University of Wisconsin-Madison students contributed to a record-high turnout for uncontested local candidates in the spring 2025 elections, boosted by the marquee state Supreme Court race.
Though the Wisconsin Supreme Court race attracted by far the most attention and the most money — more than $80 million in total — also on the ballot in Madison were seats on the Dane County Board of Supervisors and Madison Common Council, as well as the Madison school board and Dane County executive. Of those elections, eight were uncontested.
District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan was among the uncontested candidates. District 8 includes all of UW-Madison's campus and some surrounding neighborhoods.
Govindarajan was originally elected as District 8’s alder in April 2023, winning the seat by 103 votes. Govindarajan aimed to become a voice for the students, advocating for decreasing rent prices, consistent transportation and an increase in pedestrian safety.
On April 1, Govindarajan was re-elected with 4,129 votes.
Govindarajan thought Madison voters would be less likely to vote for an uncontested candidate, but District 8 saw its highest local turnout ever.
Govindarajan attributed higher turnout to an increasing trend in student voter engagement — often driven by rage and impatience — especially in battleground states like Wisconsin.
“People are pissed off at the government, at the state,” Govindarajan told The Daily Cardinal.
Govindarajan also spends time campaigning on campus because he believes that meeting student needs is important, and maintaining connections between students and officials ensures Badger voices are heard.
“I go to student orgs, stay active on social media and attend a lot of political science lectures,” Govindarajan said.
When it comes to uncontested candidates, UW-Madison School of Education student Matthew Byrne said he makes sure he knows what and who is on the ballot.
“I voted in my local election because I had school board candidates I wanted to vote for, and [they were] uncontested,” Byrne said.
For junior Cami Miller, knowledge of who they’re voting for is important in their decisions.
“I don’t vote for [uncontested candidates] at all, I only looked up Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel, so I wasn’t educated enough,” Miller said. “If I did [the prepwork], I would have voted.”
Sophomore Christian Kavanagh abstained from voting for uncontested candidates because it seemed pointless, and senior Katerina Stuopis abstained from voting for uncontested candidates to prioritize more pressing issues.
“They were uncontested [and] I did not want to spend my energy researching them. There are so many things going on in the world [that] researching someone who is running uncontested and will win didn’t feel like a priority to me,” Stuopis said.
Govindarajan urged students to make time to vote.
“If you don’t have time to vote or research local elections, you don’t have the time to complain about housing, rent or missing your bus,” Govindarajan said.
