Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Here are the takeaways from Tuesday's legislative primary elections in Wisconsin

By Hope Karnopp, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

4 days ago

Voters in Wisconsin's partisan primary election Tuesday narrowed down candidates for seats in the state Assembly and Senate — many of them on track to become new lawmakers in freshly redrawn legislative districts.

Some candidates did not face a challenger from their own party — or were the only candidate for the seat — and were already certain to appear on the Nov 5. ballot. In other races, voters chose from a handful of Democratic or Republican candidates to advance to the general election.

One of the most closely watched primaries was in downtown Milwaukee : Incumbent state Rep. Ryan Clancy held off Democratic challenger Jarrod Anderson, who was endorsed by top Milwaukee Democrats. The race pulled in more than $130,000 in donations, an unusually high amount. Clancy, a Democratic socialist, has been outspoken in his support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war and supported the "unsinstructed" movement in April .

Other Milwaukee Democrats who won their primaries in blue-leaning districts will likely become new faces in the state Legislature. Those include small-business owner and accountant Priscilla Prado, Milwaukee County supervisor Sequanna Taylora and former Milwaukee County supervisor and pastor Russell Goodwin.

In Milwaukee's southwest suburbs, former Milwaukee alderman and current Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan fended off primary challenger and MMA instructor Martin Tontoe Gomez. Donovan will face Democratic candidate LuAnn Bird in November in what could be a competitive election in a slightly redrawn district .

Another Republican primary race in Milwaukee's northwestern suburbs of Germantown and Menomonee Falls saw state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who gained the endorsement of President Donald Trump , lose to state Sen. Dan Knodl, who entered the race rather than run against fellow incumbent Duey Stroebel in their redrawn Senate district. Brandtjen has promoted false claims about the 2020 election, and the Wisconsin Ethics Commission has recommended felony charges for her alleged involvement in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws.

Former state Rep. Tim Ramthun, who has also pushed conspiracies about the 2020 election, lost to current state Sen. Dan Feyen in the 20th Senate District, which includes areas like Fond du Lac and West Bend. Ramthun unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for governor in 2022.

The Madison area was also home to competitive Democratic primaries, including three current state representatives competing to represent the eastern Madison suburbs in the Senate. Melissa Ratcliff won in that race, over Jimmy Anderson and Samba Baldeh. Andrew Hysell, who faced criticism from his four other Democratic opponents , won an Assembly seat representing Sun Prairie.

Here are the results of all the contested Democratic and Republican primaries in Wisconsin — meaning there were two or more candidates from a party running to move onto the Nov. 5 ballot.

A full list of Assembly results is available here , and Senate results are found here .

More: 2024 Wisconsin State Assembly Primary Election Results

More: 2024 Wisconsin State Senate Primary Election Results

Candidates whose names were in bold have been called so far. A (D) denotes a Democrat, an (R) denotes a Republican, and an (i) denotes an incumbent — the person who most recently held the seat. Current lawmakers who are running in new districts are denoted with an (i*).

4th Senate District

Includes northern portions of Milwaukee, plus Shorewood and Glendale. Dora Drake won the special election to fill the remainder of former Sen. Lena Taylor's term, but the Aug. 13 and Nov. 5 contests are for a full term in the Senate.

Dora Drake (D, i*)
LaKeshia N. Myers (D, i*)

4th Senate District: Meet the 4th Senate District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

16th Senate District

Includes suburbs surrounding Madison, like Sun Prairie, Cottage Grove, Stoughton and Fitchburg.

Samba Baldeh (D, i*)
Melissa Ratcliff (D, i*)
Jimmy Anderson (D, i*)

18th Senate District

Includes much of the Fox Valley, such as Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and Oshkosh.

Kristin Alfheim (D)
Anthony Wayne Phillips (R)
Blong Yang (R)

20th Senate District

Includes northern parts of Ozaukee and Washington counties, including Saukville, Slinger, West Bend, Fredonia and Belgium.

Michael Rapp (D)
Daniel Feyen (R, i*)
Timothy Ramthun (R)

20th Senate District: Meet the 20th Senate District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

1st Assembly District

Includes Door and Kewaunee counties in northeastern Wisconsin.

Renee Paplham (D)
Joel Kitchens (R, i)
Milt Swagel (R)

4th Assembly District

Includes areas northwest of Green Bay, such as Howard, Suamico and Oconto Falls.

Jane Benson (D)
Alexia Unertl (D)s
David Steffen (R, i)
Darwin Behnke (R)

6th Assembly District

Includes areas farther northwest of Green Bay, such as Shawano and Pulaski.

Shirley Hinze (D)
Elijah Behnke (R, i*)
Peter Schmidt (R, i)

8th Assembly District

Includes neighborhoods south of downtown Milwaukee, with the Menomonee River as the northern boundary.

Enrique Murguia (D)
Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D, i)

8th Assembly District: Meet the 8th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

9th Assembly District

Includes areas between the 7th and 8th Assembly Districts, such as Mitchell Park and West Milwaukee to the north and West Layton Avenue to the south.

Priscilla A. Prado (D)
Deisy España (D)
Ryan Antczak (R)

9th Assembly District: Meet the 9th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

11th Assembly District

Includes parts of Milwaukee farther north and west of the 10th Assembly District, with Havenwoods State Forest as the center point.

Amillia Heredia (D)
Sequanna Taylor (D)

11th Assembly District: Meet the 11th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

12th Assembly District

Includes the northwest corner of Milwaukee County.

Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr. (D)
Katrina Blossom Morrison (D)
Decorah Gordon (D)
Brandon Williford (D)

12th Assembly District: Meet the 12th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

13th Assembly District

Includes Wauwatosa, Elm Grove and part of Brookfield.

Robyn Vining (D, i*)
Patti Granger (R)a
Tom Michalski (R, i)

13th Assembly District: Meet the 13th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

14th Assembly District

Includes more of West Allis, with the Milwaukee County line as the western border.

Angelito Tenorio (D)
Nathan R. Kieso (D)
Brady Coulthard (D)
Jim Engstrand (R)

14th Assembly District: Meet the 14th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

18th Assembly District

Includes many portions of Milwaukee west of the 16th Assembly District, with Washington Park near the center.

Margaret Arney (D)
Angela Kennedy (D)
Kevin Anderson (R)

18th Assembly District: Meet the 18th Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

19th Assembly District

Includes downtown Milwaukee and the lakefront, up to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the north.

Jarrod Anderson (D)
Ryan Clancy (D, i)

24th Assembly District

Includes western suburbs like Germantown and Menomonee Falls.

William Walter (D)
Dan Knodl (R, i*)
Janel Brandtjen (R, i*)

24th Assembly District: Meet the 24th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

25th Assembly District

Includes Manitowoc, Two Rivers and communities slightly to the south along Lake Michigan.

Stephen R. Welch (D)
Dave Wage (R)
Paul Tittl (R, i)

27th Assembly District

Includes areas just west of Sheboygan, including Sheboygan Falls, Kohler, Plymouth, Elkhart Lake and Kiel.

Kay Ladson (D)
Brian Hilbelink (R)
Lindee Rae Brill (R)

28th Assembly District

Includes western Wisconsin communities like New Richmond and the villages of Hammond, Baldwin and Woodville.

Danielle Johnson (D)
Rob Kreibich (R)
Brady Penfield (R)

33rd Assembly District

Includes southern Wisconsin communities like East Troy, Burlington, Union Grove and Lake Geneva.

Alan Kupsik (D)
Andrew Cegielski (R)
Robin Vos (R, i*)

More: East Troy man announces primary challenge to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos

35th Assembly District

Includes north-central communities like Merrill, Antigo and Tomahawk.

Elizabeth McCrank (D)
Calvin Callahan (R, i)
Todd Mayr (R)

37th Assembly District

Includes Beaver Dam, Waupun and Fox Lake.

LaToya Bates (D)
Steve Rydzewski (R)
Mark L. Born (R, i*)

40th Assembly District

Includes communities like Portage, Baraboo, Spring Green, Prairie du Sac and Sauk City.

Brad Cook (D)
Kyle Kunicki (D)
Karen DeSanto (D)
Jerry Helmer (R)

43rd Assembly District

Includes part of Janesville, plus Milton, Edgerton and Whitewater.

Brienne Brown (D)
Scott L. Johnson (R, i*)
Dylan Kurtz (R)

44th Assembly District

Includes more of Janesville and areas to the southwest.

Ann Roe (D)
Cathy Myers (D)
Bruce Danielson (R)

47th Assembly District

Includes suburbs south of Madison, like Fitchburg and Stoughton.

Randy Udell (D)
Joe Maldonado (D)

48th Assembly District

Includes Sun Prairie and other areas northeast of Madison.

Bill Connors (D)
Avery K. Renk (D)
Andrew Hysell (D)
Rick E. Rose (D)
Goodwill Chekwube Obieze (D)
Lisa Rubrich (R)

More: Assembly candidate disputes audit accusing his company of bilking Kansas out of $2.3M

55th Assembly District

Includes part of Oshkosh plus areas to the west, such as Omro and Winneconne.

Kyle Kehoe (D)
Nate Gustafson (R, i)
Michael Schraa (R, i*)

57th Assembly District

Includes central Wisconsin areas like Waupaca, Wautoma and Redgranite.

Ruth Caves (D)
Kevin Petersen (R, i*)
Duane Wilson (D)

61st Assembly District

Includes areas in the western part of Milwaukee County, like Greendale, Hales Corners and parts of Greenfield.

LuAnn Bird (D)
Martin Tontoe Gomez (R)
Bob Donovan (R, i*)

61st Assembly District: Meet the 61st Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

65th Assembly District

Includes part of Kenosha and areas farther south, like Pleasant Prairie.

Ben DeSmidt (D)
Kyle Flood (D)
Brian Gonzales (R)

67th Assembly District

Includes northern areas like Rice Lake and Barron.

Jeff Foster (D)
David Armstrong (R, i*)
Jimmy Swenson (R)

68th Assembly District

Includes northern Wisconsin communities like Bloomer, Cornell and Ladysmith.

Richard Pulcher (D)
Cliff Taylor (R)
Rob Summerfield (R, i*)

69th Assembly District

Includes north-central communities like Medford, Abbotsford, Colby, Thorp and Neillsville.

Roger Halls (D)
Karen Hurd (R, i*)
Lori J. Voss (R)

73rd Assembly District

Includes the farthest-north communities in Wisconsin, like Ashland, Bayfield and Superior.

Angela Stroud (D)
John Adams (D)
Frank Kostka (R)

74th Assembly District

Includes northern Wisconsin areas like Spooner.

Jeanne Rand Bruce (D)
Scott Allen Harbridge (R)
Chanz J Green (R, i)

75th Assembly District

Includes areas in the northwestern corner of Wisconsin, like St. Croix Falls.

Jane Kleiss (D)
Neil Kline (R)
Duke Tucker (R)
Jay Calhoun (R)

77th Assembly District

Includes central parts of Madison, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, plus Shorewood Hills.

Chuck Erickson (D)
Thad Schumacher (D)
Renuka Mayadev (D)

78th Assembly District

Includes southern parts of Madison, plus Monona.

Shelia Stubbs (D, i*)
Maia Pearson (D)

80th Assembly District

Includes areas further southwest of Madison, like Verona and Cross Plains.

Mike Bare (D, i)
Nasra Wehelie (D)
Robert Relph (R)

82nd Assembly District

Includes most of Waukesha and areas slightly south, plus Carroll University.

Samuel N. D'Amico (D)
Kevin Reilly (D)
Scott Allen (R, i*)

82nd Assembly District: Meet the 82nd Assembly District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday's election

86th Assembly District

Includes Marshfield and surrounding communities.

John H. Small (D)
Donna M. Rozar (R, i*)
John Spiros (R, i)
Trine Spindler (R)

87th Assembly District

Includes central Wisconsin communities like Mosinee and Iola.

William Switalla (D)
Brent Jacobson (R)
Cory Sillars (R)

88th Assembly District

Includes communities southeast of Green Bay, like Allouez and De Pere.

Christy Welch (D)
Benjamin Franklin (R)
Phil Collins (R)

92nd Assembly District

Includes Menomonie, Elk Mound and Chippewa Falls.

Joe Plouff (D)
Caden G. Berg (D)
Clint Moses (R, i*)

93rd Assembly District

Includes part of Eau Claire and areas farther south, like Osseo.

Christian Phelps (D)
Nickolas Butler (D)
James Rolbiecki (R)

96th Assembly District

Includes areas just south of La Crosse, like Viroqua.

Steve Campbell (D)
Tara Johnson (D)
Loren Oldenburg (R, i)

98th Assembly District

Includes parts of Waukesha and Washington counties, like Richfield, Hubertus and Hartford.

Del A. Schmechel (D)
Don Pridemore (R)
Jim Piwowarczyk (R)

98th Assembly District: Meet the 98th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

99th Assembly District

Includes suburban areas north of Assembly District 97, like Hartland, Chenequa, Oconomowoc, Lac La Belle and Ixonia. It also stretches into Dodge County to include areas like Neosho and Rubicon.

Jeffrey Pfannerstill (R)
Barbara Dittrich (R, i*)

99th Assembly District: Meet the 99th Assembly District candidates in the Republican primary in Tuesday's election

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Here are the takeaways from Tuesday's legislative primary elections in Wisconsin