Informing Democracy reviewed Wisconsin County Clerks ahead of the Spring 2025 elections to identify officials who could pose a threat to free and fair elections. Of the 72 County Clerks reviewed, five had concerning findings in their backgrounds, about 7 percent. In a review done last year of Wisconsin’s County Boards of Canvass members – who will be remaining in their positions to administer the 2025 elections – 12 of 129 members of County Boards of Canvass had concerning findings in their backgrounds.
Concerning findings do not mean an official will seek to undermine the next election, just as a lack of findings is not a guarantee an official will faithfully execute their duties. This research provides guidance on where attention should be focused to ensure that elections are administered properly according to the law. Notably, research showed that the vast majority of local election officials are dedicated public servants, committed to running free and fair elections.
Nine Wisconsin county election officials – two County Clerks and seven members of Boards of Canvassers – publicly denied or questioned the results of the 2020 election. Liana Glavin, who has served as the Clerk of Adams County since 2022, amplified false claims regarding the 2020 election on social media, including stolen election claims and attacks on mail voting. Brown County Clerk Patrick Moynihan accused Democrats of committing voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and in 2024 down-ballot elections. Moynihan also trivialized the January 6th insurrection, shared conspiracies, and pushed for Republicans to investigate Democrats on the January 6th investigation committee.
In a review done last year, Informing Democracy identified two members of County Boards of Canvass as supporting efforts to subvert fair administration of elections. Mary Magdalen Moser, a Kenosha County Canvasser, filed an unsuccessful complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission seeking a ruling that Kenosha broke the law by working with private corporations to assist with election administration. A press release on the complaint accused the city of participating “in an unlawful scheme to privatize the 2020 elections in order to benefit presidential candidate Joe Biden.” The complaint attacked funding received from the Center for Tech and Civil Life, an organization that granted money to help local governments administer elections during the pandemic, and that has subsequently become the target of election deniers. In December 2021, the Wisconsin Elections Commission found “the Complaint does not raise probable cause to believe that a violation of law or abuse of discretion has occurred.” Kewaunee County Canvasser Ron Heuer serves as president of Wisconsin Voter Alliance, an organization that promoted the Big Lie and sued to overturn Biden’s Wisconsin win. Heuer also worked for Michael Gableman’s sham review of the 2020 elections. Heuer’s organization, which was described by the Wisconsin Examiner as “a right-wing election conspiracy group” that has “spent years casting doubt on the results of the 2020 election by alleging fraud,” is currently suing Wisconsin in another election-related case that is being heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
In 2024, Washington County Clerk Ashley Reichert pushed an “Election Integrity Package” that appeared to be in response to election denial conspiracies, including funding for municipal-level hand count election audits, security cameras to surveil drop boxes, and buying back central county machines. Reichert previously sought to perform a full hand recount of the 2022 election, an initiative that was praised by conservative news site Gateway Pundit. Reichert also wanted to program the voting machines in-house, rather than contracting with Dominion Voting Systems. While her actions were not necessarily nefarious, they may have helped increase public distrust in voting machines. Taylor County Clerk Andria Farrand promoted social media content that stated that Democrats “let anyone vote,” and posted the 2024 GOP Platform on Facebook in September 2024, which included the line, “Secure our Elections, including same day voting, voter identification, paper ballots, and proof of citizenship.”
An encouraging finding in this research was the number of Wisconsin County Clerks defending the fairness of their elections across the political spectrum. Some Clerks framed election denialism as a distraction from efficient election administration rather than calling out the behavior outright. Several of these individuals defended their own county’s processes in the press and made assurances that their county’s election procedures were without fault.
Melanie Stake, Waushara County’s newly-elected County Clerk, went on the record praising Kamala Harris for accepting the 2024 election outcome. Similarly, many of Wisconsin’s reelected County Clerks have been dogged defenders of free and fair elections. Oconto County Clerk Kim Pytleski has been a leading voice pushing back against election denial since the 2020 election, acknowledging that her Republican Party affiliation helped insulate her from backlash. Lincoln County’s Christopher Marlowe called his county’s election integrity “second to none,” and Oneida County’s Tracy Hartman said, “something that I've really tried pushing out to Oneida County residents when they call and express concerns with the voting machines, that they are audited and they are accurate. Very seldom do we see any errors and it's usually human error that causes that.” Discussing ongoing skepticism about the fairness of elections, Door County Clerk Jill Lau defended the system and the people tasked with running it: “It's important to think about who runs your elections: It's your friends, your neighbors, and it's not easy. The clerks take it on the front end.... I think people don't appreciate that.”