Wahner advances to November ballot

Voters in Douglas County opted to send the register of deeds back to office for another term.

With all precincts reporting in Douglas County, Register of Deeds Gayle Wahner held onto her seat against Democratic newcomer Mike Kapalin by a 3-to-1 margin.

Wahner was first elected to office in 2006, and has served as the register of deeds ever since.

The office is responsible for recording documents pertaining to real estate, births, deaths, marriages and military discharges. The office records more than 10,000 documents annually and is responsible for helping the public, banks, lawyers and abstract firms access those records.

Wahner heads into the November election unchallenged on the ballot.

Kapalin, who works in facilities management at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, said he decided to run for the office after talking to people around Douglas County that have used the Register of Deeds Office. His goal was to access the needs of the office, and create a more customer-service oriented atmosphere.

Since taking office in 2006, Wahner’s goal has been to bring public records to the masses by making them available over the internet, and improve the accuracy of the records her office is oversees.

The register of deeds race may not be the most glamorous race on a ballot that pits four Republicans against one another in a statewide race for a U.S. Senate seat to be vacated when U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., retires at the end of his fourth term.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson was holding a modest lead over challengers with about 76 percent precincts reporting in the statewide race. Madison businessman Eric Hovde, former congressman and businessman Mark Neumann and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitgerald are vying for the seat.

Thompson carried 34 percent of the vote in the four-way race at Telegram press time.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary faces Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, the only Democrat in the race in November.

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