By Mike Warren

MARSHFIELD – Bob McManus and Lois TeStrake will square off in the race for the mayor’s office in Marshfield. They were the top two vote-getters among three candidates in the Feb. 15 primary election, which eliminated third-place finisher Ken Bargender.

McManus was the top vote-getter, with 1,148.

“I’m incredibly thankful and grateful for what the voters did”, McManus told the Hub City Times during a Feb. 17 interview. “I’m looking forward to continuing to go out there and talk to people and let them know what the plans are, and see what their plans are, what their needs are, because this is about the people.”

TeStrake was the second-place finisher in the three-way race, with 1,133 – just 15 votes behind McManus. The primary day results were bittersweet for TeStrake, who on the same day she won a spot on the April ballot, lost her mother Rita Wiesman at the age of 90.

“I am very humbled, and my heart is full of sorrow, but joy,” TeStrake told the Hub City Times.

Bargender, who was one of eight common council members to vote last March to remove McManus from the mayor’s office over misconduct allegations, finished a distant third in the primary race, with 513 votes.

“I thought that was very interesting”, said McManus, when asked for his reaction to the results. “It just shows there are a lot of people in the city that saw everything that happened, and they made their own determination. And the people’s vote is what counts, and that’s why I was so happy to get that support from the citizens.”

As for TeStrake, she is looking ahead to the spring election April 5.

“I’m hoping people are going to reach out and learn with me,”she added.” This is my whole premise for running for Mayor. I want it to be our town, not their town and ours. It’s all of us together.”

TeStrake is making her first attempt at public office. McManus was elected Marshfield’s mayor in 2018 and reelected in 2020, before being removed from office in March of 2021 over allegations he deleted text messages.

School District Results

Meanwhile, voters in the School District of Marshfield sent four of five candidates on to the April 5 spring election.

Incumbent Dale Yakaites was the top vote-getter, with 1,876. Iddi Adam finished in second place with 1,695 votes. Alanna Feddick-Goodwin secured her spot on the April ballot with 1,443 votes. Cathy Gorst grabbed the fourth and final spot in April’s election with 1,439 votes.

The primary election eliminated Rebecca Oliver, who finished a distant fifth by garnering 573 supporters.

The top two vote-getters in the April 5 election will win three-year terms on the board of education. Incumbent Dr. Kajal Sitwala, who won a write-in campaign three years ago, is not running for reelection. She currently holds one of two seats up for election this year. The other is held by Yakaites.