Whitewater residents filled the city’s polling places to cast their votes in the 2026 Wisconsin Spring General Election April 7. In this election, voters filled positions ranging from the Common Council to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Candidate Orin Smith won the at-large (even) Common Council seat with 920 votes, compared to candidate Aubrey Thompson’s 700 votes. Smith expressed his gratitude for being reelected, as well as the kindness he received from his opponent.
“I am honored to have been reelected and represent the city on the Whitewater Common Council for the 2026-2028 term,” Smith said in an Instagram post. “I am so grateful that this election remained civil between all candidates, and I am particularly grateful for the kindness I experienced when interacting with my opponent, Aubrey. I hope you will continue to share your concerns with the Council.”
In District 2, candidate Gavin Kelleher beat his opponent, Sean Liebherr, with 190 votes compared to Liebherr’s 46.
“The biggest emotion I felt after winning the election was excitement. I am excited to start working for the city and learning as much as I can,” Kelleher said.
Now that Kelleher has retained the District 2 seat, he plans to put his campaign agenda into motion. Focusing on the topics of supporting the Whitewater immigrant population and holding landlords accountable, Kelleher hopes to learn while in the seat and grow with his community.
“Now that I’ve won, my top priority is to learn as much as possible,” Kelleher said. “Keeping my promises means delivering on the three simple priorities I set out with. Being visible and accessible to my community, supporting our immigrant communities and holding our landlords accountable. I can achieve those things by using my new position to bring awareness to those issues and voting to support those priorities.”
The District 4 seat was won by candidate Brian Schanen with 375 votes compared to his opponent Chuck Mills’ 210. Schanen is excited about his win and ready to get to work for his community.
“There are a number of ideas that developed over the course of the campaign,” Schanen said. “I am excited to get to work on them and continue working to make Whitewater a better place. Winning District 4 means a lot to me. The residents have entrusted me to represent and work for them.”
Now that he has won his seat, Schanen is not slowing down. He is working to put the plans created during his campaign into action.
Schanen says he is focusing on creating reforms for better city spending, updating ethical ordinance, finding ways to relieve taxes on residents and looking at how he can better support city parks.
As for the Whitewater Unified School District (WUSD) school board elections, candidates Stephanie Hicks and Lisa Huempfner were reelected to the board. These board members plan to continue their goals of making the WUSD better for students.
In addition to voting in Common Council and School Board races, residents voted in the Walworth County Supervisor Districts 3 and 4. Brian Holt won District 3 and Tyler Schneider won District 4.
While Maria S. Lazar won the majority of votes in Walworth County, Chris Taylor won the vote for Supreme Court justice seat overall. Taylor’s victory pushes the Wisconsin Supreme Court to a liberal majority at 5-2. Taylor’s win also puts the Court at a majority of women justices, now standing at 6-1.
The next election will be the partisan primary election Aug. 11.
