Green Bay City Council will now see 10 contested races in spring elections

Natalie Eilbert, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·3 min read

Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information about confirmed candidates in District 2, a corrected spelling of Natalie Hoffman's name and corrected background information about Melinda Eck's political experience.

GREEN BAY - Three Green Bay City Council members will not seek reelection, while a former council member, also-rans, a "Stop the Steal" activist and political newcomers all are throwing their hats in the ring.

City Council members John Vander Leest, Kathy Lefebvre and Veronica Corpus-Dax won't run for new terms in the April election.

Vander Leest, who has been on City Council for three terms, said it was time to make room for new talent and ideas: "There's going to be some new faces on the City Council and that's a good thing. You get a new perspective that way."

He plans to seek reelection to the Brown County Board.

Lefebvre has served for two terms as a City Council member and, like Vander Leest, is a Brown County Board member and will seek reelection to that position.

Lefebvre said she decided not to seek reelection to the council after her husband fell ill. She said she didn't have time to occupy the space of both a City Council member and a caretaker to her husband.

Lefebvre
Lefebvre

"I wasn't always getting requests in right away and that shouldn't be. I wasn't doing my (council) job, so I knew it was time to step down," Lefebvre said.

Corpus-Dax served on the City Council for two terms.

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Redistricting shifted the playing fields for some of the City Council candidates. For example, former District 3 council member Andy Nicholson, who was unseated in 2020 by City Council member Lynn Gerlach, is able to run for the District 2 seat held by Corpus-Dax because of redistricting.

Vying against Nicholson will be Jim Hutchison, Cassidy McGowan and Michael Shae, prompting a February primary contest to narrow the field to the top two vote-getters. Primary elections also will be necessary for Districts 4 and 6.

Paul Boucher, who is running for Lefebvre's District 6, is also running for Green Bay School Board. Boucher has been banned from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's campus since 2013 after he was accused of harassing female student athletes. He has previously run in — and lost — elections for the City Council, Brown County Board and School Board.

Melinda Eck, who is running in District 11, vied for a spot on the City Council in 2016 without success. Eck has been outspoken about the 2020 presidential election, organizing a Green Bay rally the same day as the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and serving as an administrator for a local "Stop the Steal" Facebook group.

Candidates had until 5 p.m. Jan. 4 to file nomination forms for the council elections, except in District 2, where Corpus-Dax made a late declaration that she wasn't running. District 2 candidates had until 5 p.m. Jan. 7 to file.

Candidates for Green Bay City Council

Here are the City Council candidates running for the general spring elections. (i) denotes incumbent. Note: District 2 has been updated with two additional candidates running.

  • District 1: Barbara Dorff (i) and Jennifer Grant

  • District 2: Jim Hutchison, Cassidy McGowan, Andy Nicholson and Michael Shea

  • District 3: Lynn Gerlach (i) and Bill Morgan

  • District 4: Bill Galvin (i), Natalie Hoffman and Douglas Yates

  • District 5: Craig Stevens (i) and Robert Maccaux, Jr.

  • District 6: Paul Boucher, Steven Campbell, Andrew Gerlach and Aron Obrecht

  • District 7: Randy Scannell (i) and Robert Miller

  • District 8: Chris Wery (i)

  • District 9: Brian Johnson (i) and Tarl Knight

  • District 10: Mark Steuer (i) and Eric Kuzma

  • District 11: Melinda Eck and Michael Poradek

  • District 12: Jesse Brunette (i)

The primary is on Feb. 15. The general election is April 5.

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Natalie Eilbert is a government watchdog reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at neilbert@gannett.com or view her Twitter profile at @natalie_eilbert.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay City Council elections: Three won't seek reelection,