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Notable Wisconsin races, 2016
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Presidential • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State Assembly • State judges • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • Candidate ballot access |
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| Notable Wisconsin Races | |
|---|---|
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| Primary | August 9, 2016 |
| General | November 8, 2016 |
| 2016 Notable Races | |
|---|---|
| Choose a state below: | |
Ballotpedia identified seven notable Wisconsin state legislative races in 2016. The Wisconsin State Senate was also one of 20 battleground chambers Ballotpedia tracked in the November 2016 election.
Overview
- Main articles: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2016 and Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2016
All 99 state Assembly seats and 16 of the 33 state Senate seats were up for election in 2016.
| Partisan breakdown of the Wisconsin Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Republicans | Democrats |
| Wisconsin Assembly | 63 seats | 36 seats |
| Wisconsin Assembly | 19 seats | 14 seats |
Republicans had held a state government trifecta since 2011, meaning they controlled the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature. They aimed to maintain control of the state government following the November election. Gov. Scott Walker (R) was not up for election in 2016, and Democrats would have had to gain 14 seats to win a majority in the House and three seats to win a majority in the Senate.
The legislative races in Assembly District 85 and Senate District 32 featured reruns of previous candidate matchups.[1][2][3] The contest in Assembly District 85 was also one of two open races to replace retiring Republican incumbents that attracted competitive fields; the other was in Senate District 18.[1][4] Democrats targeted a vulnerable Republican incumbent in Senate District 14, and Republicans targeted a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in Senate District 30 in the battle for control of the Senate.[1][4]
What makes a race notable?
Ballotpedia uses these criteria to identify notable races:
- Incumbents facing more conservative or liberal challengers
- Rematches between candidates
- Races that receive considerable media attention
- Races that could significantly affect the state's partisan balance
- Competitive races involving party leaders
- Open, competitive races with Republican and Democratic primaries
- Races that capture money and attention from outside groups, including key endorsements
Know of an interesting race we should include here? Email us!
Notable general elections
Assembly District 51 - General election
| A Democratic candidate challenged the Republican incumbent for the seat. |
Incumbent Todd Novak (R) faced Jeff Wright (D) in the general election.[1] Both were unopposed in their respective primaries. Novak was elected in 2014 by a margin of victory of 0.3 percent.
Assembly District 85 - General election
| A race for the open seat vacated by a Republican incumbent featured a candidate rematch. |
Rep. Dave Heaton (R) retired from his Assembly District 85 seat in 2016.[5] Former Rep. Mandy Wright (D) competed against Republican candidate Patrick Snyder to claim the open seat.[1] Wright and Snyder previously faced off over the District 85 seat in 2012.[2] Wright defeated Snyder by 905 votes in that race before losing to Heaton by 85 votes in 2014.[2][6] Wright and Snyder both ran unopposed in their respective primaries.[1]
Assembly District 94 - General election
| A Republican candidate challenged the Democratic incumbent. |
Incumbent Steve Doyle (D) faced Julian Bradley (R) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in their respective primaries. In 2014, Doyle won re-election to the seat by a margin of victory of 8.2 percent.
Senate District 14 - General election
| A moderate Democratic candidate challenged a moderate Republican incumbent in the battle for the Senate. |
Waupaca Mayor Brian Smith (D), who describes himself as a moderate independent, challenged Sen. Luther Olsen (R) in Senate District 14.[1][7] Olsen, who had held the seat since 2004 and is considered a moderate, survived a recall attempt in 2011.[3][7] Olsen and Smith both ran unopposed in their respective primaries.[1]
Senate District 18 - General election
| An open race in a Republican-leaning district attracted a competitive field. |
Sen. Rick Gudex (R) died on October 12, 2016. He did not seek re-election in 2016. The Republican-leaning district was briefly in Democratic hands following a 2011 recall election; Democratic candidate Jessica King defeated then-Sen. Randy Hopper (R) in the recall before losing to Gudex in 2012.[3][2] Mark Harris defeated John Lemberger for the opportunity to reclaim the seat for the Democratic Party in November.[1] Harris faced off against Dan Feyen (R) in the November general election.[1]
Senate minority leader Jennifer Shilling (D) pointed out the importance of winning Senate District 18 for Democrats to have any chance in flipping the chamber or cutting into the Republican majority.[8] She said, "In order for us to build a Democratic majority in both the elections of 2016 and 2018 and, ultimately, 2020 when redistricting happens, we need to win that seat."[8]
Senate District 30 - General election
| A Republican candidate challenged a vulnerable Democratic incumbent in the battle for the Senate. |
Republican candidate Eric Wimberger challenged Rep. Dave Hansen (D) in Senate District 30.[1] Hansen was targeted for recall in 2011, but defeated his Republican challenger, David VanderLeest, by close to 11,000 votes.[9] Hansen and Wimberger both ran unopposed in their respective primaries.[1]
Senate District 32 - General election
| A Republican candidate challenged the Democratic incumbent to a rematch. |
Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D) defeated former Sen. Dan Kapanke (R) in a 2011 recall election.[3] Kapanke ran to reclaim the Senate District 32 seat in 2016.[1] Both candidates faced primary opponents en route to a general election rematch. Shilling fielded a challenge from Jared Landry in the Democratic primary, and Kapanke faced John Sarnowski in the GOP contest.[1] Independent candidate Chip DeNure also filed to run in the November general election.[10]
Freshman legislators
The following is a list of challengers who won election on November 8.
- Chuck Wichgers (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 83
- Dan Feyen (Republican), .Wisconsin State Senate, District 18
- Dave Craig (Wisconsin) (Republican), .Wisconsin State Senate, District 28
- David Crowley (Wisconsin) (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 17
- Don Vruwink (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 43
- Jason Fields (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 11
- Jimmy Anderson (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 47
- LaTonya Johnson (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Senate, District 6
- Patrick Snyder (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 85
- Patrick Testin (Republican), .Wisconsin State Senate, District 24
- Rob Stafsholt (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 29
- Rob Summerfield (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 67
- Ron Tusler (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 3
- Shannon Zimmerman (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 30
- Treig Pronschinske (Republican), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 92
Defeated incumbents
The following is a list of incumbents who were defeated on November 8.
- Chris Danou (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Assembly, District 92
- Julie Lassa (Democratic), .Wisconsin State Senate, District 24
See also
- Wisconsin State Assembly
- Wisconsin State Senate
- Wisconsin State Legislature
- State legislative elections, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates on Ballot by Election, 2016 Partisan Primary - 8/9/2016," accessed August 3 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012," accessed August 3, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "2011 Recall Election SD 2, 8, 10, 14, 18, 32 - Results," August 9, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 WisPolitics, "Party Execs See Different Outcomes in Swing-State Status," June 1, 2016
- ↑ The Daily Cardinal, "State Representatives Announce Retirement From Legislature," March 17, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014," accessed August 15, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Capital Times, "Five Wisconsin Senate Races to Watch in 2016," June 7, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Cap Times, "State Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling: Four seats key to cutting GOP majority," accessed August 31, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Canvass Results for 2011 Recall Election State Senate 30 - 7/19/2011," accessed August 3, 2016
- ↑ WXOW, "La Crosse Resident Chip DeNure Announces Campaign for State Senate," April 28, 2016
