Wisconsin Secretary of State election, 2010
In the Wisconsin Secretary of State election of 2010, held on November 2, 2010, Democrat incumbent Douglas La Follette defeated Republican challenger David D. King. La Follette edged out King with 51.6% of the vote.
In the primary election on September 14, both candidates ran unopposed.
Incumbent La Follette first won election as the state's secretary of state in 1976. He was challenged in the state's Democratic primary by Scott Ross and defeated him 236,547 (72%) votes to 95,354 (28%) votes.[1] In the general election contest, La Follette faced Republican challenger Sandy Sullivan, winning by 1,184,720 (57%) votes to 796,686 (38%) votes.[2]
General Election campaign
Results
| Wisconsin Secretary of State, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Douglas La Follette Incumbent |
51.6% | 1,074,118 | |
| Republican | David D. King | 48.3% | 1,005,217 | |
| - | Scattering | 0.1% | 1,863 | |
| Total Votes | 2,081,198 | |||
| Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board | ||||
Finances
According to Follow the Money, the breakdown of campaign finances for each of the candidates is as follows:
| Wisconsin Secretary of State Campaign Finance | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Total Contributions | |||||||||||||
| Doug La Follette[3] | $1,071 | |||||||||||||
| David D. King[4] | $51,250 | |||||||||||||
Endorsements
- Can-Do Conservatives of America[5]
Civil lawsuit
On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, a week before the general election, a thirty-one year old woman named Charlette Harris filed a civil lawsuit against David King, "alleging he impregnated her while she was drunk and unconscious."[6] Harris claimed that King took her out to lunch on Thursday, August 26th after hiring her for a position at Buy Seasons, Inc., a New Berlin-based costume distributor, and got her so intoxicated that she passed out on a couch at King's residence "and woke up hours later in a bedroom with her pants unbuttoned."[7] Weeks later, Harris discovered she was pregnant and contends that King is the father because she is a lesbian and had not had sex with a man since her meeting with the Republican Secretary of State candidate. She claimed that she did not go to the police with her allegations because she was concerned about being fired from her job; at the time the suit was filed, Harris had already quit her position at Buy Seasons. Her legal challenge accused King of battery, violation of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress; it also named Buy Seasons for negligent supervision.
Primary elections
Democratic primary
Incumbent Douglas La Follette[8] ran unopposed in the Democratic primary election, held September 14, 2010.
| 2010 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary Election[9] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Democratic Party |  Douglas La Follette
|
99.72% | |
| Democratic Party | Other | 0.28% | |
| Total Votes | 196,911 | ||
Republican primary
David D. King[10] ran unopposed in the Republican primary election, held September 14, 2010.
| 2010 Race for Secretary of State - Republican Primary Election[11] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | David D. King
|
99.75% | |
| Republican Party | Other | 0.25% | |
| Total Votes | 91,883 | ||
External links
- List of qualified candidates for Wisconsin's September 14 Secretary of State primary (dead link)
- Green Paper's list of candidates for Wisconsin Secretary of State, 2010
General Election candidates
Footnotes
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - 2006 Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - 2006 General Election Results
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Doug La Follette candidate summary," May 6, 2011
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "David D. King candidate summary," May 6, 2011
- ↑ Can-Do Conservatives of America - Endorsements
- ↑ The Badger Herald, "Woman claims Secretary of State candidate raped, impregnated her" 28 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Pioneer Press, "In suit, woman says Wisconsin secretary of state candidate raped her" 28 Oct. 2010
- ↑ WisPolitics, "La Follette Campaign: La Follete announces his bid for re-election" 28 April, 2010
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "2010 fall partisan primary results (page 3)," May 6, 2011
- ↑ ProLifeBlogs.com, "Pastor David King to run for Wisconsin Secretary of State" 28 Aug. 2009
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "2010 official primary election results (page 4)," August 17, 2010
