
Voting at the Chazen Museum of Art in the February primary.
Outside spending in Wisconsin’s race for state superintendent has topped $1 million, the most ever spent by special interests trying to influence the officially nonpartisan race, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said Monday.
The group tracks spending on political campaigns, including the one to be decided Tuesday. The race for Department of Public Instruction secretary pits Pecatonica school district superintendent Jill Underly against former Brown Deer superintendent Deb Kerr.
Underly has the backing of the state teachers union and a wide array of Democrats, while Kerr is favored by many conservatives, including former Gov. Scott Walker.
To date, $797,600 has been spent by groups supporting Underly or opposing Kerr. The American Federation for Children, a group that supports private school vouchers which Kerr also favors, has spent $209,000 to help her in the race, according to the Democracy Campaign.
The biggest spender helping Underly was the liberal group A Better Wisconsin Together, which has put $778,000 into the race. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin spent $16,295 and the state teachers union, Wisconsin Education Association Council, spent just over $110 on postcards for Underly.
The previous record high for spending by outside groups in this race was nearly $694,000 in 2009, the year that now-Gov. Tony Evers was first elected state superintendent.
The state superintendent seat is open for the first time in more than a decade after Evers, who won statewide elections to head the agency for three consecutive four-year terms, assumed Wisconsin’s highest office. Current state Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor was appointed by Evers in January 2019 after he won the 2018 governor’s race. She did not seek election this year.
Also on the ballot are county and municipal races and referendums, several school spending referendums and a couple of special elections for the Legislature.
In Madison, all 20 City Council seats are up for election. Of those, 11 are contested.
Madison voters are also being asked to weigh in on four referendums relating to the future composition of the council. The referendums ask whether the council should stay part-time with members paid about $13,700 or move to full-time, to be paid between $45,000 and $71,000; stick with 20 members or be increased or decreased; change from two-year to four-year terms; and have term limits of 12 consecutive years.
The referendums are advisory, but a strong showing on any or all of the questions could influence what council members do.
In the legislative races, Republican state Rep. John Jagler, of Watertown, faces Democrat Melissa Winker for the 13th Senate district vacated by Scott Fitzgerald when he was elected to Congress in November. Jagler was first elected to the Assembly in 2012. Winker previously ran for Assembly in both 2018 and 2020 but lost.
In the 89th Assembly District, which includes the city of Marinette, Republican Elijah Behnke faces Democrat Karl Jaeger. Behnke owns a cleaning business and is a former youth pastor, while Jaeger ran for the seat in 2020 and lost. That seat was open after Republican John Nygren resigned from the Legislature.
Polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission strongly encourages voters to wear face coverings at polling places due to the COVID-19 pandemic, though they are not required.
Voters must show a photo ID, though the address on the ID does not have to match a voter’s current address in a poll book. Voters are allowed to register at polling places if they also present proof of residency, such as a utility bill.
More information on registration status and polling places can be found at myvote.wi.gov.
Photos: Election 2020 voting

Poll worker MacGregor Wale greets voters Tuesday at the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison.

Poll worker Crystal Schoen greets election day voters Tuesday at the Catholic Multicultural Center in Madison.

People wait to vote at Elver Park in Madison on Tuesday morning. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and a record number of absentee ballots cast, many voters said they felt more secure casting ballots in person in what most agreed is the most consequential election of their lifetime.

Keizan Sato works with absentee ballots Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison's North Side.

Election Day voting at Mendota Elementary School on Madison's Northside.

Esther Martin, left, and Keizan Sato process absentee ballots Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison's North Side.

Poll worker Paul Hartwig wipes down voting booths Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison's North Side.

Chief inspector Pat Butler oversees voting Tuesday at Mendota Elementary School on Madison's North Side.

Voters in the town of Wrightstown, south of De Pere, placed their once-used pens in a bucket after voting as part of the town's efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 on Election Day.

Voters in the town of Wrightstown, south of De Pere, voted in every other booth to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

Voters enter the town of Wrightstown polling place in Brown County Tuesday.

About 80 people were in line at the polling site at the Swan Club in De Pere when the polls opened Tuesday. Brown County is a key area of the state for both presidential candidates.

Voters wait in line on the dance floor at the Swan Club, a banquet hall — and today, a polling place — in the Brown County city of De Pere.

A poll worker handles voting slips Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison's East Side.

Buck Rhyme, middle, checks in a voter before handing out a ballot slip Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison's East Side.

Voters wait to check in Tuesday at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Madison's East Side.

After receiving her ballot from poll worker Sharon Gaskill, right, Hailey Zimmerman prepares to vote at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Poll worker Kris Antonie processes absentee ballots at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Town of Vermont, Wis. clerk Katie Zelle shares a space designated for election observers while waiting for voters at the Vermont Town Hall Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Peter Antonie and his wife, Kris, process absentee ballots at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Pens used by voters share a tray at the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

A former one room schoolhouse, which now serves as the Vermont Town Hall in Vermont, Wis., opened it doors to voters participating in the 2020 fall election Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Chief inspector Don Eggert hands a sealed bag of absentee ballots to poll workers Alice Howard, left, and Courtney Bartunek to be counted Tuesday at the Boys and Girls Club polling place on Madison's South West Side. Howard and Bartunek were among Madison's 3,993 first-time poll workers.

Michelle Masterson takes a selfie in front of the "I Voted Today" sign outside Oregon Village Hall polling place in Oregon, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

First Lutheran Church polling place in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Poll worker Joyce Kaping cleans a protection barrier during down time between voters at First Lutheran Church polling place in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

A sign outside a polling place at the fire station in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Samantha Nelson casts her vote, with her daughter and nieces by her side, at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Voter Hunter Payne, 21, right, goes over information with poll worker Jenny Baeseman before receiving his ballot at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Maureen Nortridge fills out her ballot at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Poll workers, including Stoughton High School students, David Stracener, left, and Amelia Rhinerson, with Heidi Heffron-Clark, at right, process absentee ballots at First Lutheran Church in Stoughton, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Sandra Dickman fills out her ballot in a tent at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Voter Alexander Boatwright, left, checks his address with poll workers Karen Carlson and Anders Clark, right, in a tent used as a polling location at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Poll worker Candace McDowell directs a voter inside a tent used as a polling place at Elver Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL