Republican-backed candidates in local school board races came out as big winners in the Milwaukee suburbs that are critical for the GOP in statewide elections, but had mixed results in other parts of battleground Wisconsin. Tuesday's school board elections in Wisconsin were among the earliest nationwide this year and are the latest sign of how politicized typically nonpartisan races for local offices are becoming across the country. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican candidate for governor, took the unusual step of endorsing 48 school board candidates. Of those, 34 won including eight incumbents, based on preliminary results.