2020 Wisconsin Senate election

The 2020 Wisconsin Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin. 16 of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Before the election, Republicans held 18 seats, Democrats held 13, and two were vacant. Of the seats up for election, seven were held by Republicans, seven were held by Democrats, one was vacated by a Democratic resignation, and one was vacated by a Republican resignation. The primary election was held on August 11, 2020.

2020 Wisconsin Senate election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →
16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin State Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Scott Fitzgerald (retired) Janet Bewley Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 13th–Juneau 25th–Mason Last election 11 seats, 52.31% 6 seats, 46.90% Seats before 18 13 Seats won 10 6 Seats after 21 12 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 1,665,487 1,402,108 Percentage 53.8% 45.29% Swing 1.5 pp 1.6 pp
Results of the elections:      Republican hold      Republican gain      Democratic hold      No election
President before election Roger Roth Republican Elected President Chris Kapenga Republican

Republicans maintained control of the Senate but fell one seat short of a supermajority, defeating one Democratic incumbent and winning an open seat previously held by a Democrat. After the elections, Republicans were set to enter the 105th Wisconsin Legislature with 21 of 33 seats, but one member resigned due to election to another office, leaving them with 20 seats at the start of the legislative term.

Results summary

Seats		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total
		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2018)		6	11	17
Total after last election (2018)		14	19	33
Total before this election		13	18	31
Up for election		8	8	16
of which:	Incumbent retiring	3	2	5
	Vacated	1	1	2
	Unopposed	3	2	5
This election		6	10	16
Change from last election			1	1
Total after this election		12	21	33
Change in total		2	2

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. State Senate district 32, 0.6%
2. State Senate district 8, 8.54%
3. State Senate district 30, 9.4% (gain)

Outgoing incumbents

Retiring

• Dave Craig (R–Vernon), representing District 28 since 2016, announced that he would not seek reelection to a second term in order to get "a break from public life."^[1]
• Dave Hansen (D–Green Bay), representing District 30 since 2000, announced in January 2020 that he would be retiring to spend more time with his family.^[2]
• Mark F. Miller (D–Monona), representing District 16 since 2004, announced in January 2020 that he would not be running for reelection.^[3]
• Luther Olsen (R–Ripon), representing District 14 since 2004, announced in February 2020 that he would not seek reelection, stating, "there comes a time in life when it’s time to move on."^[4]
• Fred Risser (D–Madison), representing District 26 since 1962, announced in March 2020 that he would be stepping down from the Legislature. Upon his retirement, Risser was the longest-serving lawmaker in American history, having served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate for 64 years.^[5]

Vacated office before term end

• Jennifer Shilling (D–La Crosse), who had represented District 32 since 2011 and served as Minority Leader since 2015, resigned her seat on May 15, 2020 in order to explore "unspecified career opportunities."^[6]
• Tom Tiffany (R–Hazelhurst), who had represented District 12 since 2014, left office on May 18, 2020, after winning the special election for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district.^[7]

Results summary

District	Incumbent				This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Status	Primary candidates[8][9]	General election candidates[10]	Result
2	Robert Cowles	Republican	1987	Running	Robert Cowles (Republican)	Y Robert Cowles (Rep.)	Incumbent re-elected
4	Lena Taylor	Democratic	2004	Running	Lena Taylor (Democratic)	Y Lena Taylor (Dem.)	Incumbent re-elected
6	La Tonya Johnson	Democratic	2016	Running	Alciro Deacon (Republican) La Tonya Johnson (Democratic) Cordelia Michelle Bryant (Democratic)	Y La Tonya Johnson (Dem.) 88.83% Alciro Deacon (Rep.) 11.17%	Incumbent re-elected
8	Alberta Darling	Republican	1992	Running	Alberta Darling (Republican) Neal Plotkin (Democratic)	Y Alberta Darling (Rep.) 54.27% Neal Plotkin (Dem.) 45.73%	Incumbent re-elected
10	Patty Schachtner	Democratic	2018 (special)	Running	Patty Schachtner (Democratic) Rob Stafsholt (Republican) Cherie Link (Republican)	Y Rob Stafsholt (Rep) 59.92% Patty Schachtner (Dem) 40.08%	Incumbent lost New member elected Republican gain
12	Tom Tiffany	Republican	2012	Vacant	Mary Felzkowski (Republican) Ed Vocke (Democratic)	Y Mary Felzkowski (Rep.) 65.71% Ed Vocke (Dem.) 34.29%	Incumbent vacated office to run for U.S. Representative New member elected Republican hold
14	Luther Olsen	Republican	2004	Not running	Joni Anderson (Democratic) Joan Ballweg (Republican) Kenneth Van Dyke, Sr. (Republican)	Y Joan Ballweg (Rep.) 64.91% Joni Anderson (Dem.) 35.09%	Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold
16	Mark F. Miller	Democratic	2004	Not running	Scott Barker (Republican) Melissa Agard (Democratic) Andrew McKinney (Democratic)	Y Melissa Agard (Dem.) 73.5% Scott Barker (Rep.) 26.5%	Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold
18	Dan Feyen	Republican	2016	Running	Dan Feyen (Republican) Aaron Wojciechowski (Democratic)	Y Dan Feyen (Rep.) 59.13% Aaron Wojciechowski (Dem.) 40.87%	Incumbent re-elected
20	Duey Stroebel	Republican	2014	Running	Duey Stroebel (Republican)	Y Duey Stroebel (Rep.)	Incumbent re-elected
22	Robert Wirch	Democratic	1996	Running	Robert Wirch (Democratic)	Y Robert Wirch (Dem.)	Incumbent re-elected
24	Patrick Testin	Republican	2016	Running	Patrick Testin (Republican) Paul Piotrowski (Democratic)	Y Patrick Testin (Rep.) 56.47% Paul Piotrowski (Dem) 43.53%	Incumbent re-elected
26	Fred Risser	Democratic	1962	Not running	Kelda Roys (Dem.) Brian Benford (Dem.) Amani Latimer Burris (Dem.) Nada Elmikashfi (Dem.) William Henry Davis III (Dem.) John Imes (Dem.) Aisha Moe (Dem.)	Y Kelda Roys (Dem.)	Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold
28	Dave Craig	Republican	2016	Not running	Julian Bradley (Republican) Adam Murphy (Democratic) Steven Gerard Bobowski (Republican) Marina Croft (Republican) Jim Engstrand (Republican) Dan Griffin (Republican)	Y Julian Bradley (Rep.) 59.66% Adam Murphy (Dem.) 40.34%	Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold
30	Dave Hansen	Democratic	2000	Not running	Jonathon Hansen (Democratic) Eric Wimberger (Republican) Sandra Jean Ewald (Democratic)	Y Eric Wimberger (Rep.) 54.7% Jonathon Hansen (Dem.) 45.3%	Incumbent retired New member elected Republican gain
32	Jennifer Shilling	Democratic	2011 (recall)	Vacant	Dan Kapanke (Rep.) Brad Pfaff (Dem.) Jayne Marie Swiggum (Dem.) Paul Michael Weber (Dem.)	Y Brad Pfaff (Dem) 50.3% Dan Kapanke (Rep.) 49.7%	Incumbent vacated office New member elected Democratic hold

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[11]	Likely R	October 21, 2020

See also

• Voter suppression in the United States 2019–2020: Wisconsin
• 2020 Wisconsin elections
  • 2020 Wisconsin State Assembly election
  • 2020 Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary
  • 2020 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary
  • 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin
• 2020 United States elections
• Wisconsin Senate
• Elections in Wisconsin

References

1. Rogan, Adam. "Conservative Sen. Dave Craig, who represents Waterford area, will not seek re-election". Journal Times. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
2. Johnson, Shawn (January 9, 2020). "Green Bay State Sen. Dave Hansen Won't Seek Re-election". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
3. Johnson, Shawn (January 21, 2020). "Democrat Mark Miller Won't Seek Re-Election To Wisconsin Senate". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
4. White, Laurel (February 24, 2020). "Longtime Republican State Sen. Luther Olsen Announces Retirement". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
5. Vetterkind, Riley. "Sen. Fred Risser, longest-serving lawmaker in American history, to retire". madison.com. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
6. "Former Wisconsin Senate minority leader Shilling quits Legislature". Channel3000.com. May 15, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
7. Axelrod, Tal (May 12, 2020). "Republican Tom Tiffany wins Wisconsin special election". The Hill. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
8. Candidate Tracking by Office 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
9. "Live: Wisconsin State Primary Election Results 2020". The New York Times. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
10. "Wisconsin Elections Results". elections.ap.org. November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
11. "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved November 1, 2020.

External links

• Wisconsin Elections Commission
• Wisconsin at Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Wisconsin", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Wisconsin: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of Wisconsin". (state affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Wisconsin 2019 & 2020 Elections, OpenSecrets