November 5th General Election Results
US President – Donald Trump Wins in Historic Race
Former President Donald Trump won an historic reelection after a four year break from the White House. He prevailed in all of the key battleground states including in Wisconsin, where defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by 31,352 votes.
Heading into Election Day, the final Emerson College Poll had Kamala Harris and Donald Trump tied at 49% nationally. In Wisconsin, the final Marquette University Law School poll released on October 30, found that Harris was supported by 50% of likely Wisconsin voters and Trump was supported by 49%, in a head-to-head matchup. The tight race may have contributed to historic numbers of Americans voting early. By November 4, 83 million Americans had already voted, which is more than half of the total votes cast in the 2020 election.
This presidential election drew unprecedented attention, candidates and spending to Wisconsin. Trump-Vance visited Wisconsin 18 times and the Harris-Walz team made 25 stops in Wisconsin since mid-July. Both sides combined to spend more than $150 million on advertising in Wisconsin, according to AdImpact, which cited about $84 million in spending for Democrats and $73 million for Republicans.
US Senate – Tammy Baldwin Narrowly Reelected – Recount Possible
The one US Senate seat on the ballot in Wisconsin drew national attention and, with 98.6% of the vote counted, incumbent Democratic Sen. Baldwin claimed victory with a 49.3% to 48.6% win over Republican businessman challenger Eric Hovde. Heading into election day, the Cook Political Report rated the race as a “toss-up,” which was a change from its earlier rating of “lean-Democrat” in early October. Baldwin was considered the most vulnerable Senate Democrat in the “blue wall” and Hovde saw some gains in momentum late in the campaign, which increased attention to the race from across the country. Those predictions for a tight race proved to be true. But, despite Baldwin prevailing in Wisconsin, the Republicans flipped the majority in the U.S. Senate and will start the session with the majority.
US House of Representatives
The Republicans have controlled the US House of Representatives since the midterm elections in 2022 but, according to polls, they were at risk of losing control of the chamber in the 2024 races. At the time of this writing, control of the House was yet to be determined but the results were clear in Wisconsin’s Congressional races.
CD-1 – Republican incumbent Bryan Steil defeated Democratic challenger, Peter Barca.
CD-2 – Democratic incumbent Mark Pocan handily bested Republican Erik Olsen for the second time.
CD-3 – Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden prevailed over Democratic challenger, Rebecca Cooke.
CD-8 (OPEN) – Republican Tony Wied survived a three-way Republican primary to face and defeat Democrat Kristin Lyerly for the open 8th Congressional District, left open after Rep. Mike Gallegher resigned in March.
State Assembly
All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly were on the ballot on November 5th. The effect of the new legislative maps was expected to be seen most notably in the State Assembly this cycle but the Republicans will maintain control of the chamber for the 2025 session. Under the previous maps, the Republicans won the chamber with 64 of 99 seats. It was predicted that there were 10-12 seats that were made competitive to potentially flip control from Republican to Democrat under the new maps. The tally at the end of the night revealed that Republicans had secured at least 51 seats.
21st AD – Longtime Republican Rep. Jessie Rodriguez faced Democrat David Marstellar in this Milwaukee County district. This morning the AP called the race in her favor but her lead was just 18 votes.
26th AD – Republican Rep. Amy Binsfield lost to Democrat Joe Sheehan in her run for re-election. Joe Sheehan won this Sheboygan area seat by 843 votes.
30th AD – Incumbent Republican Rep. Shannon Zimmerman beat Democratic challenger Alison Page. The 30th Assembly district is located in parts of southwest St. Croix County and northwest Pierce County. Zimmerman is from River Falls and beat Page 54% to 46% .
35th AD – Former State Representative, Republican Dean Kaufert, had a 365-vote lead over Democrat Duane Shukoski this morning.
51st AD – In a hotly contested race in Southern Wisconsin, incumbent Republican State Rep. Todd Novak defeated Democrat Elizabeth Grabe. Novak was declared winner late last night in this southwest Wisconsin Grant County race by 1,160 votes.
61st AD – Incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Donovan prevailed over Democrat LuAnn Bird in a district comprising Greendale and Hales Corner in Milwaukee County. This was the second time Donovan faced off against Bird. He won by 1,108 votes.
85th AD – In what was expected to be a close race, Wausau incumbent Republican Rep. Pat Snyder, won against his challenger Democrat Yee Leng Xiong by just under 2,000 votes.
88th AD – Democrat Christy Welch lost her race against Republican Benjamin Franklin from the De Pere area. Ben Franklin won the 88th district by a mere 221 votes.
89th AD – Democrat Ryan Spaude defeated Republican Patrick Buckley in this Green Bay area race. The 89th District is in Northeastern Wisconsin, and contained within central Brown County. It includes the village of Ashwaubenon and much of the west side of the city of Green Bay. The district contains Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers.
92nd AD – Incumbent Republican Rep. Clint Moses defeated Democratic challenger Joe Plouff by 2,379 votes. The 92nd Assembly District includes the cities of Chippewa Falls and Menomonie and parts of Eau Claire that fall in Chippewa County, along with the villages of Elk Mound and Lake Hallie.
94th AD – In this close race, incumbent Democratic Rep. Steve Doyle beat Republican challenger Ryan Huebsch by just 216 votes. The close margins in this race, held in Onalaska, Holmen, West Salem, and a small part of La Crosse’s northside, may lead to a recount.
State Senate
Of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin State Senate, the even-numbered seats were up for election this cycle. At the end of the night, the Republicans maintained control but their majority was reduced. A loss of Republican control of the State Senate was not in play in this cycle but there were several pivotal races that led to the Democrats picking up three seats in the state Senate as the Democrats aim to flip control of the chamber in 2026.
8th SD (NEW) – Democratic challenger Jodi Habush Sinykin defeated Republican Senator Duey Stroebel in the suburban Milwaukee state Senate seat formerly held by Dan Knodl.
14th SD – Democratic challenger, Sarah Keyeski of Lodi beat incumbent Republican Senator Joan Ballweg in the new 14th Senate District, which included Richland and Sauk Counties and portions of Columbia, Juneau and Dane Counties.
18th SD (OPEN) – Democrat Kristen Alfheim beat Republican Tony Phillips in the district that runs from Oshkosh to Appleton along Lake Winnebago.
30th SD (OPEN) – Democrat Jamie Wall defeated Republican Jim Rafter in this Green Bay area race.
32nd SD – Incumbent Democrat Brad Pfaff held off Republican challenger Stacy Klein in the LaCrosse-area western Wisconsin seat.
by The Welch Group
