UW-Madison sophomore Eli Judge secured Ald. Austin King's former District 8 City Council seat last Tuesday night in the city's 2007 elections by defeating UW-Madison senior Lauren Woods.
Judge defeated Woods with 519 votes—56 percent of the vote. District 8 encompasses most of the campus and not even 1,000 people voted for the alder candidates this year, compared to 1,150 votes in 2003.
According to Judge, one of the first actions that must be taken is to get back to caring about local issues, something he said was lost over the previous four years. He said safety and listening to constituent concerns are two other important issues that will be addressed immediately.
Judge also said he plans to hold ""office hours"" at the Lakefront on Langdon from time to time so students can talk to him face-to-face. He said talking to people on a personal level would help out his lack of experience on the Council.
""I believe this job is to go out and find what the residents want,"" Judge said.
Outgoing alder and current City Council president Austin King had handpicked Lauren Woods as his successor. Woods said at her election night party at the High Noon Saloon that she applauded the students' participation in the election and felt she ran a good race.
Woods said she plans to finish the semester, graduate and apply to graduate and law schools.
""I can breathe,"" she said.
