2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State election explained

Election Name:2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State Election
Country:Wisconsin
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2014 Wisconsin Secretary of State election
Previous Year:2014
Election Date:November 6, 2018
Next Election:2022 Wisconsin Secretary of State election
Next Year:2022
Image1:Secretary La Follette (7166302470) (1).jpg
Candidate1:Doug La Follette
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,380,752
Percentage1:52.7%
Candidate2:Jay Schroeder
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:1,235,034
Percentage2:47.2%
Map Size:250px
Secretary of State
Before Election:Doug La Follette
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Doug La Follette
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State Election took place on November 6, 2018 to elect the Wisconsin Secretary Of State. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Doug La Follette who had been serving in the position since 1983 won re-election to a 10th 4-year term, defeating Republican nominee Jay Schroeder 52-47%.

Schroeder, La Follette's opponent made a pledge to abolish the position entirely if elected.[1] This is likely a response to the power of the office slowly being weakened ever since 1990, with more and more powers the office once had going to the legislature, other agencies, or being abolished entirely. According to analyses published by the Council of State Governments, the office is the weakest directly elected member of the National Association of Secretaries of State.[2]

Background

In 1974 La Follette was elected to his first term as Secretary of State. He served for one 4-year term but didn't run for re-election in order to run for lieutenant governor in 1978. He was succeeded as Secretary of State by Vel Phillips. After losing his bid for lieutenant governor, La Follette primaried Phillips in 1982 and subsequently won the general election. La Follette has run for re-election every cycle and has been re-elected every time even as the governorship and other offices at the top of the ticket went to the Republicans. Since returning in 1982, power has slowly been stripped from the office and instead given to jurisdictions. These powers include lobbying regulation and business registration, which La Follette has long advocated for the return of.

Though he had won most of his re-election campaigns with ease, 2010 was his closest result since 1986 winning only by 2%. This close result can be attributed to the red wave year of 2010 which saw many big wins for Wisconsin Republicans including the ousting of popular Democratic senator Russ Feingold as well as Scott Walker winning the governorship by 5% on the same ticket. La Follette was able to improve on his margin in 2014 winning by 4% under similar circumstances as the 2010 election but, this was still a notable decrease based on the results he got in the past. The 2018 elections were expected to be very favorable for Democrats, making La Follette a favorite going into it.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Doug La Follette was challenged from the left by Arvina Martin, a member of Madison Common Council. La Follette won the primary decisively getting 65% of the vote, notably carrying all counties including Dane County home to Madison which both candidates are from.

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

Republican primary

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

General election

Predictions

With La Follette holding the position for so long the race was seen to be not very competitive. In the end, La Follette won by 5 percentage points leading the statewide Democratic ticket.

Results

La Follette
Schroeder
MarginCounty Total
align=center County%%%
Adams3,89244.59%5,08855.41%%99310.81%9,183
Ashland4,44164.05%2,49335.95%1,94828.09%6,934
Barron7,62341.05%10,30057.38%2,30512.60%18,295
Bayfield5,31561.21%3,36838.79%1,94722.42%8,683
Brown55,19548.82%57,85851.18%2,6637.48%113,053
Buffalo2,62845.16%3,19154.84%5639.68%5,819
Burnett2,95939.59%4,51560.41%1,55620.82%7,474
Calumet9,75842.03%13,45757.97%3,69915.93%23,215
Chippewa12,52946.17%14,60753.83%2,0787.66%27,136
Clark4,59940.40%6,78659.60%2,18719.21%11,385
Columbia14,36854.06%12,21145.94%2,1578.12%26,579
Crawford3,56754.94%2,92545.06%6429.89%6,492
! style="text-align:left;"|Dane| | 219,538| | 76.04%| 69,184| 23.96%| 150,354| 52.08%| 288,722|-! style="text-align:left;"|Dodge| 14,527| 39.30%| | 22,440| | 60.70%| 7,913| 21.41%| 36,967|-! style="text-align:left;"|Door| | 8,151| | 51.02%| 8,141| 48.98%| 339| 2.04%| 16,621|-! style="text-align:left;"|Douglas| | 11,243| | 60.73%| 7,269| 39.27%| 3,974| 21.47%| 18,512|-! style="text-align:left;"|Dunn| 9,019| 49.73%| | 9,118| | 50.27%| 99| 0.55%| 18,137|-! style="text-align:left;"|Eau Claire| | 27,636| | 57.91%| 20,088| 42.09%| 7,548| 15.82%| 47,724|-! style="text-align:left;"|Florence| 676| 31.43%| | 1,475| | 68.57%| 799| 37.15%| 2,151|-! style="text-align:left;"|Fond du Lac| 17,631| 39.82%| | 26,649| | 60.18%| 9,018| 20.37%| 44,280|-! style="text-align:left;"|Forest| 1,635| 42.67%| | 2,197| | 57.33%| 562| 14.67%| 3,832|-! style="text-align:left;"|Grant| | 9,772| | 51.01%| 9,378| 48.96%| 394| 2.05%| 19,150|-! style="text-align:left;"|Green| | 9,595| | 57.32%| 7,144| 42.68%| 2,451| 14.64%| 16,739|-! style="text-align:left;"|Green Lake| 2,836| 35.24%| | 5,211| | 64.76%| 2,375| 29.51%| 8,047|-! style="text-align:left;"|Iowa| | 6,819| | 62.31%| 2,695| 37.69%| 2,385| 24.63%| 10,943|-! style="text-align:left;"|Iron| 1,366| 45.01%| | 1,669| | 54.99%| 303| 9.98%| 3,035|-! style="text-align:left;"|Jackson| | 4,041| | 51.38%| 3,824| 48.62%| 217| 2.76%| 7,865|-! style="text-align:left;"|Jefferson| 16,781| 45.09%| | 20,437| | 56.28%| 3,656| 9.82%| 37,218|-! style="text-align:left;"|Juneau| 4,249| 42.66%| | 5,710| | 57.34%| 1,461| 14.67%| 9,959|-! style="text-align:left;"|Kenosha| | 35,781| | 53.72%| 30,829| 46.28%| 4,952| 7.43%| 66,610|-! style="text-align:left;"|Kewaunee| 3,926| 42.01%| | 5,420| | 57.99%| 1,494| 15.99%| 9,346|-! style="text-align:left;"|La Crosse| | 33,060| | 59.33%| 22,663| 40.67%| 10,397| 18.66%| 55,723|-! style="text-align:left;"|Lafayette| | 3,347| | 52.15%| 3071| 47.85%| 276| 4.30%| 6,418|-! style="text-align:left;"|Langlade| 3,395| 37.62%| | 5,630| | 62.38%| 2,235| 24.76%| 9,025|-! style="text-align:left;"|Lincoln| 5,662| 43.22%| | 7,439| | 56.78%| 1,777| 13.56%| 13,101|-! style="text-align:left;"|Manitowoc| 15,354| 44.19%| | 19,388| | 55.81%| 4,034| 11.61%| 34,742|-! style="text-align:left;"|Marathon| 26,567| 43.69%| | 34,239| | 56.31%| 7,672| 12.62%| 60,806|-! style="text-align:left;"|Marinette| 6,662| 39.15%| | 10,356| | 60.85%| 3,694| 21.71%| 17,018|-! style="text-align:left;"|Marquette| 3,044| 43.18%| | 4,006| | 56.82%| 962| 13.65%| 7,050|-! style="text-align:left;"|Menominee| | 847| | 78.14%| 237| 21.86%| 610| 56.27%| 1,084|-! style="text-align:left;"|Milwaukee| | 269,143| | 70.34%| 113,482| 29.66%| 155,661| 40.68%| 382,625|-! style="text-align:left;"|Monroe| 7,347| 44.45%| | 9,182| | 55.55%| 1,835| 11.10%| 16,529|-! style="text-align:left;"|Oconto| 6,276| 36.46%| | 10,936| | 63.54%| 4,660| 27.07%| 17,212|-! style="text-align:left;"|Oneida| 8,540| 44.73%| | 10,553| | 55.27%| 2,013| 10.54%| 19,093|-! style="text-align:left;"|Outagamie| 38,391| 47.11%| | 43,109| | 52.89%| 4,718| 5.79%| 81,500|-! style="text-align:left;"|Ozaukee| 19,801| 39.38%| | 30,480| | 60.62%| 10,679| 21.24%| 50,281|-! style="text-align:left;"|Pepin| 1,374| 44.95%| | 1,683| | 55.05%| 309| 10.11%| 3,057|-! style="text-align:left;"|Pierce| 8,421| 48.62%| | 8,899| | 51.38%| 478| 2.76%| 17,320|-! style="text-align:left;"|Polk| 7,635| 41.41%| | 10,803| | 58.59%| 3,168| 17.18%| 18,438|-! style="text-align:left;"|Portage| | 19,075| | 56.12%| 14,916| 43.88%| 2,559| 12.24%| 33,991|-! style="text-align:left;"|Price| 2,916| 44.33%| | 3,662| | 55.67%| 746| 11.34%| 6578|-! style="text-align:left;"|Racine| | 42,821| | 50.07%| 42705| 49.93%| 116| 0.14%| 85,526|-! style="text-align:left;"|Richland| | 3,648| | 52.86%| 3,253| 47.14%| 395| 5.72%| 6,901|-! style="text-align:left;"|Rock| | 40,630| | 60.92%| 26,068| 39.08%| 14,562| 21.83%| 66,698|-! style="text-align:left;"|Rusk| 2,418| 40.41%| | 3,565| | 59.59%| 1,147| 19.17%| 5,983|-! style="text-align:left;"|Sauk| | 15,870| | 56.00%| 12,468| 44.00%| 3,402| 12.01%| 28,338|-! style="text-align:left;"|Sawyer| 3,662| 45.58%| | 4,372| | 54.42%| 710| 8.84%| 8,034|-! style="text-align:left;"|Shawano| 6,416| 36.50%| | 11,164| | 63.50%| 4,748| 27.01%| 17,580|-! style="text-align:left;"|Sheboygan| 22,949| 43.93%| | 29,289| | 56.07%| 6,340| 12.14%| 52,238|-! style="text-align:left;"|St. Croix| 17,267| 43.57%| | 22,365| | 56.43%| 5,098| 12.86%| 39,632|-! style="text-align:left;"|Taylor| 2,650| 33.72%| | 5,209| | 66.28%| 2,559| 32.56%| 7,859|-! style="text-align:left;"|Trempealeau| 5,864| 49.06%| | 6,088| | 50.94%| 224| 1.87%| 11,952|-! style="text-align:left;"|Vernon| | 6,898| | 53.94%| 5,891| 46.06%| 1,007| 7.87%| 12,789|-! style="text-align:left;"|Vilas| 4,901| 39.64%| | 7,464| | 60.36%| 2,563| 20.73%| 12,365|-! style="text-align:left;"|Walworth| 18,499| 41.39%| | 26,200| | 58.61%| 7,701| 17.23%| 44,699|-! style="text-align:left;"|Washburn| 3,374| 43.40%| | 4,401| | 56.60%| 1,027| 13.21%| 7,775|-! style="text-align:left;"|Washington| 20,697| 29.80%| | 48,749| | 70.20%| 28,052| 40.39%| 69,446|-! style="text-align:left;"|Waukesha| 77,918| 35.90%| | 139,149| | 64.10%| 61,231| 28.21%| 217,067|-! style="text-align:left;"|Waupaca| 8,540| 38.85%| | 13,441| | 61.15%| 4,901| 22.30%| 21,981|-! style="text-align:left;"|Waushara| 3,939| 37.88%| | 6,461| | 62.13%| 2,522| 24.25%| 10,400|-! style="text-align:left;"|Winnebago| | 37,353| | 50.25%| 36,980| 49.75%| 373| 0.50%| 74,333|-! style="text-align:left;"|Wood| 14,719| 45.52%| | 17,618| | 54.48%| 2,899| 8.96%| 32,337|-! style="text-align:left;"|Totals| 1,380,752| 52.7%| 1,235,034| 47.2%| 145,718| 5.5%| 2,615,786|}

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Schroeder Campaign:Eliminate Secretary of State Position. February 19, 2018. May 22, 2022.
  2. Web site: 2021 Book of the States. The Council of State Governments. 154–156. March 9, 2022.
  3. Web site: Secretary of State Races Are More Competitive and Important Than Ever. Governing. en. 2022-05-20.

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