Elections in Wisconsin

Elections in Wisconsin are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time.

United States presidential election results for Wisconsin[1]
Year Republican / Whig Democratic Third party
No. %No. %No. %
2020 1,610,184 48.82% 1,630,866 49.45% 56,991 1.73%
2016 1,405,284 47.22% 1,382,536 46.45% 188,330 6.33%
2012 1,407,966 45.89% 1,620,985 52.83% 39,483 1.29%
2008 1,262,393 42.31% 1,677,211 56.22% 43,813 1.47%
2004 1,478,120 49.32% 1,489,504 49.70% 29,383 0.98%
2000 1,237,279 47.61% 1,242,987 47.83% 118,341 4.55%
1996 845,029 38.48% 1,071,971 48.81% 279,169 12.71%
1992 930,855 36.78% 1,041,066 41.13% 559,193 22.09%
1988 1,047,499 47.80% 1,126,794 51.41% 17,315 0.79%
1984 1,198,800 54.19% 995,847 45.02% 17,369 0.79%
1980 1,088,845 47.90% 981,584 43.18% 202,792 8.92%
1976 1,004,987 47.83% 1,040,232 49.50% 56,117 2.67%
1972 989,430 53.40% 810,174 43.72% 53,286 2.88%
1968 809,997 47.89% 748,804 44.27% 132,737 7.85%
1964 638,495 37.74% 1,050,424 62.09% 2,896 0.17%
1960 895,175 51.77% 830,805 48.05% 3,102 0.18%
1956 954,844 61.58% 586,768 37.84% 8,946 0.58%
1952 979,744 60.95% 622,175 38.71% 5,451 0.34%
1948 590,959 46.28% 647,310 50.70% 38,531 3.02%
1944 674,532 50.37% 650,413 48.57% 14,207 1.06%
1940 679,206 48.32% 704,821 50.15% 21,495 1.53%
1936 380,828 30.26% 802,984 63.80% 74,748 5.94%
1932 347,741 31.19% 707,410 63.46% 59,657 5.35%
1928 544,205 53.52% 450,259 44.28% 22,367 2.20%
1924 311,614 37.06% 68,115 8.10% 461,097 54.84%
1920 498,576 71.10% 113,422 16.17% 89,282 12.73%
1916 220,822 49.39% 191,363 42.80% 34,949 7.82%
1912 130,596 32.65% 164,230 41.06% 105,149 26.29%
1908 247,747 54.52% 166,662 36.67% 40,032 8.81%
1904 280,315 63.21% 124,205 28.01% 38,921 8.78%
1900 265,760 60.06% 159,163 35.97% 17,578 3.97%
1896 268,135 59.93% 165,523 37.00% 13,751 3.07%
1892 171,101 46.05% 177,325 47.72% 23,155 6.23%
1888 176,553 49.79% 155,232 43.77% 22,829 6.44%
1884 161,135 50.38% 146,453 45.79% 12,247 3.83%
1880 144,398 54.04% 114,644 42.91% 8,145 3.05%
1876 130,067 50.57% 123,926 48.19% 3,184 1.24%
1872 104,994 54.60% 86,477 44.97% 834 0.43%
1868 108,900 56.25% 84,703 43.75% 0 0.00%
1864 83,458 55.88% 65,884 44.12% 0 0.00%
1860 86,113 56.59% 65,021 42.73% 1,049 0.69%
1856 66,090 55.30% 52,843 44.22% 579 0.48%
1852 22,210 34.34% 33,658 52.04% 8,814 13.63%
1848 13,747 35.10% 15,001 38.30% 10,418 26.60%
Elections in Wisconsin
Federal government
Presidential elections
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
Republican
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
U.S. House of Representatives elections
State government
General elections
Gubernatorial elections
Secretary of State elections
Attorney General elections
Treasurer elections
State Senate elections
State Assembly elections
Supreme Court elections
Ballot measures
2006
Referendum 1
Green Bay
Mayoral elections
Madison
Mayoral elections
Milwaukee
Mayoral elections

In a 2020 study, Wisconsin was ranked as the 25th easiest state for citizens to vote in.[2]

History

Pre-1960s

Apart from its first two presidential elections as a state, Wisconsin was heavily Republican throughout the entirety of the 1800s and into the early 1900s - voting Democratic in presidential elections only 1892, 1912, 1948, and for Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1856 to 1960.

1960-1999

Wisconsin still held somewhat of a red tilt leading into the 1960 presidential election - but the election's result was still somewhat close, Richard Nixon (Republican) only winning over John F. Kennedy (Democrat) by 3.72 percent. The 1960s, however showed a major change is Wisconsin politics - the state turned heavily towards Democrats during the decade. Democrats won large victories in the 1962 elections, particularly in ousting an incumbent Republican senator and keeping its Democratic governor. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat) won a large victory over Republican Barry Goldwater - winning 62% of the vote and 69 out of 72 of Wisconsin's counties. Wisconsin did flip back to Republicans in the 1968 and the 1972 Republican landslide presidential election, but much closer margins than Republicans had historically achieved. In 1976, Carter (Democrat) carried the state by a small margin, and Reagan (Republican) in 1980 similarly flipped it back by a small margin. In 1984, Reagan 49-state re-election landslide, Wisconsin voted for him. In 1988 - it turned Democrat for Michael Dukakis, marking the beginning of a 24-year streak of voting for Democrats in presidential elections.

21st Century
Wisconsin's presidential election in 2020 by country. Colors range on a spectrum from Democratic blue to Republican red.

After turning towards the Democrats in the 1980s and 1990s, Wisconsin's elections drastically narrowed in 2000 and 2004 - though it stayed with the Democratic candidates, in neither election did the Democratic candidate win by more than one percent of the vote. Democrats did perform better in Wisconsin with Obama - he received 56.2 and 52.8 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012 respectively. That said, Republicans made large gains in Wisconsin throughout the early 2010s. Ron Johnson, a Republican, was elected as a senator and remains in office to this day - and the United States members House of Representatives from Wisconsin have been majority Republican since then as well. In addition, Wisconsin elected Governor Scott Walker in 2010 - a Republican. In the 2016 presidential election, Wisconsin flipped Republican and voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton by a close margin - meaning that Wisconsin was still a swing state on the presidential level. Democrats had positive elections there in 2018, re-electing a Democratic Senator, and electing Tony Evers, a Democrat, to the governorship - but Republicans still held on to the House of Representatives from Wisconsin and the state legislature. In 2020, the state held one of the closest presidential elections in the country - it flipped Democratic for Biden by less than a percent. In 2022, Republican Senator Johnson and Democratic Governor Evers were simultaneously re-elected, again showing the state's close political status. Wisconsin as of today is one of the nation's most contested swing states.


Presidential
Main article: United States presidential elections in Wisconsin









National legislative

U.S. Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

State executive

State legislative

See also

References
  1. Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Wisconsin". US Election Atlas. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  2. J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 19 (4): 503–509. doi:10.1089/elj.2020.0666. S2CID 225139517. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

Further reading
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