Lots of new faces on City Council, school board

Tom Giffey |

The results from Tuesday’s spring election are in, and Eau Claire has some brand-spanking-new elected officials, including four fresh-faced City Councilpersons and three novice school board members.

Out of a field of 10 candidates, five were victorious in the race for at-large Eau Claire City Council seats: Michael Moua Xiong, Catherine Emmanuelle, David Strobel, Eric Larsen, and Monica Lewis. Only one – Emmanuelle – is an incumbent, and even she has only served on the council since September, when she was appointed to an open seat. Another incumbent, Mark Olson, placed sixth by a few dozen votes and lost his post. The other also-rans were Steven Judd, Michael Turner, Eric Getten, and Luke Hoppe. (Three incumbents – Jackie Pavelski, Larry Balow, and Thomas Vue – didn’t run for re-election.)

Meanwhile, three newcomers came out on top in the Eau Claire school board race: Richard Spindler, Chue Xiong, and Christine Hambuch-Boyle. Former school board member Mike Bollinger fell about 250 votes short of winning a return. In addition, incumbent Bob Janke came in fifth and lost his seat. (Two other incumbents – Ken Faanes and Brent Wogahn – didn’t run again.)

For a full rundown on Eau Claire County election results, check out the Eau Claire County website (click on the link that says “April 2, 2013 Spring Election”) or tallies from the Leader-Telegram, WEAU-TV, and WQOW-TV.