2021 Dane County Executive election

April 6, 2021


Nominee	Joe Parisi	Mary Ann Nicholson
Party	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan
Popular vote	90,472	23,978
Percentage	78.91%	20.91%

County Executive before election

Joe Parisi
Nonpartisan

Elected County Executive

Joe Parisi
Nonpartisan

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The 2021 Dane County Executive election took place on April 6, 2021. Incumbent County Executive Joe Parisi ran for re-election to a fourth term. His only challenger in the race was Mary Ann Nicholson, a controller for a local construction company.^[1] During the election, Nicholson paused her campaign and ceased active campaigning following the death of her husband, but continued in the race.^[2]

Parisi ended up winning re-election in a landslide, winning 79 percent of the vote to Nicholson's 21 percent.

However, Parisi did not end up serving out his full term. He announced that he would step down as County Executive in May 2024, which allowed a special election to take place to determine his successor.^[3]

General election

Candidates

Joe Parisi, incumbent County Executive^[4]
Mary Ann Nicholson, construction company controller^[1]

Results

2021 Dane County Executive election^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Joe Parisi (inc.)	90,472	78.91%
	Nonpartisan	Mary Ann Nicholson	23,978	20.91%
	Write-in		209	0.18%
Total votes			114,659	100.00%

References

^ ^a ^b "Candidate Q&A: Dane County Executive". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. March 11, 2021. p. A4. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
^ Becker, Abigail (March 9, 2021). "Mary Ann Nicholson ends campaign for Dane County executive". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
^ Garfield, Allison (October 4, 2023). "Joe Parisi to retire as Dane County executive after 13 years". The Capital Times. Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
^ Inveiss, Maija (November 17, 2020). "Joe Parisi announces run for county executive re-election". Fox 47 News. Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved July 21, 2025.
^ "2021 Spring Election". Dane County Clerk. 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2025.

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