• Home
  • Education
  • News and Resources
  • Advocacy
  • Associate Members
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
News
Advocacy

Wisconsinites Prepare for Upcoming General Election

Triangle Background

How your bank can best engage with pro-banking candidates

By Lorenzo Cruz

This year, turnout for the August primary in Wisconsin hit over 25% — the best performance in 40 years. As over 690,000 voters cast their ballots in the hotly contested GOP gubernatorial primary and over 500,000 voters cast theirs in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, Wisconsinites can expect lots of activity as we near this November’s primary election.

Gubernatorial Primary

In the GOP primary for governor, construction business magnate Tim Michels (R-WI) defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R-WI) to advance to the general election. The Trafalgar Group had the race at a statistical dead heat in their August statewide survey before the primary, however Michels won by a sizable number of votes and garnered 47% to Kleefisch’s 42% — a margin of victory exceeding 35,000 votes.

Michels won 62 of the 72 counties while Kleefisch significantly underperformed in southeastern Wisconsin, a key area where she needed to do well. Michels’ Trump endorsement, a $12M self-funded war chest, and an effective business outsider message proved too much to overcome for Kleefisch, endorsed by Pence and Walker. Michels will face incumbent Governor Tony Evers.

Kleefisch urged her supporters in the concession speech to get in the fight against Evers. Evers has portrayed Michels as part of the radical right, a divisive extremist, and a Trump fanatic on abortion, voting rights, gun safety, and public education.

Joining the governor’s ticket for lieutenant governor are state Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) and state Rep. Sara Rodriguez (D-Milwaukee). Roth won 30% of the vote with state Sen. Patrick Testin being his closest challenger in a large primary. On the Democratic side, Rodriguez defeated Peng Her, Hmong Institute CEO, with 76% of the vote. Both candidates outspent their opponents and won by double-digit margins.

Gubernatorial Primary

In the GOP primary for governor, construction business magnate Tim Michels (R-WI) defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R-WI) to advance to the general election. The Trafalgar Group had the race at a statistical dead heat in their August statewide survey before the primary, however Michels won by a sizable number of votes and garnered 47% to Kleefisch’s 42% — a margin of victory exceeding 35,000 votes.

Michels won 62 of the 72 counties while Kleefisch significantly underperformed in southeastern Wisconsin, a key area where she needed to do well. Michels’ Trump endorsement, a $12M self-funded war chest, and an effective business outsider message proved too much to overcome for Kleefisch, endorsed by Pence and Walker. Michels will face incumbent Governor Tony Evers.

Kleefisch urged her supporters in the concession speech to get in the fight against Evers. Evers has portrayed Michels as part of the radical right, a divisive extremist, and a Trump fanatic on abortion, voting rights, gun safety, and public education.

Joining the governor’s ticket for lieutenant governor are state Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton) and state Rep. Sara Rodriguez (D-Milwaukee). Roth won 30% of the vote with state Sen. Patrick Testin being his closest challenger in a large primary. On the Democratic side, Rodriguez defeated Peng Her, Hmong Institute CEO, with 76% of the vote. Both candidates outspent their opponents and won by double-digit margins.

U.S. Senate Race

In the U.S. Senate race, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D-WI) secured the Democratic nomination with 78% of the vote after his top rivals bowed out of the race in an unprecedent move to align the Democratic voters behind him more than a week out from the primary.

Barnes will face incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) in a race that could determine majority control in the U.S. Senate. Johnson’s campaign looks to tie Barnes to some struggling national issues such as inflation, economy, crime, and education. On the other hand, Barnes will aim to link Johnson to extreme positions on education, abortion, taxes, and guns.

Notable Primary Race Results

  • Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) defeated Trump-endorsed challenger Adam Steen (51% to 49%).
  • Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) captured 74% of the vote.
  • State Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) will face off against GOP military veteran Derrick Van Orden in the Third Congressional District.
  • Incumbent Attorney General Josh Kaul (D-WI) will take on GOP primary winner Eric Toney.
  • Republican nominee Amy Loudenbeck (R-Clinton) will battle long-time Secretary of State Doug LaFollette (D-WI).
  • Retired bank executive Jerry O’Connor (R-Fond du Lac) won in the 52nd Assembly district.
  • In three key contested GOP state Senate primaries, Rachel Cabral-Guevara (R-19), Jesse James (R-23), and Cory Tomczyk (R-29) came through victorious.

 

 

Make Your Voice Heard

With the primaries in the rear-view mirror, the winners turn their attention and resources to the fall general elections in November. The Cook Political Report considers Wisconsin one of four toss up states for the gubernatorial race. Democrats and Republicans are vying for the governor’s veto power and gaining or blocking super majorities in the legislature. Candidates, political parties, and outside groups are expected to spend hundreds of millions to win control of Congress, the governor’s office, attorney general, and the state legislature. It is critical that bankers continue to engage in the political process to support pro-banking and pro-business legislators.

The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) urges the membership to continue to give to the PAC, conduit, or the issue advocacy fund. WBA has set an ambitious PAC/conduit fundraising goal of $300,000 by the end of the year. As of August, WBA members have contributed $151,000 to WBA’s advocacy efforts. Additionally, WBA staff donated over $12,000 during a two-week campaign.

We thank you for your continued generosity and eagerness to assist WBA in reaching its goal. If your bank has not already contributed, please consider doing so before the November general election. To learn more about WBA’s political funds, please visit wisbank.com/give or contact me.

Membership engagement remains an important advocacy priority as we continue through WBA’s fiscal year. By becoming involved with WBA’s Gold Triangle Club or naming an Advocacy Officer at your bank, you are one step closer to achieving WBA’s highest recognition for overall advocacy effort — Bankers Involved in Grassroots and Government (BIGG) Award. Membership-driven political activism is the most effective and vital tool to the success of our Association. Help WBA provide bankers a seat at the table and influence policy decisions impacting the banking industry in Wisconsin by raising our participation this year!

Print 🖨
September 12, 2022/by Hannah Flanders
Tags: Advocacy, Elections
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Vk
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Triangle-Backgrounds_Yellow-on-Light-Blue.jpg 972 1921 Hannah Flanders https://www.wisbank.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Wisconsin-Bankers-Association-logo.svg Hannah Flanders2022-09-12 07:42:432022-09-12 07:43:29Wisconsinites Prepare for Upcoming General Election
You might also like
Banks Join in WBA Political Action Fundraising
Statement on the Recent Acquisition of a Taxpaying Wis. Bank by a Credit Union
Executive Letter: Your Judicial Advocate
It’s a Wrap on Cap Day 2022
March Madness Begins, and Ends…
Redistricting Update
Wisconsin state capital building view from above Advocacy Updates from WBA’s Government Relations Team
Supporting WBA’s Advocacy Infrastructure, a Key to Success

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Community
  • Compliance
  • Credit Unions
  • Education
  • Member News
  • News
  • Products
  • Resources
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • Strasser Joins GSB-Wisconsin Sales & Marketing School Faculty
  • North Shore Bank Makes Leadership Changes as It Looks to the Future
  • High-Volume SBA-Approved Wisconsin Lenders to Receive FY22 Awards
  • High School Seniors Invited to Apply for First State Bank Scholarships
  • State Bank of Reeseville Promotes Steinhorst

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • May 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
WBA logo
  • About
  • Community
  • Subsidiaries
  • Staff

questions@wisbank.com

608-441-1200

4721 S Biltmore Ln.
Madison, WI 53718

Get our Newsletter!
Subscribe

© 2023 Wisconsin Bankers Association. All rights reserved. | Website Design by Bizzy Bizzy
Capitol Bank Welcomes Branch Manager, Advisory Board MemberTriangle BackgroundWaterstone Financial, Inc. Among the Top 25 Publicly Traded Banks
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more×

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Terms of Use
Accept settingsHide notification only

Subscribe

* indicates required








Membership