2000 Wisconsin elections explained

Election Name:	2000 Wisconsin elections
Country:	Wisconsin
Type:	legislative
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1999 Wisconsin elections
Previous Year:	1999
Next Election:	2001 Wisconsin elections
Next Year:	2001
Election Date:	April 4, 2000 November 7, 2000

The 2000 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on November 7, 2000. One of Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seats was up for election, as well as Wisconsin's nine seats in the United States House of Representatives, the sixteen even-numbered seats in the Wisconsin State Senate, and all 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Voters also chose eleven electors to represent them in the Electoral College, which then participated in selecting the president of the United States. The 2000 Fall Partisan Primary was held on September 12, 2000.

In the Fall general election, the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Al Gore, narrowly won Wisconsin's eleven electoral votes, defeating Texas Governor George W. Bush by a mere 5,708 votes. All nine of Wisconsin's incumbent members of Congress were reelected. Democrats gained one seat in the Wisconsin Senate; Republicans gained one seat in the Wisconsin Assembly.^[1]

The 2000 Wisconsin Spring Election was held April 4, 2000. This election featured a contested election for Wisconsin Supreme Court and the Presidential preference primary for both major political parties, as well as various nonpartisan local and judicial offices.^[2] The 2000 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held on February 15, 2000.

Wisconsin Republicans celebrated the results of the April election with the victory of their preferred candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. The Presidential preference primary was not seriously contested on either the Democratic or Republican side, as most candidates had already dropped out before Wisconsin's vote.

Federal offices

U.S. President

See main article: 2000 United States presidential election in Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic President Bill Clinton was term-limited and was not a candidate for reelection. In Wisconsin, voters chose Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, over Texas Governor George W. Bush.^[1] Vice President Gore received Wisconsin's eleven electoral votes, but did not win the national electoral vote.

Results

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 7, 2000

U.S. Senate

See main article: 2000 United States Senate election in Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Herb Kohl was reelected to a third six-year term, defeating Republican John Gillespie.^[1]

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 7, 2000

U.S. House

District	Incumbent		Candidates	Results
District	Member	First elected		Results
			1998	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Tammy Baldwin		1998	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Ron Kind		1996	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Jerry Kleczka		1984	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Tom Barrett		1992	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Tom Petri		1979	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Dave Obey		1969	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Mark Andrew Green		1998	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.
	Jim Sensenbrenner		1978	nowrap	Incumbent re-elected.

State offices

Legislature

State Senate

The 16 even-numbered seats in the Wisconsin State Senate were up for election in 2000. Each party controlled 8 seats up for election in 2000, with Democrats holding a 1-seat majority in the full Senate, 17 - 16. Republicans picked up one Democrat-held seat in the 2000 general election, but Democrats picked up two previously Republican-held seats, for a net result of the Democratic Party gaining 1 seat and increasing their majority to 18 - 15.

Summary

Seats	Party (majority caucus shading)		Vacant	Total

	Democratic	Republican
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total after last election (1998)		18	15	33	0
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total before this election		17	16	33	0
Up for election	8	8	16
This election	9	7	16
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total after this election		18	15	33	0
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Change in total	1	1

Candidates

District	Incumbent		Elected			Defeated candidates	Result
District	Senator	Status	Candidate		Vote%	Defeated candidates	Result
02		62.92%	Running	Robert Cowles		99.62%		Party hold.
04	Gwen Moore	100.00%	Running	Gwen Moore		99.09%		Party hold.
06	Gary R. George	100.00%	Running	Gary R. George		99.17%		Party hold.
08	Alberta Darling	58.78%	Running	Alberta Darling		65.88%		Party hold.
10	Alice Clausing	54.12%	Running	Sheila Harsdorf		50.34%		Republican gain.
12	Roger Breske	57.41%	Running	Roger Breske		88.34%	John E. Bailey (Lib) 11.54%	Party hold.
14	Robert Welch	100.0%	Running	Robert Welch		66.34%	Dick Goldsmith (Dem) 33.59%	Party hold.
16	Charles Chvala	53.67%	Running	Charles Chvala		57.93%	Lisa B. Nelson (Rep) 42.01%	Party hold.
18		73.77%	Running	Carol Roessler		67.90%	Kevin McGee (Dem) 31.98%	Party hold.
20	Mary Panzer	84.83%	Running	Mary Panzer		73.03%	Dale Koski (Dem) 26.89%	Party hold.
22	Robert Wirch	56.81%	Running	Robert Wirch		55.98%	Dave Duecker (Rep) 43.99%	Party hold.
24	Kevin Shibilski	84.08%	Running	Kevin Shibilski		99.49%		Party hold.
26	Fred Risser	100.00%	Running	Fred Risser		98.95%		Party hold.
28	Mary Lazich	52.04%	Running	Mary Lazich		67.48%		Party hold.
30	Gary Drzewiecki	51.79%	Running	Dave Hansen		50.72%	Gary Drzewiecki (Rep) 49.10%	Democratic gain.
32	Brian Rude	75.10%	Not running	Mark Meyer		50.96%	Dan Kapanke (Rep) 48.90%	Democratic gain.

State Assembly

All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly were up for election in 2000. Republicans gained 1 seat in the 2000 general election, increasing their majority to 56 - 43.

Summary

Seats	Party (majority caucus shading)		Vacant	Total

	Democratic	Republican
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total after last election (1998)	44		55	99	0
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total before this election	44		55	99	0
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Total after this election	43		56	99	0
nowrap style="font-size:80%"	Change in total	1	1

Judiciary

State Supreme Court

Election Name:	2000 Wisconsin Supreme Court election
Country:	Wisconsin
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Year:	1999
Next Year:	2001
Election Date:	April 4, 2000
Image1:	Judge-Sykes.jpg
Candidate1:	Diane S. Sykes
Color1:	c0c0c0
Popular Vote1:	535,805
Percentage1:	65.5%
Candidate2:	Louis B. Butler
Color2:	c0c0c0
Popular Vote2:	281,048
Percentage2:	34.4%
Justice
Before Election:	Diane S. Sykes
After Election:	Diane S. Sykes
Time Zone:	CDT
Outgoing Members:	1990
Elected Members:	2008

Incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Diane S. Sykes defeated Milwaukee municipal court judge Louis B. Butler in the April general election. Justice Sykes had been appointed to the court in 1999 by Governor Tommy Thompson, to replace Justice Donald W. Steinmetz, who had retired. Justice Steinmetz's term was already set to expire in 2000, thus no special election needed to be scheduled.

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 4, 2000

State Court of Appeals

Three seats of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals were up for election in 2000. None of the elections was contested.^[2]

In District I, Judge Ralph Adam Fine was elected to his third six-year term.
In District II, Judge Richard S. Brown was elected to his fourth six-year term.
In District IV, Judge Margaret J. Vergeront was elected to her second six-year term.

State Circuit Courts

Forty nine of the state's 241 circuit court seats were up for election in 2000. One of those seats - in Waupaca County - was newly created by the 1999 budget act passed by the Wisconsin Legislature.^[3] Eight of the seats were contested. Only one incumbent judge was defeated seeking re-election, Michael G. Grzeca - an appointee of Governor Tommy Thompson in the Brown County Circuit.^[2]

Circuit	Branch	Incumbent	Elected			Defeated			Defeated in Primary
Circuit	Branch	Incumbent	Name	Votes	%	Name	Votes	%	Name(s)
Ashland		Robert E. Eaton	Robert E. Eaton	1,782	99.78%
Barron	2	Edward R. Brunner	Edward R. Brunner	5,541	99.87%
Brown	2	Michael G. Grzeca	Mark A. Warpinski	26,058	68.40%	Michael G. Grzeca	12,002	31.51%
Clark		Jon M. Counsell	Jon M. Counsell	4,903	66.24%	Charles S. Senn	2,492	33.67%
Dane	3	John C. Albert	John C. Albert	48,077	99.57%
	8	Patrick J. Fiedler	Patrick J. Fiedler	48,853	99.56%
	9	Gerald C. Nichol	Gerald C. Nichol	49,139	99.66%
	12	David T. Flanagan	David T. Flanagan	47,869	99.65%
	17	Paul B. Higginbotham	Paul B. Higginbotham	49,239	99.66%
Door	1	John D. Koehn	D. Todd Ehlers	4,334	51.43%	Philip L. Johnson	4,087	48.50%
Door	2	Peter C. Diltz	Peter C. Diltz	7,110	99.45%
Eau Claire	1	Thomas H. Barland	Lisa K. Stark	9,217	59.69%	Michael D. O'Brien	6,197	40.13%
	3	William M. Gabler	William M. Gabler	11,833	99.54%
	4	Benjamin D. Proctor	Benjamin D. Proctor	12,208	99.57%
	5	Paul J. Lenz	Paul J. Lenz	11,925	99.61%
Kenosha	7	S. Michael Wilk	S. Michael Wilk	12,488	99.70%
Milwaukee	4	Mel Flanagan	Mel Flanagan	115,045	99.21%
	6	Kitty Brennan	Kitty Brennan	116,005	99.25%
	8	William Sosnay	William Sosnay	112,081	99.26%
	13	Victor Manian	Victor Manian	116,145	99.34%
	20	Dennis P. Moroney	Dennis P. Moroney	112,357	99.34%
	23	Elsa C. Lamelas	Elsa C. Lamelas	111,652	99.29%
	28	Thomas R. Cooper	Thomas R. Cooper	111,772	99.38%
	35	Lee Wells	Lee Wells	112,271	99.41%
	38	Jeffrey A. Wagner	Jeffrey A. Wagner	115,872	99.34%
	39	Michael Malmstadt	Michael Malmstadt	113,139	99.36%
	43	Marshall B. Murray	Marshall B. Murray	110,440	99.38%
	46	Bonnie L. Gordon	Bonnie L. Gordon	110,560	99.34%
Oneida	2	Mark A. Mangerson	Mark A. Mangerson	5,895	99.63%
Outagamie	4	Harold V. Froehlich	Harold V. Froehlich	17,832	99.84%
	5	Dee R. Dyer	Dee R. Dyer	17,916	99.88%
	7	John A. Des Jardins	John A. Des Jardins	18,032	99.81%
Portage	3	Thomas T. Flugaur	Thomas T. Flugaur	7,170	99.82%
Racine	8	Dennis J. Flynn	Dennis J. Flynn	20,913	99.52%
Racine	10	Richard J. Kreul	Richard J. Kreul	19,694	99.59%
Rock	7	James E. Welker	James E. Welker	14,334	99.07%
St. Croix	3	Scott R. Needham	Scott R. Needham	5,414	99.96%
Sauk	1	Patrick J. Taggart	Patrick J. Taggart	6,690	99.58%
Sauk	3	Virginia A. Wolfe	Guy D. Reynolds	5,443	62.75%	Patricia Barrett	3,222	37.15%
Sheboygan	5	James J. Bolgert	James J. Bolgert	16,290	99.82%
Walworth	1	Robert J. Kennedy	Robert J. Kennedy	7,698	50.31%	Henry A. Sibbing	7,601	49.68%
Washington	3	David Resheske	David Resheske	13,058	99.59%
Washington	4	Leo F. Schlaefer	Andrew T. Gonring	12,964	99.46%
Waukesha	11	Robert G. Mawdsley	Robert G. Mawdsley	41,745	99.55%
Waukesha	12	Kathryn W. Foster	Kathryn W. Foster	42,017	99.51%
Waupaca	3	New seat	Raymond S. Huber	6,042	56.24%	John P. Snider	4,701	43.75%
Winnebago	1	William E. Crane	Thomas J. Gritton	11,900	56.78%	Frank Slattery	9,033	43.10%
	2	Robert A. Haase	Robert A. Haase	17,309	99.51%
	4			17,228	99.43%

Local

Milwaukee

Incumbent Mayor John Norquist was reelected to a fourth four-year term, defeating businessman George Watts.^[4]

Monroe County

Ed Thompson, brother of incumbent Governor Tommy Thompson, was elected Mayor of Tomah, Wisconsin, defeating incumbent Bud Johnson.^[5]

Notes and References

Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000 . Wisconsin State Elections Board . May 10, 2001 . February 18, 2021 .
Results of Spring General Election - 04/04/2000 . Wisconsin State Elections Board . May 17, 2000 . February 18, 2021 .
An Act relating to: state finances and appropriations, constituting the executive budget act of the 1999 legislature . . 9 . 1999 . 626, 685, 686 . February 19, 2021 .
News: Norquist is re-elected in Milwaukee . . April 5, 2000 . 3 . February 19, 2021 . .
News: Ed's Tomah win makes gov the mayor's brother . . April 5, 2000 . 3 . February 19, 2021 . .