Wisconsin Secretary of State election, 2018

	2022 → ← 2014
Wisconsin Secretary of State
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election;
Election details
	Filing deadline: June 1, 2018
	Primary: August 14, 2018; General: November 6, 2018; Pre-election incumbent(s):; Douglas J. La Follette (Democrat)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Voting in Wisconsin
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2018; Impact of term limits in 2018; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
Wisconsin; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant governor; Attorney general; Secretary of state; Treasurer

Wisconsin held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2018.

For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
For more information about the Republican primary, click here.
For more information about secretary of state elections in 2018, click here.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the secretary of state of Wisconsin was Douglas J. La Follette (D), who was first elected to the office in 1974 and was re-elected in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014.
In 2018, Wisconsin was a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since 2011, when Gov. Scott Walker (R) took office and Republicans gained majorities in the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin House of Representatives. Wisconsin was also under divided triplex control.
In presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Wisconsin was won by the Democratic candidate in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, and by the Republican candidate in 2016. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's 14 percent margin in 2008 while the narrowest was Al Gore's 0.22 percent margin in 2000.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Incumbent Douglas J. La Follette defeated Jay Schroeder in the general election for Wisconsin Secretary of State on November 6, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Douglas J. La Follette (D)	52.7	1,380,752
	Jay Schroeder (R)	47.2	1,235,034
	Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2,162

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,617,948
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Incumbent Douglas J. La Follette defeated Arvina Martin in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State on August 14, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Douglas J. La Follette	65.9	327,020
	Arvina Martin	34.1	169,130

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 496,150
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Jay Schroeder defeated Spencer Zimmerman in the Republican primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State on August 14, 2018.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jay Schroeder	71.4	254,424
	Spencer Zimmerman	28.6	101,818

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 356,242
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Wisconsin heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

Following the 2016 elections, Democrats and Republicans each held one U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin.
Republicans held five of eight U.S. House seats in Wisconsin.

State executives

Republicans held six of 11 state executive positions, while one position was held by a Democrat and four were held by nonpartisan officials.
The governor of Wisconsin was Republican Scott Walker.

State legislature

Republicans controlled both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature. They had a 64-35 majority in the state Assembly and an 18-15 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

Wisconsin was a Republican trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party controlled the state government. Scott Walker (R) served as governor and Republicans controlled the state legislature.

2018 elections

See also: Wisconsin elections, 2018

Wisconsin held elections for the following positions in 2018:

Demographics

Demographic data for Wisconsin
	Wisconsin	U.S.
Total population:	5,767,891	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	54,158	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	86.5%	73.6%
Black/African American:	6.3%	12.6%
Asian:	2.5%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,357	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Wisconsin. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2017, Wisconsin had a population of approximately 5,800,000 people, with its three largest cities being Milwaukee (pop. est. 600,000), Madison (pop. est. 250,000), and Green Bay (pop. est. 110,000).^[1]^[2]

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Wisconsin every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Wisconsin 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	47.8%	Hillary Clinton	46.3%	1.5%
2012	Barack Obama	52.8%	Mitt Romney	45.9%	6.9%
2008	Barack Obama	56.2%	John McCain	42.3%	13.9%
2004	John Kerry	49.7%	George W. Bush	49.3%	0.4%
2000	Al Gore	47.8%	George W. Bush	47.6%	0.2%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Wisconsin 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Ron Johnson	50.2%	Russ Feingold	46.8%	3.4%
2012	Tammy Baldwin	51.4%	Tommy Thompson	45.9%	5.5%
2010	Ron Johnson	51.9%	Russ Feingold	47.0%	4.9%
2006	Herb Kohl	67.3%	Robert Lorge	29.5%	37.8%
2004	Russ Feingold	55.3%	Tim Michels	44.1%	11.2%
2000	Herb Kohl	61.5%	John Gillespie	37.0%	24.5%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Wisconsin.

Election results (Governor), Wisconsin 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Scott Walker	52.3%	Mary Burke	46.6%	5.7%
2010	Scott Walker	52.3%	Tom Barrett	46.5%	5.8%
2006	Jim Doyle	52.7%	Mark Green	45.3%	7.4%
2002	Jim Doyle	45.1%	Scott McCallum	41.4%	3.7%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Wisconsin 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2014	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2012	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2010	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2008	3	37.5%	5	62.5%	D+2
2006	3	37.5%	5	62.5%	D+2
2004	4	50%	4	50%	-
2002	4	50%	4	50%	-
2000	4	44.4%	5	55.6%	D+1

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Wisconsin Party Control: 1992-2025
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Ten years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	R	R	R	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Twenty-three of 72 Wisconsin counties—32 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Adams County, Wisconsin	21.92%	8.73%	18.35%
Buffalo County, Wisconsin	21.82%	2.93%	14.66%
Columbia County, Wisconsin	2.14%	13.58%	15.26%
Crawford County, Wisconsin	5.40%	19.98%	27.03%
Door County, Wisconsin	3.22%	6.99%	17.33%
Dunn County, Wisconsin	11.09%	4.97%	14.95%
Forest County, Wisconsin	26.58%	5.44%	15.16%
Grant County, Wisconsin	9.43%	13.77%	23.88%
Jackson County, Wisconsin	11.74%	15.01%	21.84%
Juneau County, Wisconsin	26.05%	7.03%	9.00%
Kenosha County, Wisconsin	0.31%	12.23%	18.06%
Lafayette County, Wisconsin	8.99%	15.37%	22.32%
Lincoln County, Wisconsin	20.60%	0.71%	12.48%
Marquette County, Wisconsin	24.09%	0.27%	5.28%
Pepin County, Wisconsin	23.08%	2.22%	12.89%
Price County, Wisconsin	25.00%	0.04%	13.40%
Racine County, Wisconsin	4.28%	3.54%	7.41%
Richland County, Wisconsin	5.50%	16.13%	20.63%
Sauk County, Wisconsin	0.35%	18.47%	23.04%
Sawyer County, Wisconsin	18.41%	0.49%	6.23%
Trempealeau County, Wisconsin	12.64%	14.08%	26.39%
Vernon County, Wisconsin	4.43%	14.73%	22.00%
Winnebago County, Wisconsin	7.34%	3.73%	11.66%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Wisconsin with 47.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 46.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Wisconsin cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Wisconsin supported Republicans slightly more than Democratic candidates, 50.0 to 46.7 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every presidential election from 2000 to 2012 before voting for Trump in 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in Wisconsin. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.^[3]^[4]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 43 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 36 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.6 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 56 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 12.1 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 63 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 19.4 points. Trump won two districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 Presidential Results by State Assembly District '
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	49.45%	49.55%	R+0.1	40.19%	55.31%	R+15.1	R
2	45.06%	53.88%	R+8.8	35.98%	58.55%	R+22.6	R
3	46.37%	52.37%	R+6	39.25%	54.77%	R+15.5	R
4	47.96%	51.02%	R+3.1	42.82%	51.96%	R+9.1	R
5	45.84%	53.01%	R+7.2	35.60%	58.94%	R+23.3	R
6	44.15%	54.75%	R+10.6	30.90%	64.34%	R+33.4	R
7	57.11%	41.73%	D+15.4	55.20%	39.20%	D+16	D
8	86.53%	12.79%	D+73.7	82.43%	14.14%	D+68.3	D
9	74.69%	24.42%	D+50.3	71.60%	23.86%	D+47.7	D
10	89.76%	9.63%	D+80.1	89.09%	8.09%	D+81	D
11	86.92%	12.62%	D+74.3	85.40%	12.20%	D+73.2	D
12	80.00%	19.52%	D+60.5	79.28%	17.84%	D+61.4	D
13	41.61%	57.43%	R+15.8	46.60%	48.01%	R+1.4	R
14	42.53%	56.71%	R+14.2	49.36%	45.05%	D+4.3	R
15	44.86%	54.03%	R+9.2	43.63%	50.53%	R+6.9	R
16	90.18%	8.97%	D+81.2	88.16%	8.20%	D+80	D
17	86.03%	13.52%	D+72.5	85.53%	11.96%	D+73.6	D
18	89.18%	10.15%	D+79	87.03%	9.71%	D+77.3	D
19	69.95%	28.13%	D+41.8	72.67%	20.16%	D+52.5	D
20	58.37%	40.39%	D+18	55.33%	39.27%	D+16.1	D
21	47.93%	51.07%	R+3.1	44.81%	50.06%	R+5.3	R
22	42.44%	56.73%	R+14.3	35.41%	60.15%	R+24.7	R
23	34.62%	64.61%	R+30	50.43%	44.81%	D+5.6	R
24	43.05%	56.18%	R+13.1	45.71%	49.32%	R+3.6	R
25	46.93%	51.76%	R+4.8	35.85%	58.74%	R+22.9	R
26	45.64%	53.35%	R+7.7	38.91%	55.22%	R+16.3	R
27	45.07%	53.89%	R+8.8	40.39%	54.00%	R+13.6	R
28	43.68%	54.77%	R+11.1	32.63%	61.90%	R+29.3	R
29	48.16%	50.05%	R+1.9	38.58%	54.01%	R+15.4	R
30	46.24%	52.24%	R+6	42.51%	50.44%	R+7.9	R
31	46.56%	52.48%	R+5.9	40.68%	53.70%	R+13	R
32	41.42%	57.37%	R+15.9	34.97%	59.41%	R+24.4	R
33	39.95%	58.97%	R+19	35.54%	59.27%	R+23.7	R
34	44.59%	54.39%	R+9.8	35.28%	60.34%	R+25.1	R
35	46.89%	52.10%	R+5.2	34.68%	60.52%	R+25.8	R
36	46.49%	52.48%	R+6	32.07%	64.35%	R+32.3	R
37	45.97%	52.93%	R+7	39.87%	54.26%	R+14.4	R
38	41.66%	57.48%	R+15.8	38.23%	56.78%	R+18.5	R
39	42.12%	56.85%	R+14.7	32.76%	62.11%	R+29.4	R
40	45.04%	53.94%	R+8.9	32.61%	62.85%	R+30.2	R
41	48.58%	50.35%	R+1.8	36.02%	59.60%	R+23.6	R
42	51.09%	48.03%	D+3.1	40.26%	54.51%	R+14.3	R
43	58.46%	40.22%	D+18.2	50.24%	43.54%	D+6.7	D
44	63.57%	35.53%	D+28	55.44%	38.62%	D+16.8	D
45	63.99%	34.88%	D+29.1	52.83%	41.86%	D+11	D
46	63.63%	35.46%	D+28.2	61.74%	32.95%	D+28.8	D
47	71.05%	27.83%	D+43.2	71.89%	23.13%	D+48.8	D
48	77.21%	21.61%	D+55.6	76.06%	19.26%	D+56.8	D
49	56.34%	42.26%	D+14.1	42.01%	51.26%	R+9.3	R
50	54.10%	44.84%	D+9.3	38.35%	57.05%	R+18.7	R
51	59.12%	39.77%	D+19.4	48.42%	46.59%	D+1.8	R
52	45.04%	53.91%	R+8.9	38.03%	56.66%	R+18.6	R
53	43.36%	55.55%	R+12.2	34.18%	60.93%	R+26.7	R
54	57.39%	41.08%	D+16.3	49.16%	44.12%	D+5	D
55	47.32%	51.08%	R+3.8	41.80%	51.70%	R+9.9	R
56	43.05%	55.69%	R+12.6	37.98%	56.68%	R+18.7	R
57	58.41%	39.31%	D+19.1	51.73%	41.22%	D+10.5	D
58	31.25%	67.77%	R+36.5	28.43%	66.52%	R+38.1	R
59	31.24%	67.73%	R+36.5	25.52%	69.73%	R+44.2	R
60	31.82%	67.23%	R+35.4	32.35%	62.53%	R+30.2	R
61	44.42%	54.59%	R+10.2	36.49%	58.50%	R+22	R
62	45.73%	53.46%	R+7.7	41.17%	54.02%	R+12.9	R
63	42.73%	56.47%	R+13.7	37.80%	57.26%	R+19.5	R
64	58.84%	40.05%	D+18.8	52.63%	42.23%	D+10.4	D
65	67.06%	31.78%	D+35.3	57.76%	36.48%	D+21.3	D
66	75.23%	23.77%	D+51.5	68.34%	26.50%	D+41.8	D
67	48.07%	50.75%	R+2.7	36.41%	58.15%	R+21.7	R
68	51.24%	47.56%	D+3.7	40.11%	54.44%	R+14.3	R
69	43.65%	55.15%	R+11.5	34.08%	60.83%	R+26.8	R
70	48.55%	50.09%	R+1.5	36.82%	57.83%	R+21	R
71	57.55%	41.03%	D+16.5	50.34%	43.28%	D+7.1	D
72	48.68%	50.09%	R+1.4	36.95%	58.55%	R+21.6	R
73	60.93%	37.66%	D+23.3	47.53%	47.49%	D+0	D
74	57.74%	40.88%	D+16.9	46.22%	49.38%	R+3.2	D
75	47.55%	51.22%	R+3.7	34.53%	60.84%	R+26.3	R
76	81.64%	15.70%	D+65.9	82.30%	11.34%	D+71	D
77	82.23%	16.20%	D+66	83.80%	11.48%	D+72.3	D
78	71.91%	26.85%	D+45.1	75.62%	19.47%	D+56.2	D
79	60.89%	38.29%	D+22.6	62.65%	32.43%	D+30.2	D
80	63.93%	35.08%	D+28.9	62.12%	32.50%	D+29.6	D
81	61.46%	37.67%	D+23.8	51.23%	43.11%	D+8.1	D
82	43.03%	56.32%	R+13.3	43.69%	51.79%	R+8.1	R
83	31.12%	68.10%	R+37	29.71%	65.91%	R+36.2	R
84	42.31%	56.84%	R+14.5	41.43%	53.68%	R+12.3	R
85	52.04%	46.78%	D+5.3	44.67%	49.90%	R+5.2	R
86	43.96%	55.02%	R+11.1	36.19%	59.18%	R+23	R
87	44.81%	53.95%	R+9.1	30.93%	64.82%	R+33.9	R
88	48.79%	50.35%	R+1.6	43.75%	50.75%	R+7	R
89	46.02%	52.97%	R+6.9	32.41%	63.26%	R+30.9	R
90	63.31%	35.13%	D+28.2	53.29%	39.82%	D+13.5	D
91	60.63%	37.68%	D+22.9	55.95%	36.72%	D+19.2	D
92	55.89%	42.98%	D+12.9	40.90%	54.33%	R+13.4	R
93	47.10%	51.80%	R+4.7	38.30%	56.18%	R+17.9	R
94	51.53%	47.32%	D+4.2	45.50%	49.03%	R+3.5	D
95	64.46%	33.93%	D+30.5	58.03%	34.66%	D+23.4	D
96	55.57%	42.95%	D+12.6	42.90%	51.64%	R+8.7	R
97	39.90%	59.02%	R+19.1	39.37%	54.43%	R+15.1	R
98	33.69%	65.46%	R+31.8	35.20%	59.58%	R+24.4	R
99	26.70%	72.64%	R+45.9	28.97%	66.40%	R+37.4	R
Total	52.92%	45.97%	D+7	47.01%	47.78%	R+0.8	-
Source: Daily Kos

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Wisconsin secretary of state election 2018. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Wisconsin Secretary of State election, 2018 - Google News

External links

Suggest a link

Wisconsin secretary of state official website

Footnotes

[1] United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts - Wisconsin," accessed January 15, 2018

[2] Wisconsin Demographics, "Wisconsin Cities by Population," accessed January 15, 2018

[3] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013

[4] Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

	v • e State of Wisconsin Madison (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? \| Elections in 2025 \| How to vote \| How to run for office \| Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? \| U.S. President \| U.S. Congress \| Federal courts \| State executives \| State legislature \| State and local courts \| Counties \| Cities \| School districts \| Public policy