2016 Wisconsin Senate election

2016 Wisconsin Senate election
16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin State Senate; 17 seats needed for a majority
	Results of the elections:; Republican hold Republican gain; Democratic hold; No election
President before election; Mary Lazich; Republican	Elected President ; Roger Roth; Republican

The 2016 Wisconsin Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin. Sixteen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Before the election, Republicans held 18 seats, Democrats held 14 seats, and 1 seat was vacant. Of the seats up for election, 8 were held by Democrats, 7 were held by Republicans, and 1 was vacant due to the recent death of a Republican member. The primary election was held on August 9, 2016.

Republicans consolidated their control of the Senate, flipping one Democrat-held seat, and entered the 103rd Wisconsin Legislature with 20 of 33 Senate seats.^[1]

Results summary

Statewide results of the 2016 Wisconsin State Senate election:^[2]

Seats		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total

		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2014)		6	11	17
Total after last election (2014)		14	19	33

Total before this election		14	18	32
Up for election		8	8	16
of which:	Incumbent retiring	1	0	1
	Vacated	0	1	1
	Unopposed	5	3	8
This election		7	9	16
Change from last election		1	1

Total after this election		13	20	33
Change in total		1	2

Party		Candi- dates	Votes		Seats
Party		Candi- dates	No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Republican Party	11	618,589	48.62%	9	1	56.25%
	Democratic Party	13	639,545	50.26%	7	1	43.75%
	Integrity Party	1	2,093	0.16%	0		0.00%
	Scattering		12,126	0.95%	0		0.00%
Total		25	1,272,353	100.00%	16		100.00%

Popular vote

Democratic			50.26%
Republican			48.62%
Other			1.11%

Senate seats

Republican			56.25%
Democratic			43.75%

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

State Senate district 32, 0.07%
State Senate district 30, 2.60%
State Senate district 24, 4.69% (gain)

Outgoing incumbents

Retiring

Nikiya Harris Dodd (D–Milwaukee), representing District 6 since 2012, did not run for re-election.

Vacated

Rick Gudex (R–Fond du Lac), representing District 18 since 2012, did not run for re-election, then died by suicide before the election.

Candidates and results

Dist.	Incumbent				This race^[a]^[2]
Dist.	Member	Party	First elected	Status	Candidates	Results
02	Robert Cowles	Rep.	1987 (special)	Ran	▌YRobert Cowles (Rep.) 65% ▌John Powers (Dem.) 34.95%	Incumbent re-elected
04	Lena Taylor	Dem.	2004	Ran	▌YLena Taylor (Dem.) 98.33%	Incumbent re-elected
06	Nikiya Harris Dodd	Dem.	2012	Did not run	▌YLaTonya Johnson (Dem.) 98.89%	Incumbent retired. New member elected. Democratic hold.
08	Alberta Darling	Rep.	1992	Ran	▌YAlberta Darling (Rep.) 95.51%	Incumbent re-elected
10	Sheila Harsdorf	Rep.	2000	Ran	▌YSheila Harsdorf (Rep.) 63.2% ▌Diane Odeen (Dem.) 36.76%	Incumbent re-elected
12	Tom Tiffany	Rep.	2012	Ran	▌YTom Tiffany (Rep.) 62.92% ▌Bryan Van Stippen (Dem.) 37.04%	Incumbent re-elected
14	Luther Olsen	Rep.	2004	Ran	▌YLuther Olsen (Rep.) 57.05% ▌Brian Smith (Dem.) 42.89%	Incumbent re-elected
16	Mark Miller	Dem.	2004	Ran	▌Mark Miller (Dem.) 98.39%	Incumbent re-elected
18	Vacant^[b]				▌YDan Feyen (Rep.) 55.83% ▌Mark Harris (Dem.) 44.06%	Incumbent died. New member elected. Republican hold.
20	Glenn Grothman	Rep.	2004	Ran	▌YGlenn Grothman (Rep.) 98.21%	Incumbent re-elected
22	Robert Wirch	Dem.	1996	Ran	▌YRobert Wirch (Dem.) 98.16%	Incumbent re-elected
24	Julie Lassa	Dem.	2003 (special)	Ran	▌YPatrick Testin (Rep.) 52.32% ▌Julie Lassa (Dem.) 47.63%	Incumbent defeated. New member elected. Republican gain
26	Fred Risser	Dem.	1962 (special)	Ran	▌YFred Risser (Rep.) 98.57%	Incumbent re-elected
28	Mary Lazich	Rep.	1998 (special)	Ran	▌YMary Lazich (Rep.) 98.10%	Incumbent re-elected
30	Dave Hansen	Dem.	2000	Ran	▌YDave Hansen (Dem.) 51.27% ▌Eric Wimberger (Rep.) 48.67%	Incumbent re-elected
32	Jennifer Shilling	Dem.	2011 (recall)	Ran	▌YJennifer Shilling (Dem.) 48.86% ▌Dan Kapanke (Rep.) 48.79% ▌Chip DeNure (Ind.) 2.35%	Incumbent re-elected

Notes

^ Not all totals add up to 100% due to scattering
^ Incumbent Rick Gudex (Rep.) died on October 12, 2016

References

^ Marley, Patrick; Stein, Jason (November 9, 2016). "GOP strengthens hold on Legislature". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, U.S.A. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
^ ^a ^b Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2024.

[3] Not all totals add up to 100% due to scattering

[4] Incumbent Rick Gudex (Rep.) died on October 12, 2016

[1] Marley, Patrick; Stein, Jason (November 9, 2016). "GOP strengthens hold on Legislature". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee, U.S.A. Retrieved December 3, 2018.

[WEC-2] Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2024.

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