A strong turnout in Wisconsin meant that more than 2.6 million people voted, a lot more than in any past midterm, and more than in the 2012 governor recall election, and estimated to be roughly 59 percent of the state’s voting-age population. That tally is is more than the turnout rate that many states achieved in the 2016 presidential race, experts note.
As of noon:
With 100 percent of all votes counted, Tony Evers, the Democrat, edged out incumbent Gov. Scott Walker, the Republican, by a margin of 50 percent to 48.
In the high-dollar U.S. Senate race, Democrat Tammy Baldwin outlasted Republican challenger Leah Vukmir by 10 percent, racking up almost 300,000 votes more than the challenger.
In the often nasty race for Attorney General, the ending was almost a statistical dead heat. Democrat challenger Josh Kaul led incumbent Republican Brad Schimel by about 20,000 votes when all votes had been counted.
In U.S. House District 1, Bryan Steil ended the hope of iron worker Randy Bryce by 55 percent to 42 percent. Although Bryce started strong in the polls, later campaign ads focusing on arrests and child support payment issues for Bryce may have helped pull the election out of his grasp. Steil will fill the seat of the departing Rep. Paul Ryan.
State Senate District 21 was held by Van Wannggard against challenger Lori Hawkins, the Democrat, 58 percent to 42 percent.
Republicans Samantha Kerkman and Robin Vos, the incumbents held on to Assembly District seats 61 and 63 respectively. Republican Robert Wittke took Assembly District seat 62, while Democrat Peter Barca continued to be re-elected to the Assembly District 64 seat.
High hopes
High results were had for multiple referendum ballot measures in Racine County and the City of Racine. In the City, voters came out by a margin of 83 percent to 17 percent to tax marijuana sales. Similarly, they voted to de-criminalize marijuana in the city. That vote was 73 percent in favor of such a move.
In Racine County, votes OK’d the notion of legalizing medical marijuana use by the margin of 85 percent to 15 percent. They were less enthused about giving the OK to overall legalization of marijuana, but still voting in favor of the idea, 59 to 41 percent.
Racine County Eye is pulling together stories around the state for election night results. We’ll also be posting Racine County results later this evening.
Polls closed at 8 p.m., but here’s what we know so far.
- Tony Evers leads by only 122 votes over Scott Walker with 98 percent of precincts reporting, according to the New York Times.
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards counted:
- Scott Walker/Rebecca Kleefisch (R): 38,641
- Tony Evers: 36,081
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards counted:
- With 92 percent of the votes tallied in the 1st Congressional District race, Bryan Steil is leading against Randy Bryce (54.5 percent to 42.4 percent).
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards reporting:
- Bryan Steil (R): 38,283
- Randy Bryce (D): 35,148
- Ken Yorgan: 2,504
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards reporting:
- CBS 58 is reporting that Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) is the projected winner against Republican Leah Vukmir in the U.S. Senate race.
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards reporting:
- Leah Vukmir (R): 35,490
- Tammy Baldwin (D) 40,426
- Here’s how Racine County voted with 64 of 69 wards reporting:
State Senate races
State Senator District 21
- Van Wanggaard (R): 27,281
- Lori Hawkins (D): 20,005
31 of 35 wards reporting
State Assembly races
Assembly District 62
- Robert Wittke (R): 12,739
- John Lehman (D): 11,621
17/19 wards reporting
Assembly District 63
- Robin Vos (R): 14,262
- Joel Jacobsen (D): 8,467
Racine County Sheriff
- Christopher Schmaling (R) 44,254
- Joseph Buckley (D) 30,803
35 of 69 wards reporting
Clerk of Circuit Court
- Sam Christensen (R) 44,254
- Connie Cobb Madsen (D) 30,803
64 of 69 wards reporting
County Referendum
Yes: 44,688
No: 30,602
County Referendum 2
Yes: 16,528
No: 8,344
34 of 36 wards reporting
How did Racine County vote? Check out the current results from Racine County.
Looking for the Buzz around Racine? Check out The Buzz, our newest column.
