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The 2015 Wisconsin Spring Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on April 7, 2015. There was a contested election for justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as well as several other nonpartisan local and judicial elections and an amendment to the Constitution of Wisconsin to change the process for selection of the chief justice of the State Supreme Court. In addition, the ballot contained a special election to fill a vacancy in the 20th State Senate district. The 2015 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held February 17, 2015.
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In the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, the Democrats' preferred candidate, incumbent Ann Walsh Bradley, was reelected. The Constitutional Amendment, however, favored by Republicans, was approved by voters and led to the removal of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson.
Later in the year, there were two more special elections, for the 33rd State Senate district and the 99th State Assembly district.
A special election was held concurrent with the regularly scheduled Spring election to fill the 20th district seat of the Wisconsin State Senate. The seat was vacated by Republican Glenn Grothman, who had been elected to the United States House of Representatives in the 2014 general election. At the time of the election, the 20th Senate district contained most of Washington County and the northern half of Ozaukee County, including the city of Cedarburg, as well as parts of western Sheboygan County, eastern Fond du Lac County, and southern Calumet County. It was considered a safe Republican seat.
No Democrat registered to run for this seat in the special election. In the Spring primary, Republican Duey Stroebel defeated Tiffany Koehler and Lee E. Schlenvogt with 67% of the vote.[1]: 1 He went on to win the special election without a formal opponent on the ballot.[2]: 1
A special election was held July 21, 2015, to fill the 33rd district seat of the Wisconsin State Senate. The seat was vacated by Republican Paul Farrow, who resigned after he had been elected county executive of Waukesha County in the Spring general election. At the time of the election, the 33rd Senate district comprised most of central Waukesha County, including the cities of Waukesha and Delafield.[3] It was considered a safe Republican seat.
In the June 23, 2015, primary, Republican State Representative Chris Kapenga defeated Brian Dorow and M. D. Langner with 52% of the vote, and Democrat Sherryll Shaddock was unopposed.[4] Kapenga went on to win the special election with 72% of the vote with only 12% of the turnout of the previous general election.[5]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Special Election, July 21, 2015 | |||||
| Republican | Chris Kapenga | 7,191 | 71.86% | −2.00% | |
| Democratic | Sherryll Shaddock | 2,798 | 27.96% | +1.89% | |
| Scattering | 18 | 0.18% | |||
| Plurality | 4,393 | 43.90% | -3.89% | ||
| Total votes | 10,007 | 100.0% | -87.51% | ||
| Republican hold | |||||
A special election was held September 29, 2015, to fill the 99th district seat of the Wisconsin State Assembly. The seat was vacated by Republican Chris Kapenga, who resigned after winning the special election for the 33rd State Senate district held in July 2015. At the time of the election, the 99th Assembly district comprised part of western Waukesha County, including the city of Delafield and the villages of Dousman, Hartland, Merton, Nashotah, North Prairie, and Wales.[6] It was considered a safe Republican seat.
No Democrat registered to run for this seat in the special election. In the September 1, 2015, primary, Republican Cindi Duchow defeated Dave Westlake, Scott Owens, and perennial candidate Spencer Zimmerman, taking 40% of the vote.[7] She won the special election without opposition.
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 County results Bradley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Daley: 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||
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A regularly-scheduled Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on the Spring election ballot. Incumbent Ann Walsh Bradley was seeking a third ten-year term on the court. She faced a challenge from Judge James P. Daley, then the Chief Judge of the 5th Judicial Administrative District of Wisconsin circuit courts. Judge Bradley successfully defended her seat and was reelected with nearly 60% of the vote in April.[2]: 1
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Ann Walsh Bradley (incumbent) | 471,866 | 58.02% | |
| Nonpartisan | James P. Daley | 340,632 | 41.89% | |
| Write-in | 702 | 0.09% | ||
| Total votes | 813,200 | 100.0% | ||
Two seats on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals were up for election in 2015. Only one was contested.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, April 7, 2015 | |||||
| Nonpartisan | Mark Seidl | 108,147 | 57.06% | ||
| Nonpartisan | Kristina M. Bourget | 81,065 | 42.77% | ||
| Scattering | 324 | 0.17% | |||
| Plurality | 27,082 | 14.29% | |||
| Total votes | 189,536 | 100.0% | |||
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Election of Chief Justice. Shall section 4(2) of Article VII of the constitution be amended to direct that a chief justice of the supreme court shall be elected for a two year term by a majority of the justices then serving on the court? | |||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 Yes: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% No: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||
In the April election, Wisconsin voters approved an amendment to the Constitution of Wisconsin to allow the members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to elect the chief justice. Previously, the Wisconsin Constitution specified that the most senior member of the court would be the chief justice. The effect of the amendment was that it allowed the court's conservative majority to remove Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and replace her with Justice Patience D. Roggensack.[11]
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