Sean Duffy's time as 7th District Congressman in Wisconsin ended Monday, but the election to find his replacement is causing some concern among rural clerks.
The special election to replace Duffy will be held January 27th.
State Senator Tom Tiffany of Minocqua was the first candidate to announce he's running for Duffy's seat in Congress, but Afghanistan veteran Jason Church announced his candidacy this week, meaning there will be a Republican primary. So far no Democrats have announced though rumors of possible candidates are frequent.
The challenge means there will be a primary election on December 30.
Oneida County Clerk Tracy Hartman says the timing of the elections puts pressure on local clerks with limited budgets...
"...Everybody's budgets are tight and to add two elections to an already expensive year is a cause for concern for any municipality. On top of that there's an issue that these elections are going to overlap the February primary in terms of absentee ballots coming back in. There will be clerks receiving ballots back for the February primary as well as absentee ballots coming in for the special election..."
She says voter confusion could occur because both the primary and special election day fall on Mondays. Most Wisconsin elections happen on Tuesdays. Hartman says they will find a way to get it all done...
"...Oneida county has some amazing town clerks. We will get through it. The elections will be run professionally, accurately. It will occur. It just causes some extra work and concern...."
2020 already was going to be a busy election year, with key municipal and state elections, along with the Wisconsin Presidential primary in the spring, and the fall elections for Congress and the Presidency.
The winner of the January 27th vote will need to run again for the same seat in the fall of 2020.
