By: Misha Lee | IIAW Lobbyist

Originally published in the December 2022 Wisconsin Independent Agent Magazine. 

Wisconsinites voted this past November to keep a divided state government as a new two-year legislative session begins early next year. Republicans will maintain control of the Legislature with even larger majorities in both chambers and Democrats will hold the top two constitutional statewide offices with the re-election of Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Incumbent Governor Evers defeated his Republican opponent Tim Michels by a margin of 51 to 48 percent, while Attorney General Josh Kaul defeated his GOP opponent Eric Toney in a tighter race of 51 to 49 percent. Evers outperformed all other candidates on the statewide ballot with the most overall total votes cast and yielding more votes than he did in 2018 when he unseated Governor Scott Walker. Meanwhile, Evers’ opponent Tim Michels underperformed and garnered less overall votes than the Republican statewide candidates running for Attorney General and U.S. Senate. Michels received less total votes than when Walker lost in 2018. Evers' and Kaul’s re-election to another term represents a major win for Wisconsin Democrats in an election year where they faced strong political headwinds nationally. Generally, when one party controls both The White House and Congress, elections historically swing in the other direction. However, Evers and Kaul bucked that trend.

And Evers is the first Wisconsin governor in more than three decades to win re-election in a midterm while a president from the same party held office. Evers' vote totals were due in large part by overwhelming turnout in the Democratic stronghold of Dane County which has accounted for an increasingly large share of Democratic votes statewide, and despite a lower turnout than usual in Milwaukee County. On the flipside, Michels failed to produce enough voter support and turnout in key areas of the state that historically produce large Republican votes. The race for Governor was the most expensive in state history with both candidates and groups spending in excess of $115 million.

Meanwhile, despite a less than stellar performance by Michels for Republicans at the top of the ticket, incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson narrowly won re-election to a third term with his victory over Democrat opponent Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes with just over 26,000 votes between the two of them. Nevertheless, Democrats managed to maintain their slim majority in the U.S. Senate, while Republicans regained control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Barnes easily won the Democratic primary in August in a field of nine candidates at one point, but suffered in the general election with voter turnout setbacks in his home area of Milwaukee County and he did not get support like Evers did with the high turnout in Dane County.

Now with the midterms behind us, another important election just happens to be around the corner and will be one of the more consequential elections in recent state history. Wisconsinites will be asked to cast their votes in the statewide, non-partisan Supreme Court election in February and April of 2023. The outcome of that election will determine whether the conservative or liberal justices hold the majority on the court (currently 4-3 in favor of conservatives) and which could have serious implications with legal challenges over issues such as abortion, redistricting, executive versus legislative branch powers, and environmental matters just to name a few. Next year’s court race is likely to be one of the most expensive electoral contests in state history, and while it’s technically a “non-partisan” race, the political parties and partisan groups are certainly going to be heavily engaged in this election due to its significance.

There will be 31 new members joining the Legislature in January where Republicans will control the Senate 22-11 and the Assembly 64-35. The GOP fell short of the 66 members needed in the Assembly to gain a supermajority and have the power to override vetoes from the Governor. Divided state government continues here for at least another four years and prevents either party from ramming through their agenda without working with the other party.

All four partisan caucuses recently elected their new leadership for the 2023-24 session:

SENATE REPUBLICANS

Senate President – Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield)

Senate President Pro Tempore – Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point)

Majority Leader – Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg)

Assistant Majority Leader – Dan Feyen (R-Fond du Lac)

Caucus Chair – Van Wanggaard (R-Racine)

Caucus Vice Chair – Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan)

SENATE DEMOCRATS

Senate Minority Leader – Melissa Agard (D-Madison)

Senate Minority Assistant Leader – Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick)

Senate Minority Caucus Chair – Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee)

Senate Minority Caucus Vice Chair – Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton)

ASSEMBLY REPUBLICANS

Assembly Speaker – Robin Vos (R-Rochester)

Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore – Kevin Petersen (R-Waupaca)

Majority Leader – Tyler August (R-Lake Geneva)

Assistant Majority Leader – Jon Plumer (R-Lodi)

Caucus Chair – Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer)

Caucus Vice Chair – Cindi Duchow (R-Town of Delafield)

Caucus Sergeant at Arms – Treig Pronschinske (R-Mondovi)

ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS

Assembly Minority Leader – Greta Neubauer (D-Racine)

Assembly Minority Assistant Leader – Kalan Haywood (D-Milwaukee)

Assembly Minority Caucus Chair – Lisa Subeck (D-Madison)

Assembly Minority Caucus Vice Chair – Jill Billings (D-La Crosse)

Assembly Minority Secretary – Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay)

Assembly Minority Sergeant at Arms – Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton)