Wisconsin’s presidential primary on Tuesday was also Election Day for a vast array of local races—and of the 287 local candidates who ran with WisDems support, 180 won.
That’s a win rate of 63%. To everyone who ran, who chipped in, who volunteered—massive thanks.
Here’s the full WisDems run-down on Tuesday’s election.
Local candidates ranged from city councils and township boards to school boards to mayors to county boards and county executives to judges, in communities of all sizes. The vast majority of these candidates benefited from field organizing by our amazing county parties and neighborhood teams, and 83 got additional help as well, from assistance with digital ads to campaign strategy to mailers and much more.
Some races ended in landslides—such as the well-earned reelections of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Mayor Cavalier Johnson. Congratulations to them both!
Another landslide: fake elector Bill Feehan, formerly the chair of the La Crosse County GOP, ran for County Board—and was defeated 61-39 by Kelly Leibold. Way to go Kelly!
Other elections were nailbiters—like the races that tipped the Green Bay City Council into a pro-democracy majority. On the night that Donald Trump visited Green Bay and personally called on residents to vote, Joey Prestley beat a far-right incumbent by 15 votes; Kathy Hinkfuss defeated a conservative by 43 votes; and Ben Delie beat a conservative by 54 votes. The result: a 7-5 anti-MAGA majority. Sorry, Trump.
Other races were even closer. In Rock County, Genia Stevens won her race for the 13th County Board district by 3 votes—and in the eleventh district, the race was tied, 190-190. By law, the choice between Democratic-endorsed Brandon Buchanan and Lori Marshall will come down to a random drawing after the results are certified.
Never let anyone tell you your vote doesn’t matter.
In addition, we worked hard on school referendums, from small towns to the Milwaukee Public Schools referendum that faced a flood of dark-money special-interest opposition. Of those tracked so far, 62% passed, including the Milwaukee referendum… by a photo-finish margin of 2%.
When it came to organizing, we beat our own records for years without statewide elections. Across door knocks, phone calls, and relational contacts, WisDems volunteers and staff reached out to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters.
Statewide, Biden earned 511,845 votes—35,490 more than Trump’s 476,355. Biden won support from 88.6% of the voters in the Democratic primary, compared to Trump’s 79.2%.
In the Democratic primary, most of the other voters cast “Uninstructed” ballots to send a message of protest about Gaza. President Biden’s work to secure a just and enduring peace in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank—ending the gut-wrenching humanitarian crisis and ensuring Hamas hostages return home—can demonstrate to these voters that their message is heard, and earn the support of many of these voters in the general election.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Nikki Haley voters are sending a message not about a Trump policy, but about Trump himself. Trump is responding by further alienating Haley and her supporters.
Meanwhile, Biden is actively welcoming Haley voters to vote for him in order to stop Trump.
In other words, there may well be more opportunity for Biden than for Trump in both building party unity and reaching out to disaffected voters from the other side.
Not everything went our way. The statewide questions on constitutional amendments pushed by conspiracy theorists in the GOP both passed. WisDems and nonpartisan groups opposed these amendments; they’ll create confusion in the courts, and cut off potential sources of support for election administration. That said, these amendments were based on bogus conspiracy theories about 2020. Our focus is on 2024 and beyond, and these amendments don’t affect our path to victory.
The toughest losses were in individual races. Katie Rosenberg, the terrific mayor of Wausau, lost by 424 votes to Doug Diny, who benefited from a wave of support both from the WisGOP and from dark money groups affiliated with election deniers and Robin Vos. We’re grateful for her service and confident that, while this chapter has closed, most of the story is yet unwritten. In Kenosha’s mayoral race, some judicial elections, Waukesha’s school board, and other places—37% of the races we worked on—we came up short. Going forward, we’ll continue to do all we can to learn at least as much from defeats as we do from victories, and improve our strategies and tactics accordingly.
To all the candidates, win or lose, who had the courage to put their names on the ballot and worked through snow, rain, and right-wing attacks in order to serve your communities—you have our profound gratitude.
To all the allied groups, big and small, who went to bat in local races this spring, from statewide ballot questions to school board and township board candidates with a few hundred or even a few dozen voters—thank you so much as well. We’re all part of the same broader progressive fabric of this state.
And to all the volunteers who made democracy’s cause their own: you make these victories possible and you make our system of self-government work.
As Democrats, we believe that government should serve people, not special interests. We believe that every person has inherent dignity and is worthy of freedom and opportunity. And we believe that it’s voters, not politicians or powerful corporations, that should choose who holds positions of public trust.
Our work reflects those core beliefs. And the results demonstrate that, once again, most Wisconsinites are with us.
Every election is both an end in itself, a means to better government—and preparation for the next election. We’ve got 214 days until November 5. Rest up, learn from what worked… and then let’s get back out there.
