Misplaced Pages

2024 Wisconsin Senate election

← 2022 November 5, 2024 2026 →
16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Devin LeMahieu Dianne Hesselbein Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 9th–Oostburg 27th–Middleton Last election 12 seats, 61.1% 5 seats, 37.68% Seats before 22 11 Seats won 6 10 Seats after 18 15 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 650,328 861,272 Percentage 42.74% 56.60%
Results by seat gains Results by vote shareResults:      Republican hold      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      No election Republican:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Democratic:      50–60%      >90%
President before election Chris Kapenga Republican Elected President Mary Felzkowski Republican

Elections in Wisconsin
Federal government Presidential elections 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 Presidential primaries Democratic 2000 2004 2008 2016 2020 2024 Republican 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 U.S. Senate elections Class 1 1848 1851 1857 1863 1869 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1911 1916 1922 1925 sp 1928 1934 1940 1946 1952 1957 sp 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018 2024 Class 3 1848 1849 1855 1861 1867 1872 1879 1881 sp 1885 1890 1891 1897 1903 1907 sp 1909 1914 1918 sp 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1982 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016 2022 2028 U.S. House of Representatives elections 1848 1850 1852 1854 1856 1858 1860 1862 1863 2nd sp 1864 1866 1868 1870 2nd sp 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 5th sp 1887 8th sp 1888 1890 1892 1893 4th sp 1894 7th sp 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 2nd sp 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 6th sp 11th sp 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 6th sp 1931 1st sp 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1941 1st sp 1942 1944 1946 1947 2nd sp 1948 1950 1952 1953 9th sp 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1969 7th sp 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1979 6th sp 1980 1982 1984 4th sp 1986 1988 1990 1992 1993 1st sp 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 7th sp 2022 2024 8th sp 2026
State government General elections 1995 2000 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Gubernatorial elections 1848 1849 1851 1853 1855 1857 1859 1861 1863 1865 1867 1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2012 (recall) 2014 2018 2022 2026 Lieutenant Gubernatorial elections 1942 1968 2012 (recall) Secretary of State elections 1978 2014 2018 2022 2026 Attorney General elections 2014 2018 2022 Treasurer elections 2014 2022 Superintendent elections 2013 2017 2021 2025 State Senate elections 1934 1996 2008 2010 2011 (recall) 2012 (recall) 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 State Assembly elections 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 Supreme Court elections 2008 2009 2011 2013 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2023 2025
Ballot measures 2006 Referendum 1
Green Bay Mayoral elections 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Madison Mayoral elections 1997 sp 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Milwaukee Mayoral elections 1910 1912 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2022 sp 2024
Kenosha Mayoral elections 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
v t e

The 2024 Wisconsin Senate election was held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin, alongside the election for the State Assembly. Sixteen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Before the election, 22 Senate seats were held by Republicans, 11 seats were held by Democrats. The primary election was held on August 13, 2024, and the filing deadline to appear on the ballot was June 3, 2024.

This was the first election for Wisconsin Senate after the 2024 redistricting. Democrats won all five of the most competitive Senate races, flipping four Republican-held seats. Even though Republicans still maintained their majority, Democrats broke their two-thirds supermajority.

After the elections, Republicans are set to enter the 107th Wisconsin Legislature with 18 of 33 seats.

Background

Redistricting

This election was 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 previous legislative district map to be unconstitutional on December 22, 2023. 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.

Under the new maps, Democrats were expected to gain seats in the Senate, but they were not expected to be able to win a majority because only even-numbered seats were up for election in 2024. Five of the sixteen seats up for election had no incumbents due to the shifting legislative boundaries. Both parties spent heavily on the competitive races in this cycle.

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.

PFAS Legislation

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. Evers also continued calling for the release of the $125 million which was set aside in the budget for combatting PFAS contamination. 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. 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.

Results summary

		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total
		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2022)		5	12	17
Total after last election (2022)		11	22	33
Total before this election		11	22	33
Up for election		6	10	16
of which:	Incumbent retiring	1	2	3
	Vacated	1	0	1
	Open	1	3	4
	Unopposed	5	0	5
This election		10	6	16
Change from last election		4	4
Total after this election		15	18	33
Change in total		4	4

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. State Senate district 8, 1.2% (gain)
2. State Senate district 14, 2.2% (gain)
3. State Senate district 32, 4.8%
4. State Senate district 30, 5% (gain)
5. State Senate district 18, 6.6% (gain)

Outgoing incumbents

Retiring

• Robert Cowles (R–Green Bay), the longest currently-serving Wisconsin legislator, representing district 2 since 1987, is retiring.

Seeking other office

• Melissa Agard (D–Madison), representing district 16 since 2020, is retiring to run for Dane County executive.
• Dan Knodl (R–Germantown), representing district 8 since 2023, announced in February 2024 that he would not seek reelection to the district after the 2024 redistricting put him in an incumbent-vs-incumbent matchup. Instead, Knodl ran for Wisconsin State Assembly in Wisconsin's 24th Assembly district.

Vacated

• Lena Taylor (D–Milwaukee), representing district 4 since 2004, resigned on January 26, 2024, after her appointment as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Milwaukee County and will be replaced by Dora Drake following a special election on July 30, 2024.

Lost re-election

• Joan Ballweg (R–Markesan), representing district 14 since 2020, lost reelection to Sarah Keyeski (D–Lodi)
• Duey Stroebel (R–Saukville), representing the 20th district since 2016, lost reelection to Jodi Habush Sinykin (D–Whitefish Bay) in the 8th district

Special elections

There was one special election scheduled in 2024 for the Wisconsin state Senate.

Predictions

Race summary

Detailed results

District 2

Incumbent Republican Robert Cowles declined to seek re-election. Fellow Republican Eric Wimberger decided to move to this district and faced Democrat Kelly Peterson in the general election.

District 4

Incumbent Democrat Dora Drake ran for re-election unopposed. In the primary she defeated state representative LaKeshia Myers in a rematch from the special election primary earlier in 2024.

District 6

Incumbent Democrat La Tonya Johnson ran for re-election unopposed.

District 8

Incumbent Republican Dan Knodl declined to seek re-election after redistricting put fellow Republican Duey Stroebel into his district. Stroebel faced Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin, who was a candidate for this district in a 2023 special election, and was defeated by her in the general election.

District 10

Incmbent Republican Rob Stafsholt ran for re-election. He faced and defeated Democrat Paul Hambleton in the general election.

District 12

Incumbent Republican Mary Felzkowski ran for re-election. She faced and defeated Democrat Andi Rich in the general election.

District 14

Incumbent Republican Joan Ballweg sought re-election after being drawn out of this district due to redistricting. In the general election she faced and was defeated by Democrat Sarah Keyeski.

District 16

Incumbent Democrat Melissa Agard declined to seek re-election, leaving the seat open. In the primary, three Democrats faced off, being state representatives Jimmy Anderson, Samba Baldeh, and Melissa Ratcliff, from the 47th, 48th, and 46th districts respectively. Ratcliff defeated both Anderson and Baldeh by a wide margin and was unopposed in the general election.

District 18

Incumbent Republican Dan Feyen was moved into the 20th district due to redistricting, leaving the district open. Two Republicans filed to succeed Feyen, being Anthony Phillips and Blong Yang. Phillips defeated Yang by a wide margin and faced Democrat Kristin Alfheim in the general election, whom he was defeated by.

District 20

Incumbent Republican Duey Stroebel was drawn into the 8th district as a result of redistricting, while Dan Feyen was drawn into this district from the 18th due to redistricting. In the primary, Feyen faced former Republican representative and election denier Timothy Ramthun. Feyen advanced to the general election, where he faced and defeated Democrat Michael Rapp.

District 22

Incumbent Democrat Robert Wirch ran for re-election unopposed.

District 24

Incumbent Republican Patrick Testin sought re-election. In the general election he faced and defeated Democrat Collin McNamara.

District 26

Incumbent Democrat Kelda Roys ran for re-election unopposed.

District 28

Incumbent Republican Julian Bradley sought re-election after being drawn out of this district due to redistricting. In the general election he faced and defeated Democrat Megan Lach.

District 30

Incumbent Republican Eric Wimberger declined to seek re-election in this district, instead opting to run for the neighboring 2nd district, leaving this district open. In the general election, Democrat Jamie Wall defeated Republican Jim Rafter.

District 32

Incumbent Democrat Brad Pfaff ran for re-election. In the general election he faced and defeated Republican and former candidate for U.S. Senate Stacey Klein.

See also

• Redistricting in Wisconsin
  • Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission
• 2024 Wisconsin elections
  • 2024 Wisconsin State Assembly election
• 2024 United States elections
• Elections in Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Senate

Notes

1. This Senator was elected to the 17th Senate district in 2022
2. This Senator was elected to the 1st Senate district in 2022

References

1. "2024 Partisan Primary". elections.wi.gov. April 19, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
2. "2024 Wisconsin State Senate General Election Results". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
3. Kremer, Rich (February 1, 2024). "Wisconsin Supreme Court consultants say Republican-drawn legislative maps are gerrymanders, don't deserve consideration". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
4. Kremer, Rich (February 19, 2024). "Evers signs new maps into law, effectively ending Wisconsin redistricting lawsuit". WPR. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
5. Kremer, Rich (February 22, 2024). "What do Wisconsin's new maps mean for the Legislature's balance of power?". WPR. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
6. Karnopp, Hope (February 21, 2024). "You have questions about Wisconsin's new election maps and how they affect you? We have answers". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
7. Walters, Steven (May 14, 2024). "Political parties target five Wisconsin Senate seats without incumbents". Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
8. "Democrats commit $7 million to TV ads in 5 key state Senate races". AP News. May 8, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
9. Bauer, Scott (April 9, 2024). "Evers vetoes a Republican-backed bill targeting PFAS chemicals". Associated Press. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
10. "Gov. Evers again calls Republican lawmakers into special meeting". Wisconsin Law Journal. May 7, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
11. Spears, Baylor (May 7, 2024). "Democrats target Republicans on budget committee, aim for control of Legislature". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
12. "Cowles, Wisconsin Senate's longest-serving member, will not seek reelection". WLUK-TV. April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
13. "Knodl campaign: Announces run for 24th Assembly District". WisPolitics. February 29, 2024. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
14. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
15. "24 WI Forecast". projects.cnalysis.com. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
16. "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
17. "2024 Wisconsin Senate races". WisPolitics. March 5, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
18. Candidate Tracking by Office - 2024 General Election - 11/13/2024 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. May 13, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
19. "Roys campaign: Launches 2024 re-election campaign". April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
20. "Lach announces bid for State Senate District 28". Waukesha County Freeman. April 23, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024 – via GMToday.com.
21. ^ "2024 Wisconsin State Senate Primary Election Results" (PDF). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 27, 2024.

External links

• Wisconsin Elections Commission
• Wisconsin at Ballotpedia

v t e State of Wisconsin
Madison (capital)
Topics	Outline Agriculture Dairy industry Climate change Geography Islands Lakes Governors Delegations History People Sports Symbols Tourist attractions
Society	Abortion Administrative divisions Cannabis Crime Culture Demographics Economy Education Gun laws LGBT rights Politics
Regions	Apostle Islands Central Plain Chippewa Valley Door Peninsula Driftless Area Eastern Ridges and Lowlands Fox River Valley Great River Road Lake Superior Lowland Northern Highland Western Upland
Major metropolitan areas (pop. over 500,000)	Chicago metropolitan area Madison metropolitan area Milwaukee metropolitan area Twin Cities metropolitan area
Largest cities (pop. over 50,000)	Appleton Eau Claire Green Bay Janesville Kenosha La Crosse Madison Milwaukee Oshkosh Racine Waukesha West Allis
Smaller cities (pop. 15,000 to 50,000)	Beaver Dam Beloit Brookfield Cudahy De Pere Fitchburg Fond du Lac Franklin Greenfield Hartford Hudson Kaukauna Manitowoc Marshfield Menasha Menomonie Mequon Middleton Muskego Neenah New Berlin Oak Creek Oconomowoc Onalaska River Falls Sheboygan South Milwaukee Stevens Point Sun Prairie Superior Watertown Wausau Wauwatosa West Bend Wisconsin Rapids
Largest villages (pop. over 15,000)	Ashwaubenon Bellevue Caledonia Fox Crossing Germantown Howard Menomonee Falls Mount Pleasant Pleasant Prairie
Counties	Adams Ashland Barron Bayfield Brown Buffalo Burnett Calumet Chippewa Clark Columbia Crawford Dane Dodge Door Douglas Dunn Eau Claire Florence Fond du Lac Forest Grant Green Green Lake Iowa Iron Jackson Jefferson Juneau Kenosha Kewaunee La Crosse Lafayette Langlade Lincoln Manitowoc Marathon Marinette Marquette Menominee Milwaukee Monroe Oconto Oneida Outagamie Ozaukee Pepin Pierce Polk Portage Price Racine Richland Rock Rusk Sauk Sawyer Shawano Sheboygan St. Croix Taylor Trempealeau Vernon Vilas Walworth Washburn Washington Waukesha Waupaca Waushara Winnebago Wood
Wisconsin portal

• Wisconsin
• Politics

• 2024 state legislature elections in the United States
• 2024 Wisconsin elections
• Wisconsin Senate elections
• November 2024 events in the United States