Voters in Wisconsin’s partisan primary election Tuesday narrowed down candidates for seats in the state Assembly and Senate — many of them on track to become new lawmakers in freshly redrawn legislative districts.
Some candidates did not face a challenger from their own party — or were the only candidate for the seat — and were already certain to appear on the Nov 5. ballot. In other races, voters chose from a handful of Democratic or Republican candidates to advance to the general election.
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. 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.
Other Milwaukee Democrats who won their primaries in blue-leaning districts will likely become new faces in the state Legislature. Those include small-business owner and accountant Priscilla Prado, Milwaukee County supervisor Sequanna Taylora and former Milwaukee County supervisor and pastor Russell Goodwin.
In Milwaukee’s southwest suburbs, former Milwaukee alderman and current Republican state Rep. Bob Donovan fended off primary challenger and MMA instructor Martin Tontoe Gomez. Donovan will face Democratic candidate LuAnn Bird in November in what could be a competitive election in a slightly redrawn district.
Another Republican primary race in Milwaukee’s northwestern suburbs of Germantown and Menomonee Falls saw state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who gained the endorsement of President Donald Trump, lose to state Sen. Dan Knodl, who entered the race than run against fellow incumbent Duey Stroebel in their redrawn Senate district. Brandtjen has promoted false claims about the 2020 election, and the Wisconsin Ethics Commission has recommended felony charges for her alleged involvement in a scheme to evade campaign finance laws.
Former state Rep. Tim Ramthun, who has also pushed conspiracies about the 2020 election, lost to current state Sen. Dan Feyen in the 20th Senate District, which includes areas like Fond du Lac and West Bend. Ramthun unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for governor in 2022.
The Madison area was also home to competitive Democratic primaries, including three current state representatives competing to represent the eastern Madison suburbs in the Senate. Melissa Ratcliff won in that race, over Jimmy Anderson and Samba Baldeh. Andrew Hysell, who faced criticism from his four other Democratic opponents, won an Assembly seat representing Sun Prairie.
Here are the results of all the contested Democratic and Republican primaries in Wisconsin — meaning there were two or more candidates from a party running to move onto the Nov. 5 ballot.
A full list of Assembly results is available here, and Senate results are found here.
More:2024 Wisconsin State Assembly Primary Election Results
More:2024 Wisconsin State Senate Primary Election Results
Candidates whose names were in bold have been called as of Tuesday at midnight. Races will be updated Wednesday morning. A (D) denotes a Democrat, an (R) denotes a Republican, and an (i) denotes an incumbent — the person who most recently held the seat. Current lawmakers who are running in new districts are denoted with an (i*).
4th Senate District
Includes northern portions of Milwaukee, plus Shorewood and Glendale. Dora Drake won the special election to fill the remainder of former Sen. Lena Taylor’s term, but the Aug. 13 and Nov. 5 contests are for a full term in the Senate.
- Dora Drake (D, i*)
- LaKeshia N. Myers (D, i*)
4th Senate District:Meet the 4th Senate District candidates in the Democratic primary in Tuesday’s election
16th Senate District
Includes suburbs surrounding Madison, like Sun Prairie, Cottage Grove, Stoughton and Fitchburg.
- Samba Baldeh (D, i*)
- Melissa Ratcliff (D, i*)
- Jimmy Anderson (D, i*)
18th Senate District
Includes much of the Fox Valley, such as Appleton, Menasha, Neenah and Oshkosh.
- Kristin Alfheim (D)
- Anthony Wayne Phillips (R)
- Blong Yang (R)
20th Senate District
Includes northern parts of Ozaukee and Washington counties, including Saukville, Slinger, West Bend, Fredonia and Belgium.
- Michael Rapp (D)
- Daniel Feyen (R, i*)
- Timothy Ramthun (R)
