WisPolitics-State Affairs will be updating this page with election updates as results come in this evening and overnight.
Subscribers will receive push notifications on the WisPolitics-State Affairs mobile app for significant updates, along with Alerts and Advisories when major races are decided.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 8 p.m.
See the Fall Election Guide for background on top races, along with links to voting information, the latest ads, videos and more.
Doyle wins reelection campaign in western Wisconsin Assembly seat
Rep. Steve Doyle, D-Onalaska, bested GOP challenger Keith Purnell, of Holmen, to retain his seat in western Wisconsin’s 94th Assembly district.
Doyle had 56.9% of votes to Purnell’s 43.1% of votes, with 94% of the votes counted.
Doyle and his backers spent about twice as much as Purnell over the campaign at $1.3 million to $574,000, respectively. Doyle was first elected to the Assembly back in 2011.
Nichols flips GOP-held Assembly seat
Democrat Becky Nichols has won the race for the 53rd AD, the first GOP-held Assembly seat to flip this evening.
The Associated Press has Nichols, a Menasha public school teacher, with 54.6% of the vote with 97% of votes counted.
Republican David Daniels, a small business owner and Air Force veteran from Neenah, trailed with 39.1% of the vote, while independent Rachel Dowling captured 6.1% of the vote.
Incumbent Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, announced he would not run for reelection in April after coming out of retirement to run for the seat in 2024.
WisPolitics tracked $1.2 million spent by Daniels and his supporters, while Nichols and her backers spent $1.6 million.
Cooke leading in Eau Claire County
Dem challenger Rebecca Cooke leads U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in the race for the 3rd CD in Eau Claire County, with 91% of the votes counted.
Cooke is leading the GOP incumbent 61.5% to 37% in one of the most populated counties in the district.
Cooke won the county in 2024, securing 57.3% of the votes to Van Orden’s 42.5%.
Tiffany below 60% mark with two-thirds of Waukesha County vote in
Republican Tom Tiffany is running behind the mark a Republican typically needs in red-leaning Waukesha County to win statewide with more than two-thirds of the vote in.
Tiffany was at less than 60%, while Dem David Crowley was at just over 40%.
Four years ago, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, won 62.7% of the vote in Waukesha County as he eked out a win by 26,718 votes over Dem Mandela Barnes.
Polls close; key counties to watch
The polls are now closed in Wisconsin, and two key counties could provide an early feel for how the governor’s race is going.
Waukesha County has been key to GOP wins for years, though Republicans’ margins have eroded in the era of Donald Trump. Over the past decade, the president is the only Republican candidate to win statewide after failing to break the 60% threshold in the county. Four years ago, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, won statewide by a single point as he hit 62.5% in Waukesha County.
Trump was able to overcome his performance in Waukesha County, in part, by cutting into the Dem margins in Dane County. Trump got 23.4% in the deep-blue county two years ago as he held Kamala Harris below 75%.
Four years ago, Mandela Barnes topped 77% in Dane County. But Johnson’s performance in Waukesha County and other places helped the GOP incumbent survive that.
Spending in governor’s race tops $195 million, likely to grow
Spending in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race has topped $195 million, with GOP nominee Tom Tiffany on track to outspend Dem rival David Crowley by about 2-to-1, according to a WisPolitics review.
Overall, Republicans have spent $123.6 million on the race between candidates and outside groups, compared to $71.5 million on the Dem side.
Tiffany and those backing him have accounted for $121.7 million of the spending on the GOP side, compared to $62.1 million by Crowley and those backing him.
Those figures will likely climb higher once the final bills are in.
Tiffany has reported $702,134 in late monetary contributions since the pre-election reporting period closed Oct. 19 that he can then pump into additional spending. That includes a $450,000 transfer from the state GOP.
Crowley has reported $2.9 million in monetary donations of $1,000 or more over the same period, including almost $2.1 million in transfers from the state Dem Party.
WisPolitics included these elements in the tally: what each candidate in the race had reported spending through the pre-election period that ended Oct. 19; independent expenditure reports filed with the Ethics Commission through this morning; data from AdImpact; and late contribution reports, which include in-kind donations Crowley and Tiffany have received over the past two weeks for expenses such as mail and canvassing.
The $195 million is a significant jump from the $166 million tallied a week ago and reflects additional independent expenditures reported to the state as well as updated data from AdImpact to provide a more robust picture of the overall effort.
The race has shattered the old record of $164 million that the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign tallied for the 2022 race.
The biggest spender on the GOP side has been Tiffany, who has reported $53.7 million in spending through his campaign and in-kind contributions that others have done on his behalf.
The other prominent GOP spenders are:
- Right Direction Wisconsin, an affiliate of the Republican Governors Association, $20.7 million
- Restoration of America PAC, which is funded primarily by Illinois businessman Dick Uihlein, $20.1 million
- Americans for Prosperity, $10.3 million.
Crowley has spent $24.7 million through his campaign and in-kind contributions.
The biggest spender on the Dem side beyond the nominee has been the Democratic Governors Association. AdImpact has tracked $21.3 million in paid media through its Protect Our Wisconsin affiliate.
Clerk reports Portage County absentee ballots not delayed due to post office bomb scare
Portage County Clerk Maria Davis said the delivery of absentee ballots has not been impacted following the temporary closure of a Stevens Point post office after a possible explosive device was found inside earlier today.
The Stevens Point Police Department enlisted the help of the Marathon County Bomb Squad, which was able to determine there were no active explosives, according to a news release from the department. The post office has since reopened.
“Local law enforcement did an incredible job resolving the situation efficiently and thoroughly to ensure there was no threat to the public and that operations could resume as quickly as possible,” Davis said in the news release.
Madison turnout update reflection of new way to track turnout, not necessarily a surge in voters
Madison reported 43% of registered voters had cast ballots as of 11 a.m. today.
On the surface, that would appear like a significant boost from the same point on Election Day 2022. But city spokesperson Dylan Brogan said it’s actually a reflection of a new way the city is tracking turnout that will be more accurate.
Previously, the city’s 11 a.m. update only included the number of absentee ballots that had been counted. For today’s update, that total includes the number the city knows it has already received, including those not yet counted.
As of 11 a.m., the city reported 27% of registered voters had cast absentee ballots while another 16% had turned out at the polls.
At the same point four years ago, the city reported turnout was about 27% of registered voters overall.
Brogan said that number four years ago reflected how many absentee ballots election workers had run through the machine, not how many it had received.
He said the same dynamic will be in play for the late afternoon update the city provides.
“That should be a lot better in terms of accuracy,” Brogan said.
Wolfe asks for patience as clerks count 800k absentee ballots
Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe today urged patience as local clerks tally some 800,000 absentee ballots today, noting poll workers “prioritize accuracy over speed.”
Wolfe met with the media this morning a few hours after polls opened in Wisconsin with a hotly contested governor’s race on the ballot.
Wolfe noted state law prevents election officials from opening absentee ballots and beginning to process them until after polls open at 7 a.m.
The 796,607 absentee ballots that clerks reported had been returned through the mail and in person as of this morning is up more than 7% compared to 2022.
Absentee ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Wolfe said there had been no major issues reported by election officials ahead of the media call.
“It looks like it’s going to be a great Election Day here in the state of Wisconsin,” Wolfe said.
Along with concerns over possible delays in the U.S. Postal Service returning absentee ballots sent through the mail on time, some have questioned what presence the federal government would have at polling sites around the country.
Wolfe said the U.S. Department of Justice had observers at polling sites in Madison and Milwaukee. She believed there were less than 10 federal agents observing in the state’s two largest cities, which she said was “pretty common.”
Crowley to hold election watch party in Milwaukee, Tiffany in Wausau
Gubernatorial candidates David Crowley and Tom Tiffany have election parties planned tonight in Milwaukee and Wausau, respectively.
Candidates for the attorney general’s office and top congressional races will also host events to watch voting results roll in across Wisconsin.
Both governor candidates will cast ballots in their home areas this morning. Crowley will cast a ballot in Milwaukee with his family and speak to media before campaigning around Milwaukee ahead of an election night party.
Tiffany will cast his ballot at the Little Rice Town Hall and Municipal Building in the town of Little Rice and address reporters. His campaign is not planning any more events ahead of an election night party in Wausau.
Incumbent AG Josh Kaul will host a watch party in downtown Madison, while GOP challenger Eric Toney will host his watch party in Fond du Lac, where he is district attorney.
In the 3rd CD, Dem candidate Rebecca Cooke is canvassing this morning at UW-Stout and UW-Eau Claire and will host an election night party in Eau Claire.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. R-Prairie du Chien, will host an election night watch party in La Crosse.
In the 1st CD, incumbent U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville, will host an election night watch party in Racine County, while Dem challenger Mitchell Berman will host a watch party in Elkhorn.
Sabato, Cook list Wisconsin guv race ‘lean Dem’
The final ratings from Larry Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” and the Cook Political Report both list Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race in the lean Dem category.
They also each list Wisconsin’s 3rd CD as lean Dem, while the 1st CD is lean Republican in both rankings.
The Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report each released their final rankings yesterday.
Top legislative races see $21M ad blitz in closing weeks of campaign
Candidates and groups in 14 legislative races are on track to spend $21 million on paid media over the final two weeks of the election with ads focused on healthcare, taxation and data centers, according to AdImpact data.
Collectively, Dems in those races had the spending advantage at nearly $11.8 million to almost $9.3 million on the GOP side.
Still, Republicans had the advantage in the two races set to see the most spending in the closing days. Nearly $2.7 million in ad reservations were counted in the 17th SD, where Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, faces state Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon. Of that, nearly $1.6 million was slated to be spent on the GOP side.
Meanwhile, almost $2.2 million in reservations were recorded in the 85th AD, where GOP state Pat Snyder, of Weston, faces Dem Marathon County Supv. John Kroll. Snyder and his allies accounted for nearly $1.15 million of that spending.