UW-Madison student Analiese Eicher won the District 5 Dane County Board of Supervisors seat over opponent Michael Johnson Tuesday with 161 votes to his 100.
District 5 is comprised predominantly of students, and Eicher said her main goal on the board would be ensuring adequate communication between her and her constituents.
""My first priority is to reopen [communication] and I guess just make sure students know they have a representative on the county board and that that person is approachable and available,"" she said.
Eicher, a member of College Democrats of Wisconsin, said she also hopes to focus on issues important to students, such as the environment.
Johnson, who is a member of Madison's Affirmative Action Commission and a former student at Madison Area Technical College, focused his campaign on housing issues in the county with the intention of restarting Dane County's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
He said he plans to stay involved in local politics and hopes to help in the Madison City Council elections next year.
""I've definitely made a lot of friends since I've gotten here,"" he said. ""I'll definitely still be involved.""
The election had a low turnout, something Johnson expected. However, both young candidates felt their campaigns had gone well.
""A couple dozen people on Facebook changed their profile picture to my campaign logo, and I was very happy to see people so energetic,"" Johnson said.
Eicher said she tried to focus her campaign not just on students, but also the community.
""I've been working really hard and I've gotten a wonderful, very positive response,"" she said. ""I'm really committed to this and I want to do the best job possible for all UW students as their representative on the county board.""
