Michael Rust tops LaKeisha Haase in judge race, Menasha elects youngest mayor. Here are Tuesday’s full election results in Winnebago County.

Justin Marville, Oshkosh Northwestern
Updated ·9 min read
Michael D. Rust
Michael D. Rust

OSHKOSH ― Michael Rust is moving up to the bench.

The onetime court commissioner is now a circuit judge, having been elected to a six-year term for Winnebago County Circuit Court Branch 1 by upending outgoing common council member LaKeisha Haase in Tuesday’s spring election.

According to unofficial results, Rust received 15,699 votes to finish with 53% of the vote while Haase had 47% of the vote after tallying 13,876 votes.

"I am honored and excited that the people of Winnebago County have entrusted me to be their next Judge," Rust told the Northwestern.

"My sincere thanks to Attorney Haase for a tough but positive campaign.

"I have served the people of Winnebago County for almost 12 years and I am looking forward to continuing to serve them in this new capacity," he added.

Rust’s elevation proved to be a massive turnaround from February’s primary, where he garnered just 28.2% of the vote as opposed to Haase’s 46.2%.

The result also ended Haase’s latest bid to return to the bench after she lost a reelection bid for Branch 4 two years ago and then failed to unseat Branch 2 incumbent Scott Woldt in a very contentious 2023 race.

"I want to begin by expressing my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout this journey," said Haase in her concession speech.

"Those of you who have supported me and continue to support me are the reason I continue to fight for the community and fight for what is right."

Restaurant owner Kris Larson, attorney DJ Nichols and outgoing Winnebago County Board Supervisor Jacob Floam are set to fill the three empty seats on Oshkosh Common Council after they finished as the three top vote-getters.

Larson received 23.1% of the vote while Nichols and Floam had 22.1% and 19.2%, respectively, to hold off Thomas Asuma (17.9%) and Kristopher Ulrich (17.8%) in a closely contested race.

Nichols, Floam and Larson will be replacing Haase, Deputy Mayor Lynnsey Erickson and Michael Ford, who all opted not to seek re-election.

Kristopher Karns was unable to retain his seat on the Oshkosh Area School District Board, as challenger Timothy Hess was able joined board president Beth Wyman and fellow incumbent Chris Wright as the three top vote-getters.

Wyman led all candidates with 28.1% of the vote while Hess garnered 25.3% and Wright finished with 24.7%. Karns finished on the outside looking in with 21.9%.

In Omro, Mayor Steve Jungwirth earned another term in office by comfortably staving off political newcomer Suzette Davis-Rice. Jungwirth tallied 445 votes for 68% of the vote while toppling Davis-Rice (32%).

Steve Jungwirth
Steve Jungwirth

26-year-old Austin Hammond became the youngest mayor in the history of the City of Menasha when he held off fellow council member Rebecca Nichols by 102 votes to succeed outgoing Mayor Don Merkes.

Reports from Winnebago and Calumet counties showed Hammond received 1,678 votes, or 51.6%, just ahead of Nichols, who tallied 1,576 (48.4%).

Nichols also lost the race for mayor in 2020 to Merkes, who opted not to seek re-election for another term after spending 16 years in office.

Thirteen new supervisors will be taking their seats on an overhauled Winnebago County Board following Tuesday’s massive shakeup where all 36 positions were up for election.

Up next is the partisan primary on Aug.13 ahead of the Nov.5 general election.

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Here's a look at Tuesday's results.

Presidential Preference

  • Democratic – 13,111

  • Republican – 14,268

Democratic President of the United States

  • Joe Biden – 12,928

  • Dean Phillips – 483

  • Uninstructed Delegation – 804

  • Write-in – 120

Republican President of the United States

  • Chris Christie – 283

  • Vivek Ramaswamy – 127

  • Ron DeSantis – 558

  • Nikki Haley – 2,137

  • Donald Trump – 12,308

  • Uninstructed Delegation – 338

  • Write-in – 57

Circuit Court Judge, Branch 1

  • Michael D. Rust – 15,669

  • LaKeisha D. Haase – 13,876

  • Write-in – 26

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County Supervisor, District 1

  • Rachel Dowling – 544

  • Write-in – 8

County Supervisor, District 2

  • KristL Laux – 430

  • Jake Ackmann – 277

  • Write-in – 1

County Supervisor, District 3

  • Write-in – 55

County Supervisor, District 4

  • Jeff Lutz – 608

  • Write-in – 10

County Supervisor, District 5

  • Kay Horan – 365

  • Stefanie A. Holt – 435

  • Write-in – 2

County Supervisor, District 6

  • Jason Kraayvanger – 296

  • Lucas Reinke – 365

  • Write-in – 7

County Supervisor, District 7

  • Kate Hancock-Cooke – 592

  • Betsy Ellenberger – 575

  • Write-in – 3

County Supervisor, District 8

  • Jim Wise – 456

  • Write-in – 7

County Supervisor, District 9

  • Donald Nussbaum – 534

  • Write-in – 8

County Supervisor, District 10

  • Bryan Stafford – 502

  • Timothy Jacobson – 369

  • Write-in – 8

County Supervisor, District 11

  • Tim Paterson – 335

  • Jeffrey H. Schettl – 262

  • Write-in – 9

County Supervisor, District 12

  • Maribeth Gabert – 567

  • Write-in – 8

County Supervisor, District 13

  • Steven Binder – 331

  • Write-in – 11

County Supervisor, District 14

  • Tom Swan – 490

  • Write-in – 151

County Supervisor, District 15

  • E. Michael Robinson – 285

  • Amber Lyn Gilbertson – 375

  • Write-in – 4

County Supervisor, District 16

  • Christian Mueller – 89

  • Bob Knudsen – 73

  • Write-in – 1

County Supervisor, District 17

  • Write-in – 31

County Supervisor, District 18

  • James Ponzer – 438

  • Write-in – 13

County Supervisor, District 19

  • Joshua Belville – 356

  • Larry Lautenschlager – 323

  • Write-in – 7

County Supervisor, District 20

  • Tim Macho – 312

  • Eric R. Vlach – 176

  • Write-in – 6

County Supervisor, District 21

  • John Hinz – 445

  • Jeff Lawrence – 246

  • Write-in – 3

County Supervisor, District 22

  • Doug Zellmer – 561

  • Write-in – 12

County Supervisor, District 23

  • Koby Schellenger – 546

  • Write-in – 9

County Supervisor, District 24

  • Sarah Nelson – 426

  • Andy Buck – 521

  • Write-in – 1

County Supervisor, District 25

  • Karen D. Powers – 496

  • Scott A. Perzentka – 458

  • Write-in – 2

County Supervisor, District 26

  • Conley Hanson – 390

  • Write-in – 4

County Supervisor, District 27

  • Morris Cox – 551

  • Write-in – 10

County Supervisor, District 28

  • Nate Gustafson – 647

  • Write-in – 6

County Supervisor, District 29

  • George E. Bureau – 402

  • Benjamin S. Frank – 322

County Supervisor, District 30

  • Chuck Farrey – 907

  • Write-in – 9

County Supervisor, District 31

  • Ralph D. Harrison, Sr. – 885

  • Write-in – 6

County Supervisor, District 32

  • Frank Frassetto – 656

  • Robert T. Keller – 538

  • Write-in – 5

County Supervisor, District 33

  • Thomas J. Egan – 851

  • Write-in – 5

County Supervisor, District 34

  • Ed Jeziorny – 253

  • Tim O’Brien – 624

  • Write-in – 2

County Supervisor, District 35

  • Douglas Nelson – 801

  • Write-in – 63

County Supervisor, District 36

  • Howard Miller – 525

  • Write-in - 106

Town of Algoma Supervisor

  • Patricia Petey Clark – 979

  • Dan Martin – 865

  • Write-in – 22

Town of Clayton Supervisor 3

  • Patti Christianson – 586

  • Write-in – 12

Town of Clayton Supervisor 4

  • Terry Haase – 294

  • Scott C. Reif – 397

  • Write-in – 6

Town of Neenah Supervisor

  • David Bluma – 451

  • Jim Weiss – 575

  • Write-in – 3

Town of Winneconne Supervisor

  • Dale Burghardt – 375

  • Ryan Koch – 356

  • Write-in – 9

Village of Fox Crossing Trustee 1

  • Michael Van Dyke – 2,169

  • Write-in – 18

Village of Fox Crossing Trustee 3

  • Nicholas Gebert – 956

  • Gregory J. Ziegler – 1,430

  • Write-in – 15

Village of Fox Crossing Trustee 5

  • Deb Swiertz – 2,025

  • Write-in – 15

Village of Winneconne Trustee

  • Gary K. Witzke – 231

  • Joshua S. Janikowski – 259

  • Jaci Stelzner – 287

  • Miles Girouard – 228

  • Write-in – 5

City of Menasha Mayor

  • Austin R. Hammond – 1,678

  • Rebecca Nichols – 1,576

  • Write-in – 13

City of Menasha Alderperson, District 2

  • Sandra Dabill Taylor – 135

  • Rosita Eisenach – 194

  • Write-in – 1

City of Menasha Alderperson, District 4

  • Terri Perkins – 237

  • Write-in – 4

City of Menasha Alderperson, District 6

  • Tom Marshall – 129

  • Write-in – 0

City of Neenah Alderperson, District 1

  • Mark A. Ellis – 910

  • Kristen Sandvick – 697

  • Write-in – 4

City of Neenah Alderperson, District 2

  • Brian D. Borchardt – 1,397

  • Write-in – 26

City of Neenah Alderperson, District 3

  • Jeffrey Linski – 670

  • William Pollnow Jr. – 689

  • Write-in – 18

City of Omro Mayor

  • Steve Jungwirth – 445

  • Suzette Davis-Rice – 209

  • Write-in – 2

City of Omro Council Member

  • David Wiese – 416

  • Jason A. Reeves – 394

  • Cindy Ostrander – 405

  • Write-in – 17

City of Omro Municipal Judge

  • Jeffrey L. Kratz – 500

  • Write-in – 2

City of Oshkosh Council Member

  • Kristopher Ulrich – 3,783

  • Kris Larson – 4,905

  • Jacob Floam – 4,078

  • Tom Asuma – 3,804

  • DJ Nichols – 4,689

  • Write-in – 73

Friendship Consolidated Sanitary Commissioner

  • Raella Florea – 7

Berlin Area School Board

  • Jim Carriveau – 92

  • Catherine L. Kujawa – 91

  • Beth Paskey-Cook – 74

  • Jake Fox – 53

  • Write-in – 1

Menasha Joint School Board

  • Mary Jean MJ Shimek – 2,196

  • Chad E. Lewis – 1,984

  • Steve L. Thompson – 2,079

  • Write-in - 77

Neenah Joint School Board

  • Jeb Pfeifle – 3,466

  • Roxanne Schwandt-Knutson – 3,572

  • Brian Epley – 4,218

  • Alex Corrigan – 3,772

  • Susan Garcia Franz – 3,772

  • Chari Long – 3,485

  • Write-in - 76

New London School Board

  • Mark W. Grossman – 16

  • Nate Grundy – 12

  • Katie Batten – 12

  • Write-in - 1

Omro School Board

  • Kattie Stenson – 731

  • Jennifer Schmick – 969

  • Darla M. Fink – 822

  • Eric Thon – 701

  • Write-in - 29

Oshkosh Area School Board

  • Timothy Hess – 6,566

  • Beth Wyman – 7,315

  • Kristopher Karns – 5,687

  • Chris Wright – 6,430

  • Write-in - 108

Ripon Area School Board

  • Lori Machmueller – 76

  • Shannon Lampe – 46

  • Kelly Nielsen – 89

  • Denise K. Martinez – 87

  • Katie Grady – 81

  • Write-in – 3

Rosendale-Brandon School Board, Brandon Area

  • Jack Meyer – 0

  • Mandy Lemmenes – 1

  • Write-in – 0

Rosendale-Brandon School Board, Rosendale Area

  • Shane Bauer – 1

  • Jennifer Riedeman – 1

  • Write-in – 0

Weyauwega-Fremont School Board, City of Weyauwega

  • Nancy E. Gorchals – 102

  • Brandon J. Leschke – 57

  • Write-in - 2

Weyauwega-Fremont School Board, Towns of Bloomfield and Wolf River

  • Brad Gerrits – 114

  • Wally Sedlar – 45

  • Write-in - 1

Winneconne Community School Board

  • Donna J. Hanson – 1,314

  • Dean Ackmann – 1,440

  • Jill Verich – 1,324

  • Write-in - 63

State Referendum – Q1: Use of Private Funds

  • Yes – 14,393

  • No – 11,068

State Referendum – Q2: Election Officials

  • Yes – 15,131

  • No – 10,272

Town of Nepeuskun Municipal Referendum

  • Yes – 105

  • No – 59

Town of Utica Municipal Referendum – Q1

  • Yes – 110

  • No – 191

Town of Utica Municipal Referendum – Q2

  • Yes – 108

  • No –193

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Winnebago County election results: Michael Rust tops LaKeisha Haase