Schools

Incumbent Lynn Kristensen Ousted from Hamilton School Board

Candidate who misspelled her own name on petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker from office loses to challenger by 2-to-1 margin.

Hamilton School Board member Lynn Kristensen, who came under fire for , lost handily in her bid for re-election Tuesday.

Final unofficial results show that challenger Brian Schneider defeated Kristensen by 3,295 to 1,573 β€” taking 68 percent of the votes cast in the race for the Menomonee Falls seat on the School Board.

Results show Schneider outpolling Kristensen, who has been on the board since 2006, in each of the six communities that make up the .

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In Sussex, 71 percent of the votes cast were for Schneider; in Menomonee Falls, it was was 65 percent.

Kristensen was the target of criticism just prior to the election when it was learned that not only did she sign the recall petition, but that her name also was misspelled on it.

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On the Walker recall petition Kristensen's name is listed asΒ "Lynn Kirstense," however, her correct address in Menomonee Falls is listed.

It was later learned that she signed her name the same way on the Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) recall in April 2011 making critics even more upset about the alleged purposeful misspelling.

For her part, Kristensen insisted she did not intend to mislead anyone.

Why would I have put my correct address down if I was trying to be misleading? If it's spelled incorrectly, it's because of a data entry mistake," she told the Sussex Sun.

There's no way of knowing how much of an effect Kristensen signing the recall petition had on the outcome of Tuesday's race, but a couple of voters that Patch talked said it was a factor.

"I voted against her because she signed her name on the recall," said Susan, who wouldn't give her last name. "I'm not that well versed in the local elections, but I heard she signed it and that was enough to not vote for her."


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