BPR "In a possible precursor of an upcoming red wave, Republican state representative Samantha Kerkman won the election on Tuesday for the office of Kenosha County, Wisconsin, executive.
"A Democrat has held the position in the swing county for at least 25 years.
"Jim Kreuser, the current executive, served in the position since 2008, but announced last May that he was retiring.
"The self-described conservative defeated Democrat court official Rebecca Matoska-Mentink by a margin of approximately 51 percent to 48 percent of the vote for the job that has a four-year term in what is described as a non-partisan contest. The party affiliations of the candidates weren’t, however, a secret.
"Kerkman, 47, thus becomes the first female executive for the county, which is located about 6o miles from Chicago and 40 miles from Milwaukee, and only the fifth person to hold that position.
" 'I think it was the experience that I bring from [the legislature in] Madison,” the taxpayer-friendly, business-friendly Kerkman told the Kenosha News. “I have been working with the county executive for years on issues that impact the county.' ”
E Hoffman