2024 Wisconsin Senate election should not be confused with 2024 United States Senate election in Wisconsin.
| Election Name: | 2024 Wisconsin Senate election |
| Country: | Wisconsin |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2022 Wisconsin Senate election |
| Previous Year: | 2022 |
| Next Election: | 2026 Wisconsin Senate election |
| Next Year: | 2026 |
| Seats For Election: | 16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 17 |
| Election Date: | November 5, 2024 |
| Image1: | Devin LeMahieu shaking hands.jpg |
| Image1 Size: | x150px |
| Leader1: | Devin LeMahieu |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Wisconsin |
| Seats Before1: | 22 |
| Image2 Size: | x150px |
| Leader2: | Dianne Hesselbein |
| Party2: | Democratic Party of Wisconsin |
| Seats Before2: | 11 |
| Seats Needed2: | 6 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 1Data1: | 10 |
| 1Data2: | 6 |
| President | |
| Before Election: | Chris Kapenga |
| Before Party: | Republican Party of Wisconsin |
The 2024 Wisconsin Senate election is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Sixteen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate are up for election - the even-numbered districts. Currently, 22 Senate seats are held by Republicans, 10 seats are held by Democrats, one seat is vacant.
The primary election was held on August 13, 2024. The filing deadline to appear on the ballot was June 3, 2024.[1]
This election will be significantly affected by the legislative maps drawn as a result of the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, which declared the current legislative district map to be unconstitutional on December 22, 2023. [2] The court was in the process of selecting a remedial plan, when the legislature chose to embrace the remedial map proposal from Governor Tony Evers. Evers signed the plan into law on February 19, 2024. [3]
Under the new maps, Democrats are expected to gain seats in the Senate, but they are not expected to be able to win a majority because only even-numbered seats are up for election in 2024.[4] [5] Five of the sixteen seats up for election have no incumbents.[6] Both parties are expected to spend heavily on the competitive races this cycle.[7]
Democrats last won a majority of seats in the state senate in the 2012 recall elections, but they last seated a majority of seats in a session after the 2008 elections.
To combat the threat of PFAS contamination, the Wisconsin legislature included $125 million in the state budget. Despite this, Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) have refused to release the funds to be used by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). On April 9, Evers vetoed a piece of legislation which would have created grants to fight pollution due to PFAS chemicals, in explaining his veto, Evers cited the restrictions the legislation would have placed on the DNR to prosecute polluters. In vetoing the legislation, Evers also continued calling for the release of the $125 million which was set aside in the budget for combatting PFAS contamination.[8] In response to Evers' veto, JFC members said they would hold the funds hostage.
On April 16, Evers called the JFC to session, but its Republican members refused to attend, denying the committee a quorum to do business.[9] In response to this inaction, Wisconsin Democrats launched a six-figures campaign called "No More Games" which served the purpose to pressure and target members of the Committee from competitive districts. Among their targets were Senate Republicans Joan Ballweg, Howard Marklein, Duey Stroebel, and Eric Wimberger, from the 14th, 17th, 20th and 30th districts respectively.[10]
| Party (majority caucus shading) | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | ||||
| nowrap colspan=2 | Last election (2022) | 5 | 12 | 17 | |
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" colspan=2 | Total after last election (2022) | 11 | 22 | 33 | |
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" colspan=2 | Total before this election | 11 | 22 | 33 | |
| Up for election | 6 | 10 | 16 | ||
| of which: | nowrap style="font-size:80%" | Incumbent retiring | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" | Vacated | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" | Open | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" | Unopposed | 5 | 0 | 5 | |
| nowrap style="background:#ccc" colspan=2 | This election | ||||
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" colspan=2 | Change from last election | ||||
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" colspan=2 | Total after this election | ||||
| nowrap style="font-size:80%" colspan=2 | Change in total | --> | |||
There was one special election scheduled in 2024 for the Wisconsin state Senate.
| Dist. | [14] | Incumbent | This race | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | First elected | Status | Primary | General | Result--> | Approved candidate(s)[15] [16] | ||
| 02 | None | New member to be elected | |||||||
| 04 | Dem. | 2024 | Incumbent running | ||||||
| 06 | Dem. | align=center | 2016 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 08 | Rep. | align=center | 2023 | Running for the 24th state assembly district | |||||
| Rep. | align=center | 2015 | Incumbent Running | ||||||
| 10 | Rep. | align=center | 2020 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 12 | Rep. | align=center | 2020 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 14 | Rep. | align=center | 2014 | Serving as Senator until January 4, 2027 | |||||
| 16 | None | New member to be elected | |||||||
| 18 | None | New member to be elected | |||||||
| 20 | Rep. | align=center | 2016 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 22 | Dem. | align=center | 1996 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 24 | Rep. | align=center | 2016 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| 26 | Dem. | align=center | 2020 | Incumbent Running | |||||
| Dem. | align=center | 2020 | Running for Dane County executive | ||||||
| 28 | None < | --Incumbent was redistricted into another district, but is running for the district they currently represent.--> | New member to be elected | ||||||
| 30 | Rep. | 2020 | Running for the 2nd district | ||||||
| Rep. | align=center | 1987 | Incumbent retiring. | ||||||
| Rep. | align=center | 2018 | Serving as Senator until January 4, 2027 | ||||||
| 32 | Dem. | align=center | 2020 | Incumbent Running | |||||