Wauwatosa's new Common Council will look a lot like the old one after the April election. Only four of the 12 races are contested, and that means at least seven incumbents are likely to return to the municipal governing body.
The list of candidates was released by the City Clerk's Office after the 5 p.m. Jan. 6 deadline passed for residents to file their nominating papers. Despite the large number of uncontested elections, the candidate list also indicates that several new members are on track to be elected to the council on April 7.
The incumbents running unopposed are Brad Foley in District 1, Rob Gustafson in District 5, Sean Lowe in District 6, Joe Phillips in District 7, Robin Brannin in District 9 and Amanda Fuerst in District 10.
In District 3, Ernst Franzen also is seeking re-election and will face newcomer Mark Peters. And in District 11, two incumbents will be on the ballot: Mike Morgan and Melissa Dolan.
The only two other contested elections are District 4, where Amanda Saso and Sean Hurley have declared candidacies, and District 8, which will choose between Michael Indy Stluka and Matthew Wicker. All four of those would be newcomers to the council, though Stluka previously ran for council in 2024 and lost.
Visit the Tosa Election Tracker for more on each district.
The remaining two elections are uncontested: Derek Collins in District 2 and Scott Small in District 12.
Separately, Municipal Judge Krista LaFave has declared her candidacy for re-election and will not face an opponent in this election.
The April 7 election will mark the Wauwatosa Common Council's transition from a 16-member body to 12 members, under a plan that was endorsed previously by voters. Instead of two members elected to each of eight geographic districts, the 12 newly elected members will represent their own districts, with no overlap.
To implement staggered terms for the new 12-member configuration, those elected from odd-numbered districts will begin serving two-year terms while even-numbered districts will elect members to four-year terms. Terms will be a standard four years after that.
The nonpartisan positions will come with annual pay of $7,200 starting this term. Essentially anyone who lives in Wauwatosa and is qualified to vote can run for the council, and they had a five-week window, from Dec. 1 to Jan. 6, to collect the 20-40 signatures required to get on the ballot.
The final list of candidates confirms what several current council members had told Tosa Forward News, that they would not be running for re-election, including Margaret Arney, Andrew Meindl and James Moldenhauer and Jason Wilke.
In addition, Joseph Makhlouf, David Lewis and Aletha Champine will not return to the ballot and are scheduled to step down after the new council is elected.
