The 2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Wisconsin Secretary Of State. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Doug La Follette, who had been serving in the position since 1983, won re-election to a 10th four-year term, defeating Republican nominee Jay Schroeder with 52.74% of the vote.

Schroeder, La Follette's opponent, made a pledge to abolish the position entirely if elected. This was likely a response to the power of the office slowly being weakened ever since 1990, with more and more powers the office once had going to the legislature, other agencies, or being abolished entirely. According to analyses published by the Council of State Governments, the office is the weakest directly elected member of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Background In 1974, La Follette was elected to his first term as Secretary of State. He served for one four-year term, but did not run for re-election in order to run for lieutenant governor in 1978. He was succeeded as Secretary of State by Vel Phillips. After losing his bid for lieutenant governor, La Follette primaried Phillips in 1982 and subsequently won the general election. La Follette had run for re-election every cycle, and had been re-elected every time, even as the governorship and other offices at the top of the ticket went to the Republicans. Since returning in 1982, power had slowly been stripped from the office and instead given to jurisdictions. These powers include lobbying regulation and business registration, which La Follette had long advocated for the return of.

Though he had won most of his re-election campaigns with ease, 2010 was his closest result since 1986, winning only by 2%. This close result can be attributed to the red wave year of 2010, which saw many big wins for Wisconsin Republicans, including the ousting of popular Democratic senator Russ Feingold, as well as Scott Walker winning the governorship by 5% on the same ticket. La Follette was able to improve on his margin in 2014, winning by 4% under similar circumstances as the 2010 election, but this was still a notable decrease based on the results he had had in the past. The 2018 elections were expected to be very favorable for Democrats, making La Follette a favorite going into it.

Democratic primary Incumbent Doug La Follette was challenged from the left by Arvina Martin, a member of Madison Common Council. La Follette won the primary decisively, receiving 65% of the vote, and notably carrying all counties, including Dane County, home to Madison, which both candidates are from.

Nominated Doug La Follette, incumbent secretary of state, candidate for governor in the 2012 recall election, former state senator from the 22nd district

Eliminated in primary Arvina Martin, member of the Madison Common Council

Results

Republican primary Nominated Jay Harvey Schroeder

Eliminated in primary Spencer Zimmerman, perennial candidate

Results

General election Predictions SourceRankingAs ofGoverningOctober 11, 2018

Results With La Follette holding the position for so long, the race was seen to be not very competitive. In the end, La Follette won by six percentage points.

By county La FolletteDemocratic SchroederRepublican Write-ins Margin Total County # % # % # % # % #Adams 4,104 44.62% 5,094 55.38% 0 0.00% -990 -10.76% 9,198Ashland 4,294 63.22% 2,493 36.70% 5 0.07% 1,801 26.52% 6,792Barron 7,995 43.69% 10,300 56.28% 6 0.03% -2,305 -12.59% 18,295Bayfield 5,315 61.20% 3,368 38.78% 1 0.01% 1,947 22.42% 8,684Brown 55,195 48.79% 57,858 51.14% 86 0.08% -2,663 -2.35% 113,139Buffalo 2,628 45.14% 3,191 54.81% 3 0.05% -563 -9.67% 5,822Burnett 2,959 39.59% 4,515 60.41% 0 0.00% -1,556 -20.82% 7,474Calumet 9,758 42.03% 13,457 57.96% 1 0.01% -3,699 -15.93% 23,216Chippewa 12,529 46.17% 14,607 53.83% 0 0.00% -2,078 -7.66% 27,136Clark 4,599 40.38% 6,786 59.59% 3 0.03% -2,187 -19.21% 11,388Columbia 14,368 54.02% 12,211 45.91% 19 0.07% 2,157 8.11% 26,598Crawford 3,567 54.94% 2,925 45.05% 1 0.02% 642 9.89% 6,493Dane 219,538 75.93% 69,184 23.93% 428 0.15% 150,354 52.00% 289,150Dodge 14,527 39.30% 22,440 60.70% 2 0.01% -7,913 -21.40% 36,969Door 8,480 50.98% 8,141 48.94% 13 0.08% 339 2.04% 16,690Douglas 11,243 60.70% 7,269 39.25% 9 0.05% 3,974 21.45% 18,521Dunn 9,019 49.72% 9,118 50.27% 1 0.01% -99 -0.55% 18,138Eau Claire 27,636 57.85% 20,088 42.05% 48 0.10% 7,548 15.80% 47,772Florence 676 31.43% 1,475 68.57% 0 0.00% -799 -37.15% 2,151Fond du Lac 17,631 39.79% 26,649 60.14% 30 0.07% -9,018 -20.35% 44,310Forest 1,635 42.63% 2,197 57.29% 3 0.08% -562 -14.66% 3,835Grant 9,772 51.01% 9,378 48.96% 6 0.03% 394 2.05% 19,156Green 9,595 57.29% 7,144 42.65% 10 0.06% 2,451 14.64% 16,749Green Lake 2,836 35.23% 5,211 64.73% 3 0.04% -2,375 -29.50% 8,050Iowa 6,819 62.29% 4,124 37.67% 5 0.05% 2,385 24.62% 10,948Iron 1,366 45.01% 1,669 54.99% 0 0.00% -303 -9.98% 3,035Jackson 4,041 51.38% 3,824 48.62% 0 0.00% 217 2.76% 7,865Jefferson 16,781 45.06% 20,437 54.87% 27 0.07% -3,656 -9.81% 37,218Juneau 4,249 42.64% 5,710 57.31% 5 0.05% -1,461 -14.67% 9,964Kenosha 35,781 53.67% 30,829 46.24% 63 0.09% 4,952 7.43% 66,673Kewaunee 3,926 41.97% 5,420 57.94% 9 0.10% -1,494 -15.97% 9,355La Crosse 33,060 59.33% 22,663 40.67% 0 0.00% 10,397 18.66% 55,723Lafayette 3,347 52.14% 3,071 47.84% 1 0.02% 276 4.30% 6,419Langlade 3,395 37.57% 5,630 62.31% 11 0.12% -2,235 -24.74% 9,036Lincoln 5,662 43.18% 7,439 56.73% 12 0.09% -1,777 -13.55% 13,113Manitowoc 15,354 44.17% 19,388 55.78% 19 0.05% -4,034 -11.61% 34,761Marathon 26,567 43.66% 34,239 56.27% 44 0.07% -7,672 -12.61% 60,850Marinette 6,662 39.14% 10,356 60.85% 2 0.01% -3,694 -21.71% 17,020Marquette 3,044 43.14% 4,006 56.77% 6 0.09% -962 -13.63% 7,056Menominee 847 78.14% 237 21.86% 0 0.00% 610 56.27% 1,084Milwaukee 269,143 70.18% 113,770 29.67% 575 0.15% 155,373 40.51% 383,488Monroe 7,347 44.41% 9,182 55.50% 16 0.10% -1,835 -11.09% 16,545Oconto 6,276 36.44% 10,936 63.50% 11 0.06% -4,660 -27.06% 17,223Oneida 8,540 44.68% 10,553 55.22% 19 0.10% -2,013 -10.54% 19,112Outagamie 38,391 47.10% 43,109 52.89% 4 0.01% -4,718 -5.79% 81,504Ozaukee 19,801 39.34% 30,480 60.56% 51 0.10% -10,679 -21.22% 50,332Pepin 1,374 44.95% 1,683 55.05% 0 0.00% -309 -10.10% 3,057Pierce 8,421 48.61% 8,899 51.37% 3 0.02% -478 -2.76% 17,323Polk 7,635 41.41% 10,803 58.59% 1 0.00% -3,168 -17.18% 18,439Portage 19,075 56.07% 14,916 43.85% 27 0.08% 2,559 12.22% 34,018Price 2,916 44.33% 3,662 55.67% 0 0.00% -746 -11.34% 6,578Racine 42,821 50.02% 42,705 49.88% 88 0.10% 116 0.14% 85,614Richland 3,648 52.82% 3,253 47.10% 5 0.07% 395 5.72% 6,906Rock 40,630 60.86% 26,068 39.04% 67 0.10% 14,562 21.84% 66,765Rusk 2,418 40.38% 3,565 59.54% 5 0.08% -1,147 -19.16% 5,988Sauk 15,870 56.00% 12,468 44.00% 0 0.00% 3,402 12.00% 28,338Sawyer 3,662 45.58% 4,372 54.41% 1 0.01% -710 -8.83% 8,035Shawano 6,416 36.50% 11,164 63.50% 0 0.00% -4,748 -27.00% 17,580Sheboygan 22,949 43.89% 29,289 56.01% 55 0.11% -6,340 -12.12% 52,293St. Croix 17,267 43.54% 22,365 56.39% 27 0.07% -5,098 -12.85% 39,659Taylor 2,650 33.70% 5,209 66.24% 5 0.06% -2,559 -32.54% 7,864Trempealeau 5,864 49.03% 6,088 50.91% 7 0.06% -224 -1.88% 11,959Vernon 6,898 53.92% 5,891 46.05% 3 0.02% 1,007 7.87% 12,792Vilas 4,901 39.62% 7,464 60.33% 6 0.05% -2,563 -20.71% 12,371Walworth 18,499 41.36% 26,200 58.57% 32 0.07% -7,701 -17.21% 44,731Washburn 3,374 43.38% 4,401 56.58% 3 0.04% -1,027 -13.20% 7,778Washington 20,697 29.80% 48,749 70.20% 0 0.00% -28,052 -40.39% 69,446Waukesha 77,918 35.87% 139,149 64.05% 172 0.08% -61,231 -28.18% 217,239Waupaca 8,540 38.84% 13,441 61.12% 9 0.04% -4,901 -22.28% 21,990Waushara 3,939 37.88% 6,461 62.13% 0 0.00% -2,522 -24.25% 10,400Winnebago 37,353 50.20% 36,980 49.70% 72 0.10% 373 0.50% 74,405Wood 14,719 45.50% 17,618 54.46% 16 0.05% -2,899 -8.96% 32,353Totals 1,380,752 52.74% 1,235,034 47.18% 2,162 0.08% 145,718 5.56% 2,617,948 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Adams (largest city: Adams) Dunn (largest city: Menomonie) Forest (largest city: Crandon) Juneau (largest city: Mauston) Pierce (largest city: River Falls) Pepin (largest city: Durand) Trempealeau (largest city: Arcadia) Vernon (largest city: Viroqua) Wood (largest city: Marshfield)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Racine (largest city: Racine) Winnebago (largest city: Oshkosh)

By congressional district Despite losing the state, Schroeder won five of eight congressional districts.

District La Follette Schroeder Representative 47% 53%Paul Ryan 72% 28%Mark Pocan 53% 47%Ron Kind 78% 22%Gwen Moore 41% 59%Jim Sensenbrenner 45% 55%Glenn Grothman 44% 56%Sean Duffy 45% 55%Mike Gallagher

See also 2018 Wisconsin elections 2018 United States elections

References