Key Reads

A bit of a different format for today’s Key Reads.

The Primary Election is over. The votes have been counted and with a few possible exceptions, the winners and losers are clear. In today’s key reads, we’ll look at some of the key races that set up the November face offs.

3rd CD

In the 3rd Congressional District’s Democratic Primary, Rebecca Cooke won the right to take on first term incumbent Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden. With just under 92 percent of the vote in, Cooke bested State Rep. Katrina Shankland 50.1 percent to 41.1 percent. Her lead at press time was approximately 7,500 votes with 98 percent of the vote counted.

8th CD

In Northeastern Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, there were simultaneous primary elections to fill the remainder of Mike Gallagher’s term after the November General Election as well as begin the new term which begins in January. Retired businessman Tony Wied rode a strong and persistent endorsement from former President Donald Trump as well as significant personal contributions to his own campaign to victory over former State Senator Roger Roth and current State Senator Andre Jacque. While the totals and percentages for the two races varied slightly, the margins and order of victory did not. As of press time, a bit more than 99 percent of the votes were counted and Wied beat Roth by around 10,000 votes. Wied garnered 43.4% of the vote; Roth won 32.7% and Jacque was third with approximately 24%.

Referenda

With 95 percent of the vote in, question 1 was rejected by 57.4% of voters and question 2 saw 57.5% vote no.

When you look at the referenda and the higher profile Congressional Primaries, the sides with the financial advantage came out on top. Liberal groups who opposed the referenda, for example, outspent referenda supporters by more than 10-to-1

That is an ominous sign for Republicans, who are not even close to keeping up with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin combined fundraising efforts.

Legislature

It appears that, despite GOP incumbents participating in twenty primaries, the only sitting legislators who lost in yesterday’s contests lost to fellow lawmakers, with one possible exception. Many contests even featured two incumbents as a result of the State Supreme Court -mposed maps.

In the 6th Assembly District , State Rep. Elijah Behnke won the Primary over State Rep. Peter Schmidt.

State Sen. Dan Knodl did not run for his redrawn seat, and instead beat Sate Rep. Janel Brandtjen to be the GOP nominee in the 24th Assembly District.

In the 55th Assembly District, State Rep. Nate Gustafson defeated State Rep. Michael Schraa.

In the 86th Assembly District State Rep. John Spiros bested Rep. Donna Rozar and one other challenger.

State Representative Chanz Green’s race in the 74th District remained too close to call at press time.

Former Republican State Representative Timothy Ramthun and Don Pridemore lost their attempts to make a political comeback. Democratic State Rep Joe Plouf succeeded. Former Republican State Rep Rob Kreibich’s contest was too close to call.

The Democrats also had a few contests that pitted lawmakers or former lawmakers in competitive primaries.

In perhaps their biggest legislative race, three sitting state representatives ran for State Senate in the Madison area.

State Representative Melissa Ratcliff beat Demcratic State Reps. Jimmy Anderson and Samba Baldeh for the open 16th Senate District. Unopposed this fall, Ratcliff basically won the seat last night.

in the 4th Senate District, Senator-elect Dora Drake again beat state Rep. LaKeshia Myers. Drake won the right to fill the remainder of former State Senator, now Judge Lena Taylor’s term just a few weeks ago. She now has won the nomination for a full term.

There were a handful of races decided by less than 100 votes. Expect to see a few recounts conducted throughout the next week or so.