from her home. 

“Poupart’s death was determined to be a homicide, and in the decades since her murder, continuous improvements in DNA technology have kept her family’s hopes alive that her murderers will be brought to justice,” the press release states. “Investigators share that hope, as even now they await the results of DNA testing on evidence that was recently sent to sophisticated, high-tech crime laboratories for DNA analysis.”

The release also states that “police believe there are persons who have information that could result in the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for Susan Poupart’s murder.”.

The tribe’s governing board said it was offering the $25,000 to “incentivize anyone with information relating to Poupart’s murder to come forward.”

The Wisconsin Examiner reached out to LDF Tribal Governing Board Chairman John Johnson to ask why the tribe was now offering a reward after over 35 years, but Johnson did not return phone calls.

Detective Cody Remick of the Vilas County Sheriff’s Department, who was assigned to the case two years ago, said he had heard from Poupart’s daughter that at one time there had been a $10,000 reward for information.

While the cold case is 35 years old, Remick said, his office only recently began working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Office of Justice Services (OJS) Missing and Murdered Unit.

The only other Wisconsin case the BIA OJS is presently working on is the 1989 murder of Rhys Pocan, a Menomonie tribal member living in Milwaukee. Pocan went missing in August 1989, and her headless body was discovered in September 1989 in Sheboygan County. Later, her head and hands were found in Waukesha County.

Though the press release says DNA is being analyzed, Remick said his office has items it is “preparing for DNA examination” that may lead to a break in the Poupart case.

“It goes without saying that Poupart’s children, now grown, deserve answers in the death of their mother, who was so cruelly taken from them,” said the May 16 press release. “The Lac du Flambeau Tribal Community, too, deserves to know what happened to one of their own. Most important, Poupart deserves justice. She was only 29 years old when she was murdered. She had her whole life in front of her, and her two beloved children to raise. Her killers must answer for their crime, so that Susie can finally rest in peace, and her family and community can begin to heal.”

Anyone with any information regarding the disappearance and murder of Susan Poupart is asked to call the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office at (715) 479-4441 or the Wisconsin Department of Justice at (608) 266-1221 or the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department at (715) 588-7717.

The tribe said the reward will be apportioned as deemed just by the governing board in the event, for example, multiple credible tips are received. Employees of law enforcement and correctional agencies are not eligible to collect the reward.

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(The Center Square) – The story about home sales in Wisconsin is becoming a pattern. The state’s Realtors Association says April saw another double-digit drop in sales, and a more than 7% jump in prices.

(The Center Square) – Democratic lawmakers introduced Thursday a $480 million child care plan to address care affordability and education staffing shortages in Wisconsin.

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin bill would give a blanket exemption for all future data centers in the state that would allow the projects to be part of tax capture districts even if that means that more than the…

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• People cannot send money to Wisconsin prisoners directly. They can instead transfer funds through a company called Access Corrections. 

• The private company’s website, app, phone and in-person delivery systems are no longer working across the state. 

• Access Corrections is part of the conglomerate that also runs the prison’s phone system, which has failed in recent months.

The online system Wisconsin prisoners rely on to receive money from loved ones recently crashed, leaving them unable to pay for items like extra food and hygiene products. 

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections contracts a private company, Access Corrections, to allow people outside of prison to transfer funds to those inside. Those transfers occur through the company’s app, website, phone system, mail and in-person options. But multiple people told WPR and Wisconsin Watch they could not make deposits beginning this week. 

The Access Corrections website and app display nothing more than a white screen and the message: “Sorry, the service you’re looking for is currently unavailable.”

Those who dial an Access Corrections phone number hear a recorded message saying the company can’t take deposits online or over the phone and that it is working to resolve the issue. 

In-person deposits at locations throughout Wisconsin are also unavailable, according to an affiliate’s website. It is unclear whether physical mail deposits still work. 

Access Corrections operates deposit systems nationwide, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections says on its website. The company is part of Keefe Group, a conglomerate that includes ICSolutions, which runs a glitchy prison phone system that has left Wisconsin families disconnected in recent months. 

A Department of Corrections spokesperson said she was working on a response, which did not arrive by this story’s deadline. 

The Keefe Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

Robin Guenterberg typically sends his daughter at Taycheedah Correctional Institution $300 a month, with Access Corrections collecting a fee. 

His daughter, who he requested not be publicly named, uses most of that money to buy items  from the prison’s commissary. She has a chronic health condition and relies on commissary chicken and tuna packets to supplement regularly provided meals, Guenterberg said. 

The daughter has lost more than 20 pounds since entering prison late last year, Guenterberg said, adding that he and his wife purchase vending machine items during visits and make additional deposits to help their daughter maintain a healthy weight. 

If Access Corrections fails to quickly restart deposits, she may lack funds to place a commissary order for next week, Guenterberg said.

Sarah Liebzeit successfully added funds to her incarcerated son’s account late Monday night. But issues with his prison-provided electronic tablet have prevented him from spending it at Stanley Correctional Institution, she said.

“This is now another issue because the tablets have been just horrible,” Liebzeit said. 

Some incarcerated people work low-wage jobs inside their prison. Their pay falls short of covering phone calls, extra food, hygiene products and medical co-pays without outside deposits, multiple family members told WPR and Wisconsin Watch. 

Nicole Johnson said her incarcerated boyfriend earns $20 every two weeks at his Dodge Correctional Institution job. Wisconsin’s typical copay charge of $7.50 per face-to-face medical visit is among the highest in the country — more than half of his weekly earnings. 

Johnson said she tries to add $50 to her boyfriend’s account twice a month so he can purchase rice and beans to supplement regularly provided meals. 

“It’s just how I take care of him right now,” she said.

The Access Corrections crash, she added, “makes me sad because I don’t want him to be hungry all freaking week.”

Vendor failure means Wisconsin prisoners can’t buy food or other items is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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As of May 21, all Milwaukee County teens who are the responsibility of the county and held in Wisconsin’s youth prisons were Black or Hispanic.

There were 28 teens (96.4% Black) under “non-serious juvenile offender” court orders.

That includes teens age 17 and under sentenced to the state-run Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools – where costs approach $500,000 per year per youth – or the Mendota mental health facility.

Milwaukee County official Kelly Pethke said the county pays for non-serious juvenile offenders; the state pays for juveniles who are sentenced for more serious felonies. Pethke said in early May there were 35 Milwaukee County teens under serious orders, but she didn’t have a racial breakdown. 

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said May 22 it tracks racial data by region. Nine of 66 youths (13.6%) in the southeast region were white.

Researcher Monique Liston cited the racial disparity in a social media post.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Milwaukee County: Youth In Our Care Dashboard May 21, 2025
• Milwaukee County: Youth In Our Care Dashboard
• Wisconsin Watch: One child, $463,000 per year: Ballooning costs of troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison
• LinkedIn: Monique Liston post
• Wisconsin Department of Corrections: Email

In May 2025, were all Milwaukee County teens under county authority in youth prisons Black or Hispanic? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A rural county in central Wisconsin has filed a lawsuit seeking to remove its county treasurer elected less than a year ago and replace her with the person she defeated in that election.

Adams County filed suit last week asking the court to declare that Treasurer Kara Dolezal “vacated” her position and her former opponent Kim Meinhardt is “entitled to hold that office.”

The suit is essentially seeking a judicial sign-off on a resolution the Adams County Board approved in late April. But state Rep. Scott Krug, a Republican who represents a portion of the county, argued during and after the meeting that the county followed an illegal process to remove an elected official.

Dolezal, a Republican, defeated Meinhardt, an independent, by more than 900 votes in November 2024. In April, Dolezal was reelected to her post as town treasurer for the town of Lincoln in Adams County, a position she held prior to being elected to county-wide office. 

In both the lawsuit and the county board resolution, Adams County has argued Dolezal vacated her county office by accepting a “legally incompatible” position with the town. 

In a statement, Adams County said it is “confident in its legal position.” The county said it’s taking the issue to court to bring “finality” to the situation.

“Understanding that a lot of interest in this issue has found its way into the media and on social media, the County is not going to comment on ongoing litigation or try the case outside of the courtroom,” the statement reads.

But Krug said it’s long been common in Wisconsin for people to hold similar offices for both their town and county.

He said he’s working with colleagues to introduce legislation to clarify it’s possible for the same person to hold positions as county and town treasurer at the same time if both are elected positions.

“We are specifically going to say that there is no contradiction or incompatibility between the role of county treasurer and town treasurer when both are elected by people in their community,” Krug said.

But he also said the lawmakers are trying to do so without interfering with the court’s process.

“We’re trying to be cognizant of the court process while we’re introducing legislation,” Krug said. “But at the same time … we still want legislation coming forward to protect those individuals from having to go through the same type of thing, and, on the flip side of it, trying to protect their communities from having to go through exorbitant legal fees.”

While Dolezal has continued to perform her duties as county treasurer following the county board’s vote, Meinhardt took the oath of office for the position on May 12, according to the suit.

Dolezal has held both offices since January and was never asked to resign from her post with the town, she told WPR earlier this month. In a May 3 statement, Dolezal said she didn’t view the two positions as “incompatible” and she was transparent about being a town treasurer when she ran for county office.

“The voters still elected me as their County Treasurer,” she stated. “I believe it sets a concerning precedent if County Board Supervisors can override the will of the voters.”

Dolezal’s attorney, Catherine La Fleur, was not available for comment Tuesday.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for the county said public officials cannot simultaneously hold incompatible offices, citing a past state attorney general opinion that says the duties of a local treasurer and county treasurer are “wholly inconsistent.” 

“A town treasurer collects property taxes on behalf of, not only the town, but the county, state, and other taxing jurisdictions in which the town is located,” the complaint states. “As a result, the town treasurer is subordinate to the county treasurer.”

After Dolezal took office with the county in January, the complaint states that disputes arose between Dolezal and local treasurers within the county during the property tax settlement process in the spring of 2025.

According to the complaint, the dispute was “regarding the treatment of certain property tax payments, resulting in the County directing an audit of the County Treasurer’s office.”

Mary Lou Poehler, treasurer for the town of Springville in Adams County, spoke in public comment at the county board’s meeting last month. Poehler said “financial issues” had arisen with the county since Dolezal took office.

“Being a town treasurer, I know of a lot of these,” Poehler said at the April 29 meeting. “And our town, for one, was shorted quite a bit of money.”

But Krug, the area lawmaker, said the county did not follow the proper process for removing an elected official, which requires a notice, public hearing and two-thirds vote.

Regardless of whether the county felt both offices were incompatible or had performance concerns, Krug said the board still should have followed the process outlined in state statute.

“You could just follow a simple state statute process to legitimize it,” he said. “When you take time to think and slow down, you could actually accomplish the same goal without looking like you’re trying to do something behind the scenes.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Adams County asks court to remove and replace elected treasurer is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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