The 2022 Wisconsin Secretary of State election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the Secretary of State of Wisconsin. Incumbent Democrat Doug La Follette won re-election to an unprecedented 12th term in the office, narrowly defeating Republican state legislator Amy Loudenbeck. With a margin of 0.29%, this was the closest secretary of state race of the 2022 election cycle.

Background

The secretary of state is one of Wisconsin's six constitutional officers. Once one of the most powerful offices in the state, its role has slowly been diminished as duties were reassigned or eliminated over time. In 1974 election oversight was stripped from the duties of the office and in 2013 the office lost the ability to delay the publicization of laws passed by the legislature, a move which helped unions prepare for Act 10's implementation.

As part of broader attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, Republicans, having historically weakened the office, began a push to put election oversight back under the purview of the secretary of state, as opposed to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which Republicans had created to replace the previous nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which oversaw elections and ethics.

Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Doug La Follette, incumbent secretary of state

Eliminated in primary Alexia Sabor, chair of the Dane County Democratic Party

Endorsements

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error Doug AlexiaSabor UndecidedChange Research (D)Change Research (D)July 1–7, 2022560 (LV)± 4.6%42%9%43%

Results

Republican primary Candidates Nominee Amy Loudenbeck, state assemblywoman

Eliminated in primary Daniel Schmidtka Jay Schroeder, nominee for secretary of state in 2018

Withdrew before primary Dmitry Becker (endorsed Loudenbeck)

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian primary Candidates Nominee Neil Harmon

Results

General election Predictions SourceRankingAs of Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 3, 2022Elections DailyNovember 7, 2022

Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error DougLa Follette (D) AmyLoudenbeck (R) Other UndecidedCNN/SSRSCNN/SSRSOctober 13–17, 2022905 (RV)± 4.2%47%46%6%1%714 (LV)± 4.5%49%48%2%1%

Results

By county County Doug La FolletteDemocratic Amy LoudenbeckRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Adams 3,540 35.96% 5,940 60.34% 365 3.71% −2,400 −24.38% 9,845 Ashland 3,777 54.63% 2,842 41.11% 295 4.27% 935 13.52% 6,914 Barron 7,079 35.29% 12,322 61.43% 658 3.28% −5,243 −26.14% 20,059 Bayfield 5,131 55.53% 3,811 41.24% 298 3.23% 1,320 14.29% 9,240 Brown 49,962 44.33% 58,303 51.73% 4,443 3.94% −8,341 −7.40% 112,708 Buffalo 2,216 36.39% 3,645 59.86% 228 3.74% −1,429 −23.47% 6,089 Burnett 2,814 34.39% 5,145 62.88% 223 2.73% −2,331 −28.49% 8,182 Calumet 9,331 37.73% 14,572 58.91% 831 3.36% −5,241 −21.19% 24,734 Chippewa 11,190 38.76% 16,519 57.22% 1,159 4.01% −5,329 −18.46% 28,868 Clark 3,522 30.46% 7,642 66.10% 397 3.43% −4,120 −35.64% 11,561 Columbia 13,102 48.33% 12,980 47.88% 1,028 3.79% 122 0.45% 27,110 Crawford 3,226 46.46% 3,484 50.17% 234 3.37% −258 −3.72% 6,944 Dane 222,397 74.71% 63,324 21.27% 11,955 4.02% 159,073 53.44% 297,676 Dodge 12,525 32.48% 24,677 64.00% 1,355 3.51% −12,152 −31.52% 38,557 Door 8,451 49.22% 8,187 47.68% 531 3.09% 264 1.54% 17,169 Douglas 10,049 54.30% 7,735 41.80% 721 3.90% 2,314 12.50% 18,505 Dunn 7,655 41.64% 9,950 54.12% 780 4.24% −2,295 −12.48% 18,385 Eau Claire 25,742 53.70% 19,906 41.53% 2,287 4.77% 5,836 12.17% 47,935 Florence 615 24.60% 1,833 73.32% 52 2.08% −1,218 −48.72% 2,500 Fond du Lac 15,684 34.10% 28,803 62.62% 1,507 3.28% −13,119 −28.52% 45,994 Forest 1,364 33.28% 2,573 62.77% 162 3.95% −1,209 −29.49% 4,099 Grant 8,496 42.73% 10,634 53.48% 755 3.80% −2,138 −10.75% 19,885 Green 8,839 50.94% 7,860 45.30% 652 3.76% 979 5.64% 17,351 Green Lake 2,579 29.96% 5,758 66.89% 271 3.15% −3,179 −36.93% 8,608 Iowa 6,431 55.82% 4,662 40.47% 427 3.71% 1,769 15.36% 11,520 Iron 1,208 37.28% 1,951 60.22% 81 2.50% −743 −22.93% 3,240 Jackson 3,283 41.31% 4,352 54.76% 312 3.93% −1,069 −13.45% 7,947 Jefferson 15,566 40.70% 21,220 55.49% 1,458 3.81% −5,654 −14.78% 38,244 Juneau 3,706 34.75% 6,599 61.88% 360 3.38% −2,893 −27.13% 10,665 Kenosha 30,360 46.41% 32,650 49.91% 2,409 3.68% −2,290 −3.50% 65,419 Kewaunee 3,361 34.21% 6,155 62.65% 309 3.15% −2,794 −28.44% 9,825 La Crosse 29,488 54.13% 22,391 41.11% 2,593 4.76% 7,097 13.03% 54,472 Lafayette 2,846 43.72% 3,474 53.37% 189 2.90% −628 −9.65% 6,509 Langlade 2,794 31.18% 5,904 65.89% 262 2.92% −3,110 −34.71% 8,960 Lincoln 4,948 37.06% 7,953 59.56% 452 3.39% −3,005 −22.50% 13,353 Manitowoc 13,461 37.91% 20,767 58.49% 1,280 3.60% −7,306 −20.58% 35,508 Marathon 23,789 38.85% 35,496 57.97% 1,945 3.18% −11,707 −19.12% 61,230 Marinette 5,743 31.27% 12,048 65.59% 577 3.14% −6,305 −34.33% 18,368 Marquette 2,523 34.68% 4,534 62.31% 219 3.01% −2,011 −27.64% 7,276 Menominee 904 75.08% 253 21.01% 47 3.90% 651 54.07% 1,204 Milwaukee 232,340 68.02% 95,754 28.03% 13,495 3.95% 136,586 39.99% 341,589 Monroe 6,410 37.18% 10,223 59.30% 607 3.52% −3,813 −22.12% 17,240 Oconto 5,611 28.97% 13,059 67.44% 695 3.59% −7,448 −38.46% 19,365 Oneida 8,139 40.57% 11,215 55.90% 709 3.53% −3,076 −15.33% 20,063 Outagamie 36,455 42.90% 45,216 53.20% 3,314 3.90% −8,761 −10.31% 84,985 Ozaukee 21,275 41.08% 28,882 55.76% 1,638 3.16% −7,607 −14.69% 51,795 Pepin 1,183 36.03% 1,985 60.46% 115 3.50% −802 −24.43% 3,283 Pierce 7,418 41.22% 9,752 54.20% 824 4.58% −2,334 −12.97% 17,994 Polk 7,068 34.63% 12,576 61.61% 768 3.76% −5,508 −26.98% 20,412 Portage 16,865 50.63% 15,127 45.41% 1,318 3.96% 1,738 5.22% 33,310 Price 2,477 35.32% 4,303 61.35% 234 3.34% −1,826 −26.03% 7,014 Racine 36,151 44.70% 41,781 51.67% 2,934 3.63% −5,630 −6.96% 80,866 Richland 3,141 45.05% 3,592 51.52% 239 3.43% −451 −6.47% 6,972 Rock 34,044 52.59% 28,588 44.16% 2,104 3.25% 5,456 8.43% 64,736 Rusk 2,072 32.51% 4,098 64.29% 204 3.20% −2,026 −31.79% 6,374 Sauk 14,243 49.65% 13,440 46.85% 1,005 3.50% 803 2.80% 28,688 Sawyer 3,525 41.40% 4,783 56.18% 206 2.42% −1,258 −14.78% 8,514 Shawano 5,400 30.32% 11,772 66.11% 636 3.57% −6,372 −35.78% 17,808 Sheboygan 20,974 39.60% 30,003 56.65% 1,984 3.75% −9,029 −17.05% 52,961 St. Croix 17,041 38.90% 24,836 56.70% 1,928 4.40% −7,795 −17.79% 43,805 Taylor 2,190 25.41% 6,150 71.36% 278 3.23% −3,960 −45.95% 8,618 Trempealeau 4,827 39.68% 6,884 56.59% 453 3.72% −2,057 −16.91% 12,164 Vernon 6,101 46.57% 6,443 49.18% 557 4.25% −342 −2.61% 13,101 Vilas 4,732 36.12% 8,008 61.13% 360 2.75% −3,276 −25.01% 13,100 Walworth 16,507 36.17% 27,641 60.56% 1,493 3.27% −11,134 −24.39% 45,641 Washburn 3,042 36.68% 4,986 60.12% 266 3.21% −1,944 −23.44% 8,294 Washington 21,041 28.70% 50,072 68.30% 2,203 3.00% −29,031 −39.60% 73,316 Waukesha 81,432 36.74% 133,635 60.29% 6,584 2.97% −52,203 −23.55% 221,651 Waupaca 7,522 32.64% 14,734 63.93% 791 3.43% −7,212 −31.29% 23,047 Waushara 3,547 31.51% 7,336 65.17% 374 3.32% −3,789 −33.66% 11,257 Winnebago 33,431 45.41% 36,811 50.00% 3,377 4.59% −3,380 −4.59% 73,619 Wood 12,847 39.28% 18,767 57.39% 1,089 3.33% −5,920 −18.10% 32,703Totals1,268,74848.30%1,261,30648.01%96,8893.69%7,4420.28%2,626,943

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Crawford (largest city: Prairie du Chien) Grant (largest city: Platteville) Jackson (largest city: Black River Falls) Kenosha (largest city: Kenosha) Lafayette (largest city: Darlington) Racine (largest city: Racine) Richland (largest city: Richland Center) Vernon (largest city: Viroqua) Winnebago (largest city: Oshkosh)

By congressional district Despite losing the state, Loudenbeck won 6 of 8 congressional districts. District La Follette Loudenbeck Representative 46% 50%Bryan Steil 70% 26%Mark Pocan46%50%Ron Kind (117th Congress)Derrick Van Orden (118th Congress) 75% 21%Gwen Moore 36% 61%Scott L. Fitzgerald 40% 56%Glenn Grothman 38% 58%Tom Tiffany 40% 56%Mike Gallagher

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links Official campaign websites (Archived) Doug La Follette (D) for Secretary of State Amy Loudenbeck (R) for Secretary of State