Jill Underly rode support from the state teachers’ union and an overwhelming financial advantage to win election as Wisconsin superintendent of schools.
Underly defeated Republican-backed Deb Kerr in Tuesday’s election.
Underly is superintendent of the rural Pecatonica school district and formerly worked for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, which she will now lead.
Kerr is the former superintendent of the Brown Deer school district in suburban Milwaukee.
The race was officially nonpartisan, but Democrats and their money lined up solidly behind Underly while Kerr found support from Republicans.
Underly takes over for Carolyn Stanford Taylor, who held the post since 2019.
