David Ahrens and Hawk Sullivan
Tuesday's three Common Council primaries weened down the number of candidates voters have to choose from, but from Michael Basford's perspective, they didn't make the choices any easier.
Basford, who is chair of the Democratic Party of Dane County, says that all three races offer tough decisions for his party as it decides whom to endorse.
"Every candidate in all of those races has asked for our support," Basford says. "It's going to be more challenging than a race where one candidate is seeking our support and another doesn't want anything to do with us."
All of the candidates in these races, which are in central, urban areas, lean to the left side of the political spectrum. Several have ties to the Democratic Party, either being long-standing activists or energetic up-and-comers.
Unofficial results had Bryan Post and Ledell Zellers winning in the District 2 race, which includes parts of downtown and the near east side, with 424 and 528 votes, respectively.
In the near west side's District 13, incumbent Sue Ellingson won 959 votes, while Zach Madden finished second with 377. Damon Terrell trailed with 240.
And in District 15 on the east side, David Ahrens won 554 votes and Hawk Sullivan 431, outpacing Daniel Guerra Jr.'s 129 votes.
The top two winners in all three races will square off again on April 2 in the general election. Basford says Democratic Party officials will make final recommendations to members at its March 13 meeting, at 7 p.m. at the Concourse Hotel.
The meeting will also feature a forum between candidates for Dane County Circuit Court branch 16, between Rebecca St. John and Rhonda Lanford.
"We won't be endorsing any of the judicial races because judges never seek our endorsement," Basford says. "But this one is generating a lot of interest. And a lot of our members are currently undecided.
This gives us all an opportunity to find out more about the candidates."
