Wisconsin 2010 Election Results

Wisconsin held its general election on November 2, 2010, deciding 116 legislative seats and 5 statewide offices led by the governorship. Control shifted: the Senate moved from a 18-15 Democratic majority to a 19-14 Republican majority; the Assembly moved from a 52-46 Democratic majority to a 60-38 Republican majority.

Highlights

• Republicans won the governor's office and both houses, replacing a Democratic trifecta with one that let them draw the 2011 maps on their own.
• Scott Walker (R) beat Tom Barrett (D) by about 6 points for the open governorship, riding tax-cut promises, and Rebecca Kleefisch (R) won lieutenant governor on his ticket.
• Both chambers' Democratic leaders lost. Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D) lost Senate District 29 to Pam Galloway (R) by about 5 points, and Republicans completed the Senate flip as Leah Vukmir (R), Van Wanggaard (R) and Terry Moulton (R) unseated Jim Sullivan (D), John Lehman (D) and Pat Kreitlow (D). Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan (D) lost Assembly District 44 to Joe Knilans (R) by about 3 points. The new majorities were led by brothers: Scott Fitzgerald (R) in the Senate and Jeff Fitzgerald (R) as Assembly speaker.
• GOP leaders and their lawyers worked from a private law firm across from the Capitol on those maps, producing lines that protected the new majorities.
• Nearly every one of the 21 legislative seats that changed party went Republican, and every incumbent who lost, legislators and the state treasurer alike, was a Democrat:
  • The closest flips: Warren Petryk (R) won by 74 votes over Jeff Smith (D) in Assembly District 93, and Kathy Bernier (R) beat Kristen Dexter (D) by 92 in District 68.
  • Marlin Schneider (D), the longest-serving member in Assembly history, lost District 72 to Scott Krug (R).
  • The exceptions: Janis Ringhand (D) took an open Republican seat in District 80, and Bob Ziegelbauer (I) kept District 25 in his first race as an independent.
  • Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D) held Senate District 31 by fewer than 500 votes over Ed Thompson (R), the younger brother of former Gov. Tommy Thompson.
• Below governor, Republicans also took the treasurer's office, where Kurt Schuller (R) unseated Dawn Marie Sass (D) by about 7 points, and J.B. Van Hollen (R) held the attorney general's office by about 16 points. Douglas La Follette (D) held secretary of state by about 3 points, the only Democrat to win statewide.

Legislature

• Assembly (99 seats): 52 D, 46 R, 1 other or vacant before the election, 38 D, 60 R, 1 other or vacant after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.
• Senate (33 seats): 18 D, 15 R before the election, 14 D, 19 R after; control moved from Democrats to Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races