Appleton Common Council retains three incumbents, adds newcomers, including a Latino representative
APPLETON - City voters returned three incumbents, plus a former incumbent, to the Common Council and added three newcomers during Tuesday's election.
Earning two-year seats on the council were incumbent Vered Meltzer in District 2, Israel Del Toro in District 4, incumbent Denise Fenton in District 6, Joss Thyssen in District 8, Vaya Lauren Jones in District 10, incumbent Nate Wolff in District 12 and former council member Chris Croatt in District 14.
District 2: Meltzer has served on the council since 2014 and ran unopposed for reelection.
District 4: Del Toro won 58% of the votes to defeat Virgil Van Asten and earn his first term on the council. He will succeed Joe Martin, who didn't seek reelection after 14 years in office.
Del Toro is an assistant professor of biology at Lawrence University and one of the leaders of Appleton's No Mow May program, which promotes the maturation of flowering plants to provide food for bees and other pollinators early in the growing season.
During his campaign, Del Toro said he wanted to build a community that appreciates the value of diversity and that he would be a voice for residents of color.
In September 2020, Del Toro was a victim of a hate crime in Appleton.
"It's time to ensure this never happens again to anyone," he said.
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District 6: Fenton collected 64% of the votes to turn back former council member Greg Dannecker. It was her third straight victory over Dannecker, having previously defeated him in a September 2019 special election and in the April 2020 election.
District 8: Thyssen tallied 62% of the votes to outdistance Don Jobe in race of unusual twists.
Jobe withdrew from the race in February because he was moving out of the district, but his decision came too late for his name to be removed from the ballot. Then two days before the election, he reentered the race, announcing he no longer intended to move.
District 10: Jones claimed 57% of the votes to oust incumbent Michael Smith and earn her first term on the council. Smith has served on the council for 14 years, though not continuously.
District 12: Wolff earned a second term on the council by holding off challenger Brian Meyers. Wolff secured 64% of the votes.
District 14: Croatt ran unopposed and will return to the council after a two-year absence. Before that, he served 12 years on the council.
Shortly before he left office in 2020, Croatt asked the council to hold a referendum to decide whether the mayor and council members should be limited to 12 consecutive years in office. The council rejected the proposal.
Croatt also was reelected Tuesday to the Outagamie County Board.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Appleton Common Council spring election 2022 results
