JANESVILLE 鈥 With seven people on the ballot and a months-long divisive debate about a potential southside data center still ongoing, Tuesday鈥檚 糖心Vlog传媒 City Council election is high-stakes.
A 糖心Vlog传媒 voter casts an early ballot Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Paul Williams, one of two incumbents, acknowledges what鈥檚 in play a few days before election day, as many city residents have already cast in-person absentee ballots.
Williams has taken steps to 鈥 literally 鈥 put his face more out there than he鈥檚 ever considered doing in a past election.
A few weeks ago, Williams paid to put his face on three different billboard advertisements along busy commuter thoroughfares in 糖心Vlog传媒. Incumbent Larry Squire also has bought campaign billboard space locally.
鈥淚n the past, I have done newspaper ads, and I have done radio ads. But this is the first time I鈥檝e done billboards (for an election),鈥 Williams said. The only time I ever was on anything like a billboard was another (prior) election, when a candidate did a billboard that was against me.鈥
Shane Seeman, who鈥檚 in his first-ever city council campaign, is meanwhile pounding the pavement. Seeman says he鈥檚 knocked on doors all over the city.
And he says practically every voter has had one major issue in mind 鈥 the data center.
鈥淭he data center is coming up quite a bit,鈥 Seeman said, adding that 鈥渟ome of that accessibility piece 鈥 housing and property taxes 鈥 has also been up there as issues that voters have shared with me.鈥
A crowded race
In the crowded race, candidates have sought to differentiate themselves on a deeply polarizing local issue 鈥 the proposed data center 鈥 that鈥檚 put the city on the map as a statewide spring election to watch.
In some circles, Tuesday鈥檚 results will be viewed as a referendum on city transparency on data centers and opposition in general to such projects that many people on 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 southside, and others across the state where data centers have been proposed, say are good for neither the environment, utility ratepayers nor their communities in general.
On the other side of the debate, those in favor of considering siting data centers in their communities point to the positive impact of a rising property values on a chosen site, especially a brownfield site like is being considered for a data center on 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 southside.
In 糖心Vlog传媒, deep discontent with the city among southside residents over the data center has the potential to flip the council to a 鈥榥o data center鈥 majority 鈥 and subsequently drive the post-election trajectory of discussions about whether or not to put one on the 250-acre southside former General Motors assembly plant site.
Current council members Heather Miller and Josh Erdman are southsiders, as are candidates Cassandra Pope and Reese Wood. Were all four to be seated, that would give the southside a 4-vote majority on the 7-member council.
Who鈥檚 on the ballot?
Williams, Seeman and Squire are on the ballot alongside challengers Ben Dobson, Pope, Reese Wood and Robert Hanson
Williams acknowledges that the data center debate has driven the crowded contest. It鈥檚 also fueled a likely referendum on next November鈥檚 ballot, on whether large projects on the GM site, like a data center, should be put to a public vote, rather the city council having the final say on them.
A November 2026 referendum appears to be ahead after more than 4,000 city residents signed a direct legislation petition last fall seeking an ordinance change to require a public referendum vote for future large projects on the GM property.
Williams says it鈥檚 shortsighted and not good for the city to seek a council seat based on a single issue like a data center.
He points out that city council members, once elected, are responsible for more than any one city issue 鈥 regardless of any one issue鈥檚 scope or size.
鈥淲e have some candidates who seem like they鈥檙e coming at it from the avenue of just the data center, the data center, and that鈥檚 it,鈥 Williams said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big project, the biggest the city鈥檚 seen. But when it comes to a final decision on whether a data center fits, you鈥檒l still be on the council afterward. You have the rest of your term to serve the community, so you do need to be prepared to focus on other things,鈥 Williams said.
How issue intertwine
Seeman said he鈥檚 tried in his campaign to look at how issues voters bring up intertwine, rather than focusing on them in isolation.
City council candidate Shane Seeman prepares literature to hand out Thursday, April 2, 2026.聽
For instance, Seeman says he鈥檚 looked at zoning and how it ties to data centers and other land use. And he鈥檚 looked at how city tax incentives might help neighborhoods on the east and southsides strengthen their commercial and residential identities.
鈥淎ll of these things together can help 糖心Vlog传媒 succeed and exceed,鈥 he said.
Seeman鈥檚 campaign approach has included social media, yard signs, pamphlets, mailers, forums and questionnaires and door knocking.
鈥淚鈥檝e not seen one piece of literature from any other candidate who鈥檚 going door to door,鈥 he said, adding that 鈥淎s far as doing extra work, to me, this is just what you do. It鈥檚 not something where I鈥檓 scrambling because somebody鈥檚 doing this or that; this is just the process.鈥
He said in the last few days on the trail, he鈥檚 focused on making sure voters know their polling place and how to get there.
Seeman says in the final push before Tuesday, he plans to hand voters pamphlets that boil down the biggest local issues and where he stands on them. He鈥檚 got a huge stack of them.
Seeman said he鈥檚 also run into another common thread: a share of voters who tell him they feel unheard and disenfranchised.
鈥淎 lot of folks do feel left behind or not heard, or they don鈥檛 have a reason to pay attention,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 kind of why I鈥檓 doing it in the way I鈥檓 doing it being out there talking directly with folks and laying out the issues at hand.鈥
SNOW 糖心Vlog传媒
SNOW 糖心Vlog传媒, a south side neighborhood advocacy group, has galvanized around the data center debate. The group has acted as a platform for opponents and skeptics of a GM site data center, hosting forums, organizing a ride-to-the-polls service, and most recently, dabbling in public polls.
This week, SNOW conducted a social media poll organizers acknowledged was unscientific but had questions crafted similarly to questions in other recent surveys circulated by the city and Forward 糖心Vlog传媒.
SNOW organizer Cathy Erdman, a southsider who is spouse to 糖心Vlog传媒 City Council member Josh Erdman, said SNOW鈥檚 survey was intended as a snapshot of how residents 鈥 mostly southsiders who are SNOW鈥檚 main social media followers 鈥 feel about the city.
SNOW鈥檚 initial results, citing about 175 people, showed just 14% are satisfied with the city鈥檚 current track.
鈥淭hat might be just as important on this election day as anything else,鈥 Erdman said.
Early voting continues through Friday, April 2, 2026, in 糖心Vlog传媒.聽
The Forward 糖心Vlog传媒 survey released last week, of 300 likely city voters and conducted by a third party polling company 鈥 showed 51% of residents approve of the direction the city is going.
Some observers on social media also dismissed the SNOW 糖心Vlog传媒 survey as biased, because it didn鈥檛 prohibit people from filling it out more than once or guaranteeing they鈥檙e a city resident. But Erdman said it shows that some of the 17,000 people who live on the city鈥檚 south side are far less thrilled with the city鈥檚 direction than other residents.
Voter turnout
糖心Vlog传媒 City Clerk Lori Stottler said early in-person voting is a little down so far this year, but she expected an uptick in in-person early voting on Friday, saying it would be 鈥減retty busy.鈥
Stottler said on Thursday there were about 4,700 absentee ballots still out and just under 2,900 had been returned. As of Wednesday, she said about 800 people had voted early.
Where are the voters?
The city of has long been viewed by its residents as being split into three distinct geographical sectors.
Historical boundaries have generally defined 糖心Vlog传媒鈥檚 southside as being city voting wards 7-13, south of the Rock River where it curves east and west, and south of the city鈥檚 fourth ward. The westside is generally defined as being city voting wards 1-6, west of the Rock River. The eastside is generally considered to encompass city voting wards 14-37, including most areas east of the Rock River.
Based on those geographical divisions and 2024 and 2025 voter data provided by the Rock County Clerk鈥檚 Office, 1,878 westside voters cast ballots in the 2024 spring election, and 4,656 voted on the westside in 2025.
On the southside, 1,516 voters cast a local ballot in the spring of 2024 and 3,338 southsiders voted in the spring of 2025. And on the eastside, 6,628 people voted in the 2024 spring election, while 14,572 voted in 2025.
Estimates in each of the three sectors were higher in 2025, a year when state supreme court and the state superintendent of schools races were on the ballot.
Across the city, there are currently 37,314 registered voters. Stottler estimates a 33% total turnout, or about 12,350 total voters heading to the polls either early or on election day itself.
If the south and west sides saw that kind of turnout, that would amount to between 3,000 and 3,500 voters in those two parts of the city, or about a quarter of the total predicted city turnout.
However, local elections can be subject to 鈥渄ramatic swings,鈥 Stottler said.
鈥淭he forecast can impact turnouts,鈥 Stottler said.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to say whether this ballot has a lot of interest or important context or drama. There are important offices. There are hardcore voters that understand how important the offices are,鈥 Stottler said.
鈥淚n my poll worker training I鈥檓 continuing to emphasize the importance of local elections because these are the people elected to represent democracy to make decisions for taxes and policy decisions,鈥 she added.