While ballots are still being counted across the country to decide who will be the nation’s next President, things in Wisconsin have crystallized a bit.
Unofficially, Biden has a vote total lead of just over 20,000 with no apparent large swaths of votes available for Trump to make up the margin. While there could be some twists and turns left either in the count or the courts, Biden is likely to win the state’s 10 Electoral votes.
As expected, all seven of Wisconsin’s U.S. House members returned with only Congressman Kind’s race coming down to the wire. The eighth seat went, as expected, to state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R – Juneau). His departure from the state Senate will trigger a special election to fill the remaining two years of his four-year term.
It appears that state Senate Republicans have expanded their margin to 21-12 by picking up two Democrat seats and assuming Republicans will successfully defend Senator Fitzgerald’s seat after he vacates it. Republican incumbents Sen. Pat Testin (R – Stevens Point) and Sen. Alberta Darling (R – River Hills) won their seats and the parties split the opens with Republican Eric Wimberger beating Jonathon Hansen in a Green Bay area seat and Democrat Brad Pfaff defeating Dan Kapanke in a LaCrosse area seat. As expected, Republican Rob Stafsholt knocked off Democrat Patty Schachtner in her northwest Wisconsin district.
In a somewhat surprising result, Assembly Republicans staved off the most aggressive attempt by Assembly Democrats to pick up seats in well over a decade. Conventional wisdom had Assembly Republicans losing five seats or more but as of this writing, only two Republican incumbents have been defeated: Representatives Rob Hutton (R – Brookfield) and Jim Ott (R – Mequon). Both hail from suburbs surrounding Milwaukee. This would make the new Assembly margin 61-38 in favor of Republicans.
Republicans and Democrats are expected to convene their caucuses quickly and select new leadership with the biggest intrigue being in the Senate where Senator Devin LeMahieu and Senator Roger Roth are vying to replace newly-minted Congressman Scott Fitzgerald as Senate Majority Leader.