2012 elections preview: Wisconsin voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries
August 13, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional and State legislative teams
Wisconsin holds its primary on Tuesday August 14, 2012. Wisconsin has an open primary system, where any registered voter can choose which party primary to vote in, regardless of party membership.
Here is a preview of what will take place in Wisconsin tomorrow, where the polls will be open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM Central Time.[1]
| Contested Primaries in Wisconsin -- August 14, 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. House (8 seats) |
State Legislature (115 seats) | ||||
| Total Democratic Contested Primaries | 1 (12.5%) | 29 (25.21%) | |||
| Total Republican Contested Primaries | 1 (12.5%) | 21 (18.26%) | |||
Congress
Wisconsin will hold elections for both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate this November.
U.S. Senate
Incumbent Democrat Herb Kohl is not running for re-election in November, leading to a hotly contested Senate race. Representative Tammy Baldwin is running uncontested in the Democratic primary. The Republican primary candidates include former WI governor Tommy Thompson, former Representative Mark Neumann, State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and Eric Hovde. A recent poll shows Hovde leading Tommy Thompson and Mark Neumann by two points and 16 points respectively, due to a barrage of TV ads.[2] If the Republicans win the seat in November, it could give them control of the Senate.[3] This would also essentially turn Wisconsin into a red state, with Republican Governor Scott Walker and Republican Senator Ron Johnson, assuming incumbents retain their House seats. According to Cook Political Report, the race is seen as a toss-up.[4]
U.S. House
Wisconsin has 8 U.S. House seats up for election in November; however, only two are contested. Perhaps the most interesting development has been in the 1st district, where incumbent Republican Paul Ryan was recently picked to be Mitt Romney's running mate for Vice-President.[5] Wisconsin law allows Ryan to run for both offices. If he wins his seat and is elected Vice-President, he would resign his congressional position and a special election would be held. If he loses the Vice-Presidency but wins his congressional seat, he may remain in Congress.[6] He is running unopposed in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Democrat Rob Zerban is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.[7]
The 2nd district will be contested. Incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin is running for the U.S. Senate. In the Democratic primary, Kelda Helen Roys, a state representative, faces fellow representative Mark Pocan. Matt Silverman and Dennis Hall round out the rest of the Democratic field. Chad Lee is running unopposed in the Republican primary.[7]
The 6th district has a contested Republican primary. Incumbent Tom Petri is opposed by Lauren Stephens. Joe Kallas is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.[7]
State Legislature
There are a total of 115 legislative seats with elections in 2012 -- 99 Assembly seats 16 Senate seats.
There are 29 (25.21%) contested Democratic primaries and 21 (18.26%) contested Republican primaries between the two chambers, meaning 50 races containing more than one candidate will appear on the ballot tomorrow.
Assembly
In the State Assembly, 81 incumbents are seeking re-election this year, 14 of whom face primary challenges: 9 Democratic and 5 Republican. Out of 99 seats up for election, there are 23 for which no Republicans filed, and 3 seats without a single Democratic contender.
The following is a selection of some notable Assembly contests:
District 10: District 22 incumbent Sandy Pasch, who first assumed office in 2009, faces two primary challengers, Millie Coby and Ieshuh Griffin. There was a third challenger in the race, Harriet Callier, up until the week before the election, when Callier withdrew her candidacy in order to consolidate support for her former opponent, Coby.[8]
District 18: Incumbent Tamara Grigsby's retirement attracted eight aspiring successors, making it the largest primary field of the election. Lisa Brown, James Dieter,Jarett Fields, Michael Glabere, Evan Goyke, Ty Jackson, Andrew Parker, and Lashawndra Vernon will vie for the Democratic nomination tomorrow. Since no Republican candidates filed for the seat, the winner will have only nominal opposition in the general election from Libertarian Melba Morris-Page.
District 3: Incumbent Al Ott, who was first elected to the assembly in 1986, is opposed by pro-life activist Brandi Lefeber in the 2012 primary. Lefeber has received endorsements from several conservative organizations, including the Wisconsin Liberty PAC.[9]
District 22: Incumbent Don Pridemore will square off with Washington County Republican Party former Vice-Chair Nick Oliver. Pridemore has served as the assemblyman for District 99 since 2005[10]
District 34: There is one contested third party primary on the ballot -- Independent candidates Todd Albano and Kevin Fitzpatrick are competing for the open District 34 seat, whose current occupant, Republican Dan Meyer, did not seek re-election in 2012.
| Wisconsin State Assembly | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 39 | 39 | |
| Republican Party | 58 | 60 | |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 99 | 99 | |
Senate
Out of 14 incumbents running for re-election to the State Senate in 2012, only one attracted a primary challenger, District 14 Republican Luther Olsen. There are no Republicans running in 4 races, and 2 races without any Democratic presence.
Notable Senate races include:
District 14: Republican incumbent Luther Olsen of District 14 will have to defend his post against Markesan School Board member David Wayne Eiler.[11]
District 6: Democratic incumbent Spencer Coggs did not seek re-election this year, and because no Republicans filed for the election, the winner of the five-candidate Democratic primary - Elizabeth Coggs, Nikiya Harris, Michael Mayo, Allyn Monroe Swan, or Delta Triplett - will secure the seat without further contest. One of the Democratic hopefuls, Elizabeth Coggs, is the incumbent for District 10 of the State Assembly, as well as Spencer Coggs' cousin. She was endorsed by the outgoing state senator in her bid to take over his District 6 seat in 2012.[12]
| Wisconsin State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 17 | 15 | |
| Republican Party | 15 | 18 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 33 | |
See also
- United States Senate elections in Wisconsin, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2012
- Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2012
- Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2012
- State legislative elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ http://gab.wi.gov/node/2224
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Eric Hovde (R) surges in both primary and general in Wisconsin Senate race," accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ Center for Politics, "Tilting the Toss Ups – the Eight Races That Will Decide the Senate" accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "July 12, 2012"
- ↑ Boston.com, "Mitt Romney chooses Paul Ryan as running mate" accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ Outside the Beltway, "Paul Ryan Can Run For Both Congress And Vice-President In Wisconsin" accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidate List," accessed June 10, 2012
- ↑ Official Campaign Website, "Callier bows out of the race," August 10, 2012
- ↑ Wisconsin Vote.org, "Candidates and Races," accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ Official Campaign Website, "About Nick Oliver," accessed August 13, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Official Campaign Website, "About Eiler," accessed August 13, 2012
- ↑ Wisconsin Vote.org, "Elizabeth M Coggs," accessed August 13, 2012
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