With issues such as light-rail transit, budget cuts and social program funding in the spotlight, voters took to the polls Tuesday and elected 37 Dane County Board supervisors.
In a race close to the heart of campus, incumbent Sup. Scott McDonnell, District 1, defeated UW-Madison senior Frank Harris 83 to 17 percent.
\Students realize that having someone that has a bit of experience as chair of the finance committee is a real asset,"" McDonnell said. ""I'm going to protect the Rape Crisis Center, Tenant Resource Center, Women's Transit Authority. These are things particular to the campus area which get cut and I'm going to make sure they don't.""
Despite his loss, Harris said he will stay active in political campaigning by contributing his skills to a local campaign.
""It was a great learning experience but I knew what was coming,"" Harris said of the defeat.
Sup. Rob Fyrst, a full-time UW-Madison student and District 8 incumbent, chalked up his victory to student mobilization.
""Students at University of Wisconsin-Madison are very civic minded, very concerned about the environment, very concerned about the future,"" Fyrst said. ""Having a Dane County board that is also concerned about that and not just paving over Dane County is very important.""
Sup. Echnaton Vedder, District 5, who ran unopposed, said he noticed student-voter disinterest, adding it was difficult to mobilize the campus.
""Elections are really important, but what's more important is continued interest and involvement in issues people care about,"" Vedder said. ""A few people who start organizing around an issue can really make a tremendous impact.""
Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk said she feels the county board has impact on a very local level.
""[The Dane County Board determines] where resources from county government go ... [and whether they] are going to be helpful for students like the Rape Crisis Center and transportation issues or are going to be spent on other things like building more jail beds,"" she said.
Although five supervisors elected represent predominately student districts, student voter turnout was ""kind of depressing,"" according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. Between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., 44 students voted at Gordon Commons, a low figure compared to other elections.
""...in the February presidential primary, there were well over 1,000 students voting in Gordon Commons,"" Verveer said. ""I predict that this fall there will probably be a couple thousand students voting.\
