Editor's note: this story was edited to correct the percentage of voters in support of marijuana legalization.
Incumbent Dane County Supervisor Leland Pan won re-election over University of Wisconsin-Madison senior Chris Hoffman in Tuesday’s election.
Pan, a UW-Madison senior, won by a 10.6 percent margin and said he felt “great” when hearing the results.
“I’m really excited to continue to represent District 5 for two more years,” Pan said.
He said he plans to continue his work on progressive causes that he initiated two years ago during his first administration serving the campus-area district. Some of his past efforts Pan said include fighting to increase funding for homeless and student services, continuing to protect the lakes and looking to tackle the issues of racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
The re-elected board member considers racial disparities in Dane County to be his main concern during the 2014 term.
“I think that the statistics on it are shocking when it comes to the fact that Dane County is 6 percent African-American, but our jail is 40 percent African-American,” Pan said. “A whole host of other statistics put us, sadly, leading the way on racial disparities in the country.”
As a supporter of legalizing marijuana, Pan was optimistic about the support Dane County voters expressed on a ballot question regarding its legalization. Pan said legalizing marijuana has not been a topic of discussion in Wisconsin since the 1970s when it failed to gain support in Dane County. The 2014 results showed 64.5 percent of voters support its legalization.
“This is clear evidence of a shift in opinion on the issue,” Pan said. “I personally hope it continues to do well on the polls.”
