The Votes Are In: Wisconsin Primary Election Results
Wisconsinites took to the polls yesterday in our state’s highly watched primary election.
At the top of the ticket was the highly contested race for the democratic nominee for governor. The consistent polling leader, Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist from Madison and current state representative, lost in a shocking turn of events to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who was endorsed by Governor Tony Evers. Crowley won by the narrowest of margins.
State Senator Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan were also on the ballot.
This was a much closer race than anticipated. All recent polling had Hong beating Crowley between 15-20%.
This is certainly a big sigh of relief for the Democratic establishment who had grave concerns about the electability of Hong in a general election.
This sets up a November faceoff between Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany. Wisconsin’s gubernatorial election in November will be one of, if not the most, watched races in America.
State Level Primaries of Note
Assembly District 37: Incumbent Republican Mark Born (Beaver Dam), who is co-chair of the powerful budget-writing committee and a friend to the WBA, faced a primary challenge from a familiar opponent. Born was once again successful in fending off the challenger.
Senate District 1: Four Republicans competed for André Jacque’s open seat. Nic Cravillion won the highly competitive primary. No Democrat filed in the first Senate district.
Senate District 11: In a bid to replace longtime GOP Senator Nass, there was a highly divisive race between former State Representative Ellen Schutt and Sandy Wiedmeyer. The winner of the primary was Ellen Schutt.
Senate District 17: Several Democrats vied for the opportunity to take out Senator Howard Marklein, who is the senate counterpart to Born. State Representative Jenna Jacobson won the primary yesterday and will look to unseat longtime Senator Marklein, who is up for reelection in a newly drawn district that is bluer than in years past. This will be a race that receives significant attention and resources. Marklein has been a consistent friend of the banking industry over the years.
Senate District 25: This open seat is a Democratic target and could help decide senate control. Two former assembly members competed in the Republican primary: Angie Sapik, who lost her seat in 2024, and Erik Severson, a physician. Severson won the competitive primary and now faces Democrat Charly Ray, a forester and bookstore owner backed by the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee.
Congressional Primaries of Note
Congressional District 7: Tiffany’s decision to run for Governor left the 7th open for the first time since 2020. Five Republicans and three Democrats are competing across 26 counties in northern and central Wisconsin. However, the race was effectively between three individuals: Michael Alfonso, Kevin Hermening, and Jessi Ebben.
Alfonso is the son-in-law of former congressman and current U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy. Alfonso is also endorsed by President Trump.
Alfonso won the Republican primary in the 7th.
Given the district’s strong Republican lean, yesterday’s Republican primary is effectively the decisive contest.
Congressional District 3: In the 3rd, two democrats were competing to challenge Rep. Derrick Van Orden in western Wisconsin. The 3rd is rated a toss-up and is a national priority for both parties, with fundraising on the Democratic side already exceeding the incumbents. Emily Berge and Rebecca Cooke will face off. Cooke won the primary.
Cooke has run against Van Orden previously, losing to him by 11,000 votes in 2024. In 2022, Van Orden overcame Brad Pfaff by 12,000 votes. This will surely be a close race.
Looking Ahead
The WBA is well-positioned to continue to engage effectively with lawmakers regardless of the outcome of November’s election. The Government Relations team has already been meeting with candidates for office to introduce ourselves, the industry, and our issues, and will continue to do so over the next couple of months. When all is said and done, the WBA team will have met with nearly 20 candidates from safe districts who will be lawmakers come January.
We will continue to keep membership updated as the election season unfolds.
