Wisconsin voters went to the polls Tuesday for the partisan primary election, which featured races for Congress, state Legislature, county-level offices and two statewide referendum questions.
It was the second-to-last regularly scheduled election in Wisconsin. On this ballot, voters narrowed down candidates for partisan offices. Those candidates advance to the Nov. 5 election, which also includes the presidential race.
The Journal Sentinel provided updates and area and state results Tuesday. Here’s a review of our primary election day coverage.
2024 Wisconsin primary results
Andrew Hysell, who drew criticism from opponents, wins primary in Madison area
Andrew Hysell won the 48th Assembly District in the Sun Prairie area, taking about 32% of the vote.
The second-place primary finisher was Bill Connors, with about 26% of the vote. Five Democrats competed in the race, which was among the most crowded primaries of the election.
Hysell’s challengers had issued a joint statement sharing their concerns about Hysell’s previous activities after receiving a flood of messages from voters in the district.
Hysell came under fire for an audit that found his company had bilked millions of dollars in welfare funds to boost executive salaries and pay for cross-country trips while operating in the state of Kansas.
~~Hope Karnopp
After winning special election, Dora Drake wins full Senate term
State Rep. Dora Drake, who won special elections in July to fill the vacancy of former state Sen. Lena Taylor’s seat, cleared the way to earn a full term in the state Legislature’s upper chamber. She took about 62% of the vote Tuesday night.
While the July elections were to fill a term ending in 2024, the August and November elections are for a full, four-year term in the Senate beginning in 2025. Because no Republicans are in the race, Drake’s victory on Tuesday all but guarantees her spot in the Senate.
State Rep. LaKeshia Myers challenged Drake in both the special election and the August contest. Myers’ margins were slightly higher this time around: she took about 38% of the vote, compared to 34% in the July 2 special lection primary. After that loss, Myers indicated she would focus her campaign on the August primary.
~~Hope Karnopp
Rebecca Cooke wins heated Democratic primary to take on Rep. Derrick Van Orden
Eau Claire non-profit owner Rebecca Cooke won the heated three-way Democratic primary for a western Wisconsin battleground House seat Tuesday night, setting up a November fight with freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
~~Lawrence Andrea
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos defeats primary challenger
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, one of the state’s top Republicans, won his primary election. Vos took 69% of the vote, and challenger Andrew Cegielski sat at 31% with about 89% of the vote tallied.
Vos will still face a Democrat on the Nov. 5 ballot: Alan Kupsik. But the redrawn district still leans Republican.
Trump-backed Tony Wied wins GOP primary in congressional seat vacated by Mike Gallagher
Former gas station owner Tony Wied won the Republican primary Tuesday to replace retired U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher following a campaign that leaned almost exclusively on former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Wied, whom Trump endorsed before he formally launched his campaign in April, edged former Appleton state Sen. Roger Roth and handily defeated De Pere state Sen. Andre Jacque in both the special primary election and regularly scheduled primary election. Roth and Jacque called Wied to concede the race late Tuesday.
~~Lawrence Andrea
Extremely close race in western Wisconsin Assembly district
An extremely tight Republican primary is shaping up in the Assembly District 28, which includes communities in western Wisconsin like New Richmond and the villages of Hammond, Baldwin and Woodville.
Former television anchorman Rob Kreibich has 2,662 votes, just nine votes ahead of University of Wisconsin-River Falls student Brady Penfield, who sits at 2,653 votes with about 90% of the vote reported.
~~Hope Karnopp
West Allis-area seat shaping up to be a close race
About 90% of the vote has been counted in Assembly District 14, where former West Allis alder Angelito Tenorio has 231 votes more than mental health social worker Nathan Kieso.
Former College Democrats vice chair Brady Coulthard is also running in the Democratic primary, and is sitting 213 votes behind Kieso.
Either of the three candidates, if they won the Democratic-leaning seat in November, would be a new face in the state Legislature.
~~Hope Karnopp
City of Milwaukee arrives with absentee ballot jump drives before 10 p.m.
Jump drives containing the results of the City of Milwaukee’s absentee ballots arrived at the Milwaukee County Election Commission just before 10 p.m. Tuesday.
The city had a total of 24,545 absentee ballots cast in this election, according to the city Election Commission.
Like other municipalities around the county and state, the city counts its absentee ballots in a single location known as “central count.”
— Alison Dirr
Democrats celebrate referendum victory
Gov. Tony Evers praised the referendum’s “no” vote as result of his administration’s effort to stabilize Wisconsin’s economy during the pandemic, saying “the proof of our hard work is in the pudding.”
“This was a referendum on our administration’s work and the future for Wisconsin we’ve been working hard to build together, and the answer is reflected in the people’s vote tonight,” Evers said.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler in a statement said voters “defeated an attempt by MAGA politicians to bend our Constitution.”
“Wisconsin Democrats are proud to have organized to defeat these risky and misleading constitutional amendments—marking only the second time since 1996 that a constitutional amendment has been defeated at the ballot box,” Wikler said. “Republican politicians in Madison pushed these amendments because they recognized their grip on power was waning with new, fair maps, and they were desperate to cement their extreme agenda into Wisconsin’s Constitution.”
~Rachel Hale
Voters shoot down both referendums in a win for Democrats
Wisconsin voters said “no” to two referendums that asked to give the state Legislature more power over distributing federal funding, which could have upended how billions of dollars are spent in the state. The result is a win for Democrats, who intensely pushed for a “no” vote in state-wide advertisements and press conferences.
With over 50% of the vote reported by Tuesday night, 58% of voters voted down both questions.
Because a majority of voters selected “no,” the Legislature will not be prohibited from delegating its power to appropriate money and the governor will not be required to earn legislative approval in the form of a joint resolution before expending federal funds appropriated to the state.
The outcome of the two referendums bucked the trend in Wisconsin — voters typically ratify them. Out of the 200 times lawmakers have proposed changes to the state Constitution since 1854, voters have only rejected the changes about 50 times, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.
~~Rachel Hale
State Rep. Ratcliff emerges victorious from Dane County primary
State Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, won a hard-fought Democratic primary race in the state’s 16th Senate District with about 52% of the vote, edging out her fellow state Reps. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, and Samba Baldeh, D-Madison.
The open seat resulted from former Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard’s decision to run for Dane County executive.
~~Jessie Opoien
Republican Sen. Dan Feyen deflects challenge from election denier Timothy Ramthun
Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, serves as the Senate’s assistant majority leader and leads the chamber’s Economic Development and Technical Colleges Committee. Feyen is also a board member on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and a member of the Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball District Board.
Tim Ramthun, a Republican from Campbellsport, served in the Assembly from 2019-23 and competed in the 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary. After running a campaign rooted in an illegal and impossible push to revoke Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes for President Joe Biden, he finished third in the primary with 6% of the vote.
Ramthun challenged Feyen in the Aug. 13 primary election.
Feyen fended off Ramthun’s challenge with at least 65% of the vote in the state’s 20th Senate District primary.
~~Jessie Opoien
Ryan Clancy wins closely-watched primary in downtown Milwaukee, Bay View
One of the most closely-watched primaries was in downtown Milwaukee: Incumbent state Rep. Ryan Clancy held off Democratic challenger Jarrod Anderson, who was endorsed by top Milwaukee Democrats. Clancy had about 57% of the vote, with about 98% reported.
Clancy has declared victory, but he said Anderson had yet to concede. All votes had been counted but absentee ballots.
The race pulled in more than $130,000 in donations, an unusually high amount. Clancy, a Democratic socialist, has been outspoken in his support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war and supported the “unsinstructed” movement in April.
~~Hope Karnopp, Daniel Bice
Incumbent David Cullen beats out Ted Chisholm in County Treasurer’s race
With almost 93% of the votes in, incumbent treasurer David Cullen won two-to-one against Ted Chisholm, the 26-year-old son of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Cullen has served as treasurer since 2014.
In a statement on Facebook, Chisholm conceded before all the absentee ballots were counted.
~~Vanessa Swales
“No” is leading two referendum questions with 44% of the vote in
As of 9 p.m., a “no” vote was leading two referendum questions that asked to give the state Legislature more power over distributing federal funding. On both questions, 58% percent of voters selected “no.” The first referendum would prohibit the legislature from delegating appropriations, while the second would require legislative approval for federal funds.
~~Rachel Hale
State Rep. Bob Donovan fends off Republican primary challenger
In Milwaukee’s southwest suburbs, former Milwaukee alder and current Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan fended off Republican primary challenger and MMA instructor Martin Gomez.
Donovan took about 93% of the vote compared to Gomez’s 7%, with about 92% of the vote reported.
Donovan will face Democratic candidate LuAnn Bird in November in what could be a competitive election in a slightly-redrawn district.
~~Hope Karnopp
Eric Hovde wins Republican U.S. Senate primary
Republican banking and real estate mogul Eric Hovde emerged victorious from Wisconsin’s GOP U.S. Senate primary with nearly 90% of the vote. He fended off challenges within his party from Rejani Raveendran of Stevens Point and Charles Barman of Sharon.
“Since I started this campaign my focus has been to defeat do-nothing Tammy Baldwin and restore the American Dream for people in Wisconsin and across the country,” Hovde said in a statement, referencing the Democratic senator seeking a third term.
Hovde argued Baldwin’s time in Washington has led to “time for a change.”
“I will always put the people of Wisconsin first by working tirelessly to lower costs, secure the southern border, and fix our broken healthcare system,” Hovde said.
—Jessie Opoien
State Rep. Mike Bare wins one of first contested races called
Results for contested primaries on the ballot are slowly coming in, but state Rep. Mike Bare was one of the first winners declared.
The Verona Democrat faced Democratic challenger Nasra Wehelie, and took over 80% of the vote with 77% of precincts reported. Bare will face Republican Robert Relph in November.
~~Hope Karnopp
Kamala Harris plans DNC week rally in Milwaukee at site of Republican National Convention
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to hold a rally at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday, the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, according to sources with knowledge of the plans.
The stop would be Harris’ third visit to Wisconsin since she became the Democratic nominee for president late last month. She held the first rally of her presidential campaign just outside Milwaukee and last week stopped in Eau Claire with her newly selected running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
—Lawrence Andrea
Wisconsin primary polls have closed
Voting concluded at 8 p,m, As long as you were in line at your polling place by the that 8 p.m. deadline, you’ll be allowed to vote.
One hour left to vote in Wisconsin
There’s about one hour left to vote in Wisconsin: Polls are open statewide until 8 p.m. As long as you’re in line at your polling place by 8 p.m., you’ll be allowed to vote.
Results will slowly start filtering in after 8 p.m. Some communities may report their results fairly quickly, while others may take a couple of hours to report their numbers.
—Hope Karnopp
Menomonee Falls voters spend the afternoon practicing their civic duty and figuring out referendum questions
When asked if he found the referendum questions at the end of his ballot clear, Marcel Clarke, 50, said, “Absolutely not.”
This sentiment has been a common theme amongst Southeastern Wisconsin voters asked if they understood what the two referendum questions were asking.
Clarke said he did a ton of research prior to voting, and he showed up to the Menomonee Falls Public Library to give some attention to the “down” ballots.
Clarke said he feels as thought citizens don’t pay enough attention to these less prominent elections, so he came to do his civic duty.
Chrystal Gillon-Mabry, 72, said she went online to get the information she needed to understand the referendum questions.
Gillon-Mabry said preserving democracy was what brought her to vote today.
“We can figure out conservatives and liberals later,” said Gillon-Mabry. “If we don’t have a democracy, we won’t even have to worry about those issues.”
Michael Zareczny, 65, said he was informed about his decision on voting against or in favor of the referendum questions because he had read an explanation in the newspaper.
Zareczny’s findings led him to vote against the referendum, but he said he initially came to the polls because he’s never missed voting in an election since he was 18 years old.
He took issue with the fact that a resident can only vote for one party in primary elections.
“I don’t know who put that law in place, but I think it’s unjustified and unconstitutional,” Zareczny elaborated. “That’s really taking your freedom of choice away from you.”
Another qualm he expressed was about how third party voices aren’t made as prominent as the Democratic and Republican voices.
Zareczny said campaigns are all about money, and independent candidates who may be a better choice than either prevailing parties don’t have the financial backing to make their voices and platforms heard.
“You don’t have the money, you can’t have a voice,” Zareczny said. “That’s terrible. That should never be.”
–Angelika Ytuarte,
About 17,000 absentee ballots counted in Milwaukee as of mid-afternoon
About 17,000 absentee ballots had been counted by early afternoon Tuesday, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez told the Journal Sentinel.
The city had received about 23,900 ballots as of 3:45 p.m., though ballots were still coming in. Voters have been steadily using the absentee ballot drop boxes that had been reinstated ahead of the election, she said
“I’m feeling pretty confident we’ll be done before midnight,” she said.
Gutiérrez said there had been no major issues at the polling places, including with observers. There had been one ballot challenge, though she did not immediately have additional details.
“I think we’re pretty lucky that everybody – observers, workers – so far have understood the process and their roles and are respecting it, and so discourse has been great. Let’s hope that that continues in November,” she said.
Hilario Deleon was among the observers. The Milwaukee County GOP chairman said he hadn’t seen any issues in Tuesday’s election.
—Alison Dirr
Referendum questions unclear to voters in New Berlin, following trend echoed by other Southeastern Wisconsin voters
Voters in New Berlin got their chance to vote “yes” or “no” on the August 13 ballot referendums, but the options were confusing to most voters who talked to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter.
Although he thought the referendum questions were unclear, Scott Therrian, 42, still came out to the polls to make his voice heard.
“There needs to be a change, and you have to vote in order for things to change,” said Therrian. “Everyone, happy voting.”
One outlier of the confusion the questions are bringing is Julie Remituz, 68. Remituz said she thought the referendum questions were clear without any prior research into the questions before voting.
The referendum is exactly what made Remituz come to the polls today, she said.
James Farnsworth, 58, said he listened to radio programs and congressmen’s thoughts on the referendum before he came to the polls to vote “yes” on the questions.
Farnsworth said he voted in favor of Mike Thurston for Waukesha County District Attorney based off of the recommendation of his friends.
“I’m surprised (the election) is running pretty smoothly,” said Farnsworth. “I’m excited for the big one in November.”
Savannah Schleicher, 24, was another voter who found clarity in the referendum questions only after looking into the verbiage.
Schleicher said she came to the polls to vote in favor of candidates who support abortion and other women’s reproductive rights.
“It’s important to vote. Everyone should vote,” said Schleicher. “(Primaries) are the elections people tend to miss.”
Cameron Holcomb, 28, also had to examine the meaning behind the referendum questions that brought him to the polls before he voted “no” to them.
Andrew Thompson, 38, simply said, “Oh, they’re definitely unclear,” when asked about the clarity of the referendum questions on the ballot.
After some research into the questions, he also ended up voting “no.”
-Angelika Ytuarte
“Very slow” voter turnout at southside polling place
Election workers sat in an empty classroom in Milwaukee’s Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood, south of Walker’s Point. By 2 p.m., only 44 voters had cast their votes at the polling place.
By comparison, one Shorewood polling place received 300 in-person voters by 11:30 a.m.
Rafael Garcia, the supervisor at the Adams-Field Middle School polling place, described the pace as “very slow” and attributed it to a lack of accessible information. He said candidates should provide “more marketing” to the constituents.
The polling place serves Assembly District 8, where democratic candidate Enrique Murguia was recently sentenced to work release for his second drunk driving conviction. His opponent is Sylvia Ortiz-Velez.
Megan Keller, an election worker and a college coach for under-resourced students, attributed the lack of turn-out to the area’s lack of accessible and affordable daycare.
She said it’s hard for people – parents especially – to take the time to vote on a weekday.
“If you’re taking the time to vote, you’re damned,” Keller said.
Michael Morales, who was checking people in at the door, remained optimistic. He said he is preparing for a rush later that night when folks get off work.
“We’re a really strong team here,” he added.
—Zoe Jaeger
JD Vance to campaign at Milwaukee police union Friday
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will return to Wisconsin Friday to deliver remarks at the Milwaukee Police Association.
The trip will be Vance’s second to the battleground state this month. The Ohio senator stopped in Eau Claire last week to speak to reporters at an equipment manufacturer as Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held a rally nearby at the same time.
—Lawrence Andrea
Voters in West Allis identify different ballot items as reason for voting
Voters have slowly and steadily trickled into the West Allis City Hall and Public Library to vote.
Heather Hintz said she wanted to vote specifically on the referendum questions and the District 14 Assembly Democratic primary. Angelito Tenorio, Brady Coulthard and Nathan Kieso are competing in a three-way race in the Democratic Assembly Primary. None of the candidates are incumbents.
“I think they’re all viable candidates. However, I think women’s reproductive rights are foremost for me, especially in this state, so that weighed heavily into my decisions,” she said. Hintz said that would continue to be a salient issue for her in the November election.
Christopher Dickinson, 42, said the Senate race was important to him.
“I like Tammy Baldwin so I wanted to make sure she stays in the mix,” he said. Baldwin is running unopposed in the Democratic primary for Senate, but she will face the winner of a three-way Republican primary in November.
Mike McMahon said he always voted but the referendum questions were an important part of today’s election.
“The governor is not a king, so I think the money should be legislated through the legislature,” he said.
— Kathryn Muchnick
Douglas County ballot error could affect 700 voters
Ballots printed for the Town of Summit, in Douglas County, contained the wrong Assembly district, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren said in a news release Tuesday afternoon, leaving no time to print new ballots for residents voting in Tuesday’s primary.
The town has about 700 registered voters.
The ballots contain the state’s 73rd Assembly District but should instead contain the 74th as the result of changes under the state’s new legislative maps. The 73rd District has a contested Democratic primary, and the 74th has a contested Republican primary.
Read more
Waukesha voters steadily enter the city hall to vote, be turned away, or find out where they need to go
A man who was not able to provide a valid form of ID at the Waukesha City Hall voter registration table falsely stated, “If an illegal immigrant were to come in here, they’d just be able to walk right in there and vote.”
Although, this is false, his statement highlighted frustration with protection against voter fraud these ID requirements provide and otherwise voting-eligible Wisconsin residents’ struggle with providing forms of ID deemed acceptable proof of residency to vote.
Some voters in the Waukesha City Hall who were eligible and registered to vote showed up, because they didn’t know their polling location.
The poll workers are able to tell them the polling location they need to go to, but residents can also find out their polling location by filling our their info on the Find My Polling Place page on myvote.wi.gov.
Those who did vote were a mixed bag of people who understood and didn’t understand the referendum questions on Wisconsin ballots August 13.
Ann Wanner, 81, found the two referendum questions unclear, but still felt compelled to come to the polls to vote on the referendums.
Joe Espinosa, 70, also found the referendum questions unclear and voted “no” on the questions.
Andrew Green, 52, and his wife, Katie, 44, both voted “yes” on the referendums after they looked more into what the questions meant.
The Greens also said they voted for Lesli Boese as Waukesha County’s district attorney because they felt Mike Thurston’s campaign wasn’t run honestly.
“I voted for her, because Thurston was lying about (Boese’s) campaign,” said Andrew Green.— Angelika Ytuarte
Well-known former alderman Donovan battles MMA fighter Gomez in district 61 Republican primary
Bob Donavan, long-time Milwaukee alderman and 2016 mayoral candidate, has an unconventional running mate in the republican primary for the competitive Assembly District 61 seat.
Martin Gomez, a competitive mixed martial artist, has no political history. His Facebook page balances MAGA messaging with MMA content and provides the only public information available about his campaign.
“Thank god we have Google,” said Danielle McClendon-Williams, 50.
Danielle McClendon-Williams said she had to look up candidate information for Gomez and others on her phone while voting. She said voters need more public-facing information about their candidates and called generally for “reeducation” about civil proceedings.
“I know Bob though,” she added. “His sign by Walmart is so damn big,” she said with a laugh.
Many voters know Bob Donovan simply as “Bob.”
“Oh yeah, we know Bob,” said William Kelly, 65. He said they attend the same church and saw Donovan recently.
“I’m not [voting for district 61] but I know Bob,” said Patti Abbott, 63, who shared a polling place with district 61 voters.
In November, the republican nominee for district 61 will battle democrat LuAnn Bird for a seat in the state assembly. It will be one of Wisconsin’s most competitive assembly races. Analysis from Marquette fellow John Johnson suggests the district has a very thin republican leaning of just over 50%.
Lori, 62, who did not provide her last name, said “they’re both good candidates” of Bird and Donovan. But for her, the vote will come down to the nominees’ opinions on big-picture topics like foreign policy and immigration.
Many voters were not familiar with both Donovan and Bird.
— Zoe Jaeger
Eric Hovde attacks Tammy Baldwin on fentanyl crisis, questions use of ballot drop boxes
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Eric Hovde on Tuesday accused Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of failing to address the fentanyl crisis in Wisconsin and argued she only spends time in the state during campaign season.
“She seems to only come back into the state when it’s time for election, and does staged events and doesn’t want to talk about her record,” Hovde said outside of the Shorewood Hills Village Hall shortly after casting his vote in the primary.
Read more
Turnout ‘steady’ at Village of Shorewood polling location
Turnout has been “steady” at the Shorewood Village Center, said Janet Kreilein, the elections chief there.
“Steady, but not really any lines of any significance,” Kreilein said late Tuesday morning. “There were 1,300 absentee ballots submitted, so that may have something to do with it.”
She said nearly 300 people had cast ballots in person by 11:30 am at the Shorewood Village Center location, which is the polling place for wards 1 through 4 in the village.
The Village of Shorewood is considered an overwhelmingly Democratic suburb of Milwaukee. It’s located on the shores of Lake Michigan just north of the city, and is bordered by the Milwaukee River to the west and the Village of Whitefish Bay to the north.
— Mary Spicuzza
Wisconsin voter registration application includes a qualifier that could cause problems for voters who miss the “not”
A Waukesha poll worker who could not give her name to be quoted pointed out that one of the boxes on the voter registration form contains a box that implies a double negative when checked. Some voters may miss when filling out the form.
The box asks if a voter is “not currently serving a sentence including incarceration, parole, probation, or extended supervision for a felony conviction.”
The poll worker said that people have been either misreading or entirely glossing over the qualifier.
By not checking the box, people could accidentally imply that they are currently serving a prison sentence, parole, probation or other extended supervision for a crime they did not commit.
In Wisconsin, residents who have committed felonies may only vote after their sentence is completed.
— Angelika Ytuarte
Glendale residents come out to vote in Aug. 13 election
In Glendale, polls were relatively quiet following the July special election primary, when police had to be called for unruly spectators.
“We weren’t here for that, thank goodness the mayor acted promptly,” said MaryJo Wellenstein.
MaryJo voted with her husband Larry. The couple has lived in Glendale since 1983.
“We need our right to vote, it’s a democracy,” MaryJo said.
But the couple did have one minor concern going into the election: referendums.
“With referendums, we think there should be legislation on how they’re worded,” Larry said.
But another Glendale resident disagrees.
“There’s two referendum questions, for the most part we came for that,” said Jim Beckmann who was there with his wife.
Beckmann said he had to read through the questions a bit, but it wasn’t confusing for him because he did prior research and overall thinks the oversight is a good thing.
Laura Wagner, a Glendale resident for 26 years, said she thinks the referendum questions were constructed in a confusing manner on purpose.
“They are very confusing on purpose I think so they can get their money,” Wagner said. “But voting is very important and I think everyone should vote.”
— Jolan Kruse
Voters in District 19 motivated by referendum question, assembly primary
John Bonlender, a senior and recent transport to District 19, said the referendum questions drew him to the polls.
“They are confusing, but there’s a good ad campaign that went on that let people just how confusing and how bad they were,” he said.
Other voters hadn’t seen much messaging around the referendum questions but still said they were confusing.
“It’s just intentionally confusing language,” said Adam Stoner who was at the polls with his family Tuesday morning. “I think it’s intended for you to breeze past it or … to obfuscate the truth.”
Jeff Loss, 72, said the referendum was an important issue for him in this election.
“Unless you understood exactly what the issue is, I don’t think most people would know what yes or no meant,” he said.
Eugene Strei, 23, received lots of mail about the Democratic assembly primary in District 19 but said he decided to do his own research on the election.
“If I don’t vote, I feel like I can’t complain. It’s the job that was given to us,” Strei said.
The Democratic Assembly primary in District 19 has pulled in more than $130,000 in donations and has been contentious, despite few policy differences between the candidates.
Ryan Clancy, the district’s incumbent who ran unopposed in 2022, has become outspoken in his support for progressive causes and Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war. Prominent Milwaukee Democrats, including Mayor Cavalier Johnson, have backed challenger Jarrod Anderson, citing differences in the candidates’ approach to legislating.
Strei said the politicians’ stances on the war in Gaza were one of the deciding factors in how he voted. Others pointed to different qualities of the candidates.
“I saw the mayor endorsed Jarrod Anderson, so I voted for him,” said senior Gilbert Church.
“My understanding is that Clancy is not well-liked, but he’s a candidate that I support,” Stoner said. “I think he backs up what he believes in and he’s in a long line of socialist leaders that I think have regular people at the heart of the campaign.”
— Kathryn Muchnick
Democratic messaging about referendums reached Greendale voters
Voters in Assembly District 61 said they received texts and postcards about referendum questions. Mostly, they came from the Democratic Party advising them to vote “no,” they said.
William Kelly, 65, said he received cards in the mail urging him to vote “no” and warning that the referendums intentionally use confusing language.
“They weren’t confusing at all,” Kelly said after voting.
Christie, 56, who did not provide her last name, said she saw news and advertising urging her to vote “no.” She said the messaging claimed the referendums, if passed, would “limit the government’s abilities.”
“When I did some more digging, I voted ‘yes,’ because I believe in those checks and balances,” Christie said.
Patti Abbott, 63, said she received text messages also advising she vote “no.” But Abbott agreed – the questions are confusing, she said.
Abbott said referendum questions, regardless of the party that introduced them, are written “to confuse the voters, so you have to do some research beforehand.”
Connie Hughes agreed. She and a companion, who did not provide her name, said they had seen a few unmemorable ads advising they vote “no.”
“Referendum questions are confusing and tricky. They’re a trick,” Hughes said.
— Zoe Jaeger
Menomonee Falls residents come out to vote for Aug. 13 election
Dean and Judy Wiesner, Menomonee Falls residents for three years also showed up at the polls Tuesday morning.
“It’s our civil duty,” Dean said.
