30 votes decide 98th Assembly race

Posted: Feb. 20, 2013

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Neylon

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Adam Neylon, the small business owner of Neylon Group (a window cleaning company in Waukesha) and former aide to Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner and Rep. Bill Kramer, will be moving on to represent the 98th Assembly District in Madison soon.

"First and foremost, I have to thank my campaign staff and the people who stuck behind me, even from the beginning when I was considered to be a long shot," Neylon said. "The first priority for me will be the state budget. When I get sworn in, it will be April and we'll already be in the middle of that."

Although Tuesday's election was a primary, with no opponent registered for the April general election, Neylon is essentially a shoo-in.

The race was a close one, with only 30 votes separating the top two candidates. Neylon finished with 2,003 and Ed Baumann, Village of Pewaukee police chief, followed closely with 1,973. Jeanne Tarantino, former chief of staff in Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch's office, clocked in with 773 votes. Matt Morzy, Marquette graduate student, garnered 253 and Todd Greenwald, construction project manager, came in with 215.

"I think we ran a really good campaign, and we worked really hard to meet with voters and share my experience with them. But the voters have chosen," Tarantino said. While she has no immediate plans to get back into the political sphere, she said that she's looking forward to reconnecting with her three children.

"I'm obviously disappointed in the results, but I'm really happy with the campaign I ran, with the short amount of time and financials; I'm happy with it," Greenwald said. He added that he isn't committed to any future career in politics but he'd consider something "if the right opportunity is there and it's the right fit."

"Ronald Reagan once said that we are never defeated unless we give up on God. This was an amazing journey that unfortunately it did not end up the way I wanted. Adam (Neylon) will do a great job in Madison and will be a champion of conservative issues for years to come," Morzy said.

"It was a terrific, very interesting experience like nothing I had ever done. It was completely different from anything I had to do, during the last two months. I am very happy and very proud of the people that I worked with. I'm proud of the platform that I stood for. I'm proud of the way the campaign was run, it was a grass roots campaign and I think everything was very ethical and very clean," Baumann said. He's already called Neylon to congratulate him.

The results of the election will not be official until they are canvassed. Outstanding absentee ballots, too, could tip the scales, especially in such a tight race.

A recount is possible. Baumann said he's not sure if there will be a recount but said "we'll see what happens" in the coming days.

Any candidate can file a verified petition before 5 p.m. on the third business day after an election. They can specify the wards where a recount is desired, and an opposing candidate will then have the opportunity to file their own petition for a recount in any of the remaining wards or municipalities.

Voter turnout was modest in most municipalities. The Village of Pewaukee had 856 votes cast, a 16-percent turnout. The City of Pewaukee had 17 percent with 1,869 ballots cast. In the Village of Sussex, 931 voters came to the polls, a 13.3-percent turnout. The Town of Lisbon carried 939 votes, representing 13.6 percent. The City of Waukesha cast 1,827 votes, about an 11 percent turnout.

Adam Neylon 2,003

Ed Baumann 1,973

Jeanne Tarantino 773

Matt Morzy 253

Todd Greenwald 215