The 2016 Wisconsin Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin. Sixteen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Before the election, Republicans held 18 seats, Democrats held 14 seats, and 1 seat was vacant. Of the seats up for election, 8 were held by Democrats, 7 were held by Republicans, and 1 was vacant due to the recent death of a Republican member. The primary election was held on August 9, 2016.
Republicans consolidated their control of the Senate, flipping one Democrat-held seat, and entered the 103rd Wisconsin Legislature with 20 of 33 Senate seats.
Results summary Statewide results of the 2016 Wisconsin State Senate election:
Seats Party (majority caucus shading) TotalDemocraticRepublican Last election (2014) 6 11 17 Total after last election (2014) 14 19 33 Total before this election 14 18 32 Up for election 8 8 16 of which: Incumbent retiring 1 0 1 Vacated 0 1 1 Unopposed 5 3 8 This election 7 9 16 Change from last election 1 1 Total after this election 13 20 33 Change in total 1 2
Party Candi-dates Votes Seats % +/– % Republican Party 11 618,589 48.62% 9 1 56.25% Democratic Party 13 639,545 50.26% 7 1 43.75% Integrity Party 1 2,093 0.16% 0 0.00% Scattering 12,126 0.95% 0 0.00%Total 25 1,272,353 100.00% 16 100.00%
Close races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:
(gain)
Outgoing incumbents Retiring Nikiya Harris Dodd (D–Milwaukee), representing District 6 since 2013, did not run for re-election.
Vacated Rick Gudex (R–Fond du Lac), representing District 18 since 2013, did not run for re-election, then died by suicide before the election on October 12, 2016.
Predictions SourceRankingAs of Governing | October 12, 2016
Candidates and results Dist.IncumbentThis raceMemberPartyFirstelectedStatusCandidates02Rep. 1987Incumbent re-electedRobert Cowles (Rep.) 65% John Powers (Dem.) 34.95%04Dem. 2004 Incumbent re-electedLena Taylor (Dem.) 98.33%06Dem. 2012Incumbent retired.New member elected.Democratic hold.LaTonya Johnson (Dem.) 98.89%08Rep.1992Incumbent re-electedAlberta Darling (Rep.) 95.51%10Rep. 2000Incumbent re-electedSheila Harsdorf (Rep.) 63.2% Diane Odeen (Dem.) 36.76%12Rep. 2012Incumbent re-electedTom Tiffany (Rep.) 62.92% Bryan Van Stippen (Dem.) 37.04%14Rep. 2004Incumbent re-electedLuther Olsen (Rep.) 57.05% Brian Smith (Dem.) 42.89%16Dem. 2004Incumbent re-electedMark Miller (Dem.) 98.39%18VacantIncumbent died.New member elected.Republican hold.Dan Feyen (Rep.) 55.83% Mark Harris (Dem.) 44.06%20Rep. 2004Incumbent re-electedGlenn Grothman (Rep.) 98.21%22Dem. 1996Incumbent re-electedRobert Wirch (Dem.) 98.16%24Dem. 2003 Incumbent defeated.New member elected.Republican gainPatrick Testin (Rep.) 52.32% Julie Lassa (Dem.) 47.63%26Dem. 1962 Incumbent re-electedFred Risser (Rep.) 98.57%28Rep. 1998 Incumbent retired.New member elected.Republican hold.Dave Craig (Rep.) 98.10%30Dem. 2000Incumbent re-electedDave Hansen (Dem.) 51.27% Eric Wimberger (Rep.) 48.67%32Dem. 2011 Incumbent re-electedJennifer Shilling (Dem.) 48.86% Dan Kapanke (Rep.) 48.79% Chip DeNure (Ind.) 2.35%
Detailed results
District 18 Incumbent Republican Rick Gudex died on October 12, 2016, but had previously declined to seek re-election, leaving the district open. Within minutes of Gudex announcing his retirement, Fond du Lac county Republican chair Dan Feyen announced a campaign to succeed him. Two months later, Republican pastor Mark Elliott also announced a campaign. Despite what was expected to be a competitive primary, Feyen defeated Elliott by a 12-point margin.
In the Democratic primary, Winnebago County county executive Mark Harris announced a campaign to unseat Gudex, and was later followed by Oshkosh educator John Lemberger. The two candidates ran on two ends of the ideological spectrum, with Harris campaigning as a fiscally conservative democrat, while Lemberger was described as a progressive candidate similar to 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Harris defeated Lemberger by a wide margin.
In February, the Republican-controlled legislature passed a bill which would bar state lawmakers from simultaneously serving as county executives. The bill was criticized on partisan grounds as the only political candidate this would have applied to, Harris, was a Democrat. Despite the bill's passage, Harris vowed to stay in the race.
Following the primaries, the race was expected to be competitive, despite the district's historical Republican lean. During his campaign, Harris touted his record as county executive, while Feyen campaigned on bringing jobs to the district. Throughout much of the campaign, Harris held a cash advantage over Feyen. Feyen defeated Harris by an 11-point margin.
See also 2016 Wisconsin elections 2016 Wisconsin State Assembly election 2016 United States presidential election in Wisconsin 2016 United States Senate election in Wisconsin 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin 2016 United States elections Wisconsin Senate Elections in Wisconsin Redistricting in Wisconsin
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