Burmaster, Underheim advance easily to finals

[sybylla]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/feb05/302099.asp
Hopefuls differ on spending
By ALAN J. BORSUK
[e-mail]
Posted: Feb. 15, 2005

Elizabeth Burmaster and Gregg Underheim moved to the finals in the race for state superintendent of schools Tuesday, easily outdistancing two other candidates. The outcome set the stage for an April 5 general election that will feature two very different approaches to education issues.

Burmaster, who has been state superintendent for four years, and Underheim, who represents Oshkosh in the state Assembly, outpolled Paul Yvarra, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Todd Stelzel, an industrial arts teacher from Black Earth, both newcomers to state politics. Burmaster drew far more votes than Underheim.

The strong differences between Underheim and Burmaster may combine with the timing of election day - ahead of the height of budget season in the state Capitol - to make the outcome an important message to the Legislature on whose views on education have broader support in Wisconsin.

Burmaster said that in the final campaign, "I'll be focusing on Wisconsin's belief in their children and how we can work together to ease the tensions between local property taxes and the schools." She said the results showed widespread support for her leadership, for maintaining the quality of education in tight fiscal conditions and for priorities she has set, such as strengthening early childhood programs.
<snip>

Hope you all voted yesterday. I think Libby has this sewn up but I'm sure Underheim and the state GOPpies have some dirty tricks up their shorts.

[Goblinmonger]

1. Be afraid,

be very, very afraid. If Underheim wins this election, the state of the public schools in Wisconsin will go down the shitter. He didn't even have the administrative ability to get his application to be on the ballot correct (he had three different errors).

[sybylla]

2. Welcome to DU - and you are right

We need to give the Burmaster campaign all the help we can. Our kids can't afford Underheim.

[TheMightyFavog]

3. There was an election yesterday?

Shit. UWSP didn't exactly do a good job of letting us know.

[sybylla]

4. Superintendent of Public Instruction was the only race on the ballot

so it didn't get much attention. I thought about posting a reminder yesterday, but I ran out of time.

Sorry you missed it. Burmaster absolutely stomped the opposition. It would be nice to see the numbers hold til election on April 5th but I'm not that naive. But it is indicative of the fact that the pukes didn't do a very good job of getting their constituency out to vote. Either Underheim doesn't motivate them or the pukes dropped the ball. Either way, it will be an interesting two months.

[Lisaben2619]

5. In one of the local debates

Underheim said that our Oshkosh school district could save some money by replacing teachers with computers.
Though....if he wouldn't be such a complete diastater for the state, we sure would like to have a different representative in the Assembly.
He seems to know he can't win so is either developing a statewide donor base (like he did in '96) or has seen the writing on the wall since Gard considers him to be a moderate. He campaigned as a "moderate Republican."

[rodeodance]

6. he used to be my rep. when I lived in oshkosh, i did not think much of

him, nor do I know. When reading the story above--it says he can find alternative ways to finance schooling, but it does not provide any examples.
He always was a lot of talk and no action!!

[MessiahRp]

8. Underheim is a slime

He used (and partnered up with) an overzealous Green Party schmuck named Tony Palmeri to divide up the vote and beat an extremely qualified and caring Democrat in Gordon Hintz by the slimmest of margins this past November when all along he had no intention of fulfilling his elected term.

I guess this is just one of many different State jobs he has applied to run for so he's desperately trying to screw the City of Oshkosh of any sort of representation down in Madison.

There's also a lot to be said for the fact that there was a ton of controversy regarding the signatures Underheim used to get on the DPI ballot and that he may have gotten on via fraud.

The guy is a loser and has won via incumbency alone for many years. Palmeri was willing to help him and work in cahoots with him when he realized not only was he not going to win but he wasn't even close to the best progressive candidate out there. So he assembled his Green Party followers in the city and entrenched them in an "I'd rather lose to the worst right winger in the area than vote for someone who agrees with my values just because he's a Democrat" Nader-suicide quest.

Rp

[Jimbo S]

7. "Burmaster, Underheim advance easily to finals"

As long as I don't hear about Linda Cross. I got sooooooo tired of her real quick a long time ago, and she just wouldn't go away.