August 15, 2018 at 4:41 p.m.
Hartman wins GOP primary for sheriff
Vukmir gets Senate nod; Evers will challenge Walker
Hartman wins GOP primary for sheriff
Hartman actually won a majority of votes in the three-candidate race, taking 51.8 percent to medical examiner Larry Mathein's 32.8 percent and deputy Greg Gardner's 15 percent.
In statewide races, state Sen. Leah Vukmir, an ally of Gov. Scott Walker and the endorsed candidate of the Republican Party, defeated political newcomer and self-proclaimed outsider Kevin Nicholson by a margin of 49 percent to 43 percent to win the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
In a key race nationally, Vukmir will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November, who was unopposed in her primary.
In the Democratic race for governor, state schools superintendent Tony Evers captured nearly 42 percent of the vote on his way to dispatching seven other candidates to earn the right to challenge Walker in the fall.
Walker was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
In other races, attorney general Brad Schimel was unopposed for re-nomination in the Republican primary. His challenger in the fall, who was also unopposed in the Democratic primary, is Josh Kaul, a former federal prosecutor and the son of former attorney general Peg Lautenschlager.
In the 34th Assembly District, incumbent Rob Swearingen was unopposed for renomination.
His Democratic challenger in the fall will be Chris Meier, who was also unopposed in the primary.
For the seventh congressional district seat, Republican incumbent Sean Duffy was unopposed for the GOP nomination.
In the Democratic primary, Margaret Engebretson defeated Brian Ewert with 57 percent of the vote.
The sheriff's race
The Oneida County's sheriff's race was a hotly contested affair, but in the end Hartman managed to win a majority of the vote by rolling up steep margins in the heavily Republican areas of the county.
The Republican Party had endorsed Hartman for re-election and vociferously supported him, casting his opponents as outsiders who did not belong in the Republican Party.
For example, while Hartman won about 52 percent countywide, he rolled up 61 percent of the vote in Woodruff, almost 58 percent in Minocqua, and 67 percent in Hazelhurst.
By contrast, though Hartman won a plurality in the more Democratic city of Rhinelander, he captured only 46 percent of the total vote there.
Hartman also ran strong in the towns of Three Lakes and Crescent, while Mathein defeated the sheriff in Cassian, Little Rice, Lynne, Monico, and Nokomis.
U.S. Senate
In the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, Vukmir relied on grassroots organization to defeat millions of dollars in outside advertising for Nicholson. Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein helped finance much of the outside spending for Nicholson, which totaled almost $11 million in a TV aerial bombardment attacking Vukmir.
However, Vukmir built her advantage in the suburban counties around Milwaukee, racking up huge margins in some of the most heavily Republican counties in the state. Those counties have provided Walker with heavy margins in the past.
In May, Vukmir received the endorsement of the Republican Party and its grassroots strength in those counties - an operation that has been built and toned in three gubernatorial elections since 2010 - made a huge difference.
In the end, Vukmir won by 26,983 votes statewide, but she piled up a margin of 27,844 votes in Waukesha and Washington counties alone.
On election night, Vukmir gave a nod to the grassroots strength of her campaign.
"Tonight confirms there's no substitute for the grassroots - and I'm humbled to have their support," Vukmir said. "Voters sent a clear message that we want to take our Wisconsin Way, our economic miracle, and our strong conservative victories to Washington and help President Trump make America great again. That's exactly what I intend to do."
Vukmir wasted little time in attacking Baldwin.
"Wisconsin needs a senator who represents and will work for the people who make our state great - not the far left or out-of-touch elites," she said. "Sen. Tammy Baldwin has been a disaster for our state. She's put America last, supporting the dangerous Iran deal, standing with extremist socialists like Bernie Sanders who support government-run health care, and failing our veterans at the Tomah VA."
Baldwin fired right back, setting the stage for an aggressive fall campaign.
"Wisconsinites want someone who will be in their corner and stand up to powerful special interests in Washington, not a bought-and-paid-for Senator," Baldwin said. "Leah Vukmir has a long record of putting her corporate special interest backers ahead of hardworking Wisconsin families, making the choice clear this November."
Democratic primary for governor
In the Democratic race for governor, state superintendent Tony Evers was the clear choice.
Evers took 41.7 percent of the vote, with union chief Mahlon Mitchell running second with 16.4 percent of the vote and Kelda Roys taking 12.8 percent of the vote for third place.
All other candidates ran in the single digits.
Evers was the favorite from the start, and, while Mitchell benefitted from union endorsements and financial backing and Roys gained traction among women's groups, no challenger ever began to whittle away at Evers's advantages, which included high name recognition and support among educators.
Soon after Evers was declared the winner, Roys began to rally support and unity for the Democratic candidate.
"I heartily congratulate Dr. Tony Evers on his victory tonight and I'm delighted to offer him my complete and enthusiastic support," Roys said. "Tony and I share the same goals - to build a Wisconsin worthy of the people who call it home. Tony will fight for our schools, expand our access to health care, raise wages, and protect our environment. Tony Evers must be our next governor."
Roys said she intended to spend the next three months campaigning for Evers and Baldwin.
"I intend to spend the next three months working as hard as I can to help Tony win, to help Tammy Baldwin remain our champion in the Senate, and to elect many Democratic candidates to Congress and our state Legislature," she said. "I urge everyone who supported me to commit now to working even harder than we have been to win in November."
For his part, Evers said he was going to take the fight to Walker.
"We're going to win because we're going to hold Scott Walker accountable for his reign of terror," Evers told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Comments:
You must login to comment.