A Wisconsin primary that Republicans had hoped would gift the legislature more control over state spending backfired on Tuesday after voters turned out in record numbers — including in a major Democratic stronghold.
Instead, the constitutional amendments galvanized Democrats and their allies on the left, who vastly outspent their Republican counterparts on the initiatives — and won by a large margin.
More than 26% of registered voters turned out statewide in what had been expected to be a quiet late summer primary election.
The results could bode badly for former President Trump’s chances on election day in this key swing state — showing Democrats are already highly motivated.
Two constitutional amendments on the ballot attempted to reign in Gov. Evers’ (D-WI) spending authority on federal funds, such as pandemic relief funds, by requiring legislative oversight.
Ironically, Democrats and their allies outspent conservative organizations on the checks-and-balances amendments by about $2.9 million.
The constitutional amendments failed by 15 percentage points statewide, much more than the 1% that has decided four of the last six presidential elections in Wisconsin.
Libertarian voter and disabled veteran, Roy Martin, of Gresham, Wisconsin, told The Post he voted “no” on the constitutional amendments because he couldn’t trust the legislature in a “gerrymandered” system, while the governor “has a pulse on the people” because he is elected by the popular vote.
Total turnout was slightly up in the six Republican stronghold counties that help made Wisconsin a purple state: 297,000 this year, compared to 293,000 in 2022, Wisconsin-based Marquette Law School pollster Charles Franklin told The Post, cautioning that these numbers are an approximate comparison.
Franklin noted that Republican performance on the constitutional amendment was poor in Waukesha County, a traditional Republican stronghold. “But November turnout will be almost 3 times the primary turnout, so we shouldn’t make too much about the primary as a harbinger of November,” Franklin concluded.
Turnout in Democratic stronghold Dane County — home to the capital Madison and the University of Wisconsin — which drove Biden to victory in the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin, was 45% of registered voters. That’s a 40-year high for a primary.
Local elections and an intense anti-amendment ground-game helped turn out the vote, observers said. The constitutional amendments curbing Gov. Ever’s unrestricted spending powers were defeated by an average of 65 percentage points in the liberal county.
In heavily Democratic Milwaukee County, where the state’s largest city is located, turnout was much lower – 32% – despite local elections on the ballot.
Outside a fire station polling place in red-leaning Ocnomowoc, Wis., Holly Rahnheim, a behavioral health hospital administrator, told The Post that she is “for our democratic process, which includes checks and balances,” when asked how she voted on the amendments.
Democrats emphasized checks and balances in their campaign against the amendments, although Republicans did as well, to a lesser degree — potentially confusing the issue for voters.
Elsewhere on the primary ballot, Trump-endorsed businessman Tony Wied won the three-way Republican primary for Wisconsin’s open Eighth Congressional District, where Republicans are favored to win by close to 20 percentage points.
The Democratic establishment favorite in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District — State Legislator Katrina Shankland — was vastly outspent and defeated by political strategist Rebecca Cooke.
Cooke’s shady financial deals, late financial reporting and progressive agenda will come into play as Trump-endorsed incumbent Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) attempts to ward off her challenge this November in the most vulnerable congressional district in Wisconsin.
In newly redistricted state legislative maps, which favor Democrats, Trump-endorsed state legislative candidates – both of whom favored overturning the 2020 presidential elections results in the state – lost their Republican primaries in red-leaning districts by close to 30 percentage points.
