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2020 Wisconsin Senate Elections
General	November 3, 2020
Primary	August 11, 2020

Elections for the office ofWisconsin State Senate took place in 2020. The general election was held on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for August 11, 2020. The filing deadline was June 1, 2020.

Of the chamber's 33 seats, 16 were up for election in 2020. Heading into the election, Democrats held 13 seats, Republicans held 18 seats, and there were two vacancies. Democrats won six seats and Republicans won 10 seats, resulting in a 21-12 Republican majority.

TheWisconsin State Senate was one of 86 state legislative chambers with elections in2020. There are 99 chambers throughout the country. In2018, 87 out of 99 legislative chambers held elections.

Wisconsin's 2020 state legislative elections affected partisan control ofredistricting following the 2020 census. In Wisconsin, the state legislature is responsible for drafting both congressional and state legislative district plans. Both are subject to gubernatorial veto.

For detailed campaign finance information for the elections in this chamber, clickhere.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also:Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of thecoronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Wisconsin modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

• Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee and mail-in ballot applications were sent to most registered voters in the general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak,click here.

Party control

See also:Partisan composition of state senates andState government trifectas

Candidates

General election

Wisconsin State Senate general election
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2	Did not make the ballot: Tony Lee	Robert Cowles (i)
District 4	Lena Taylor (i)		Did not make the ballot: Lance Allen  (Independent)
District 6	LaTonya Johnson (i)	Alciro Deacon	Cordelia Bryant (Independent) (Write-in)
District 8	Neal Plotkin	Alberta Darling (i)
District 10	Patty Schachtner (i)	Rob Stafsholt
District 12	Eduard Vocke	Mary Felzkowski
District 14	Joni Anderson	Joan Ballweg
District 16	Melissa Agard	Scott Barker
District 18	Aaron Wojciechowski	Dan Feyen (i)	Did not make the ballot: Thomas Hodge III  (Independent)
District 20		Duey Stroebel (i)
District 22	Robert Wirch (i)
District 24	Paul Piotrowski	Patrick Testin (i)	Did not make the ballot: Roberta Reamer  (Independent)
District 26	Kelda Roys Kelly Tenpas (Write-in)
District 28	Adam Murphy	Julian Bradley
District 30	Jonathon Hansen	Eric Wimberger
District 32	Brad Pfaff	Dan Kapanke

Primary election

The candidate list below is based on candidate filing lists provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission on June 2, 2020.^[1]

Wisconsin State Senate primary election
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2	Tony Lee (Write-in)	Robert Cowles (i) Did not make the ballot: William Nething
District 4	Lena Taylor (i) Did not make the ballot: Brandon Jackson	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 6	LaTonya Johnson (i) Michelle Bryant	Alciro Deacon
District 8	Neal Plotkin  Did not make the ballot: Frank Bryson	Alberta Darling (i) Did not make the ballot: Jeremy Somers
District 10	Patty Schachtner (i)	Cherie Link Rob Stafsholt
District 12	Eduard Vocke Did not make the ballot: Wendy Klawitter	Mary Felzkowski
District 14	Joni Anderson Did not make the ballot: John Small	Joan Ballweg Ken Van Dyke Sr.  Did not make the ballot: Samuel Wood  Luther Olsen (i)
District 16	Melissa Agard  Andrew McKinney	Scott Barker
District 18	Aaron Wojciechowski	Dan Feyen (i)
District 20	The Democratic primary was canceled.	Duey Stroebel (i)
District 22	Robert Wirch (i)	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 24	Paul Piotrowski	Patrick Testin (i)
District 26	Brian Benford  William Davis III  Nada Elmikashfi  John Imes  Amani Latimer Burris  Aisha Moe  Kelda Roys	The Republican primary was canceled.
District 28	Adam Murphy	Steve Bobowski  Julian Bradley Marina Croft  Jim Engstrand Dan Griffin  Did not make the ballot: Daniel Newberry  Dave Craig (i)
District 30	Sandra Ewald Jonathon Hansen	Eric Wimberger Did not make the ballot: Thomas Lund
District 32	Brad Pfaff Jayne Swiggum  Paul Weber Did not make the ballot: Jennifer Shilling (i)	Dan Kapanke

Campaign finance

See also:Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2020/Campaign finance

The section and tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. Districts and elections are grouped in sections of 10. To view data for a district, click on the appropriate bar below to expand it. The data is gathered and made available byTransparency USA.

• Districts 2-10 (click to expand)

  District 2

  District 4

  District 6

  District 8

  District 10

• Districts 12-20 (click to expand)

  District 12

  District 14

  District 16

  District 18

  District 20

• Districts 22-32 (click to expand)

  District 22

  District 24

  District 26

  District 28

  District 30

  District 32

Incumbents who were not re-elected

See also:Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 10, 2020

Incumbents defeated in the general election

One incumbent lost in the Nov. 3 general election. That incumbent was:

Name	Party	Office
Patty Schachtner	Democratic	Senate District 10

Incumbents defeated in primary elections

No incumbents lost in the Aug. 11 primaries.

Retiring incumbents

There were sevenopen seats where the incumbent legislator did not file for re-election in 2020.^[2] Those incumbents were:

Name	Party	Office	Reason
Tom Tiffany	Republican	Senate District 12	Vacated before term end
Luther Olsen	Republican	Senate District 14	Retired
Mark Miller	Democratic	Senate District 16	Retired
Fred Risser	Democratic	Senate District 26	Retired
Dave Craig	Republican	Senate District 28	Retired
Dave Hansen	Democratic	Senate District 30	Retired
Jennifer Shilling	Democratic	Senate District 32	Vacated before term end

The seven seats left open in 2020 represented a increase from 2018, the highest number since 2014. The table below shows the number of open seats in each election held between 2010 and 2020.

Process to become a candidate

See also:Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Wisconsin

See statutes:Wisconsin Statutes and Annotations, Chapter 8

The filing process for both ballot-qualified party candidates and other candidates (e.g., independents, non-recognized party candidates, etc.) is the same. The filing procedure, however, does vary somewhat according to the type of office being sought. Please note that only ballot-qualified party candidates can participate in primaries.^[3]

For federal and state candidates

A candidate for federal office must file a declaration of candidacy with the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The declaration of candidacy must state the following:^[3][4]

• that the individual is a candidate for the office named on the form
• that the individual meets the qualifications for office, or will meet the qualifications by the time he or she assumes office if elected
• that the individual will otherwise qualify for office if nominated and elected

The declaration of candidacy must be sworn before an individual authorized to administer oaths. The declaration of candidacy must be filed by 5:00 p.m. on June 1 preceding the election (if June 1 falls on non-business day, the form will be due on the next preceding business day).^[3][4][5][6]

In addition to the declaration of candidacy, the candidate must submit nomination papers to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The number of signatures required varies according to the office being sought. Requirements are summarized in the table below.^[3][5][6]

Nomination papers must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on June 1 preceding the election (if June 1 falls on non-business day, the form will be due on the next preceding business day).^[3][5][6]

Write-in candidates

On April 2, 2014,GovernorScott Walker signed into law AB 419, which requires that write-in candidates file campaign finance statements in order to have their votes tallied. Otherwise, there are no specific filing requirements for write-in candidates.^[7]

2020 ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for Wisconsin State Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

Qualifications

See also:State legislature candidate requirements by state

Section 6 of Article 4 of theWisconsin Constitution states, "No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to represent."

Salaries and per diem

See also:Comparison of state legislative salaries

When sworn in

See also:When state legislators assume office after a general election

Wisconsin legislators assume office the first Monday in January following the election, unless the first Monday of January falls on January 1 or 2. In those cases, legislators assume office on January 3.^[9]

Open seats

The table below shows the number of open seats in each election held between 2010 and 2020.

Wisconsin political history

Trifectas

Astate government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Presidential politics in Wisconsin

2016 Presidential election results

U.S. presidential election, Wisconsin, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine	46.5%	1,382,536	0
	Republican	Donald Trump/Mike Pence	47.2%	1,405,284	10
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson/Bill Weld	3.6%	106,674	0
	Green	Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka	1%	31,072	0
	Constitution	Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley	0.4%	12,162	0
	Workers Party	Monica Moorehead/Lamont Lilly	0.1%	1,770	0
	American Delta	Rocky De La Fuente/Michael Steinberg	0.1%	1,502	0
	-	Write-in votes	1.2%	35,150	0
Total Votes				2,976,150	10
Election results via:Wisconsin Elections Commission

Note: The vote totals above are from the recount.

Voter information

How the primary works

Aprimary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Wisconsin utilizes anopen primary system; registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.^[10]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, seethis article.

Poll times

InWisconsin, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time. Anyone in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote.^[11]

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration statushere.

To register to vote in Wisconsin, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Wisconsin at their current address for at least 28 days before the election. A voter must be at least 18 years of age by Election Day.^[12]

Prospective voters can register online or by mailing a form to their municipal clerk. If registering by mail, the application must be postmarked no later than 20 days before the election.^[13] Voters must also register online by the 20th day before the election. In-person registration at a municipal clerk's office must be completed by 5 p.m. or the close of business on the Friday before Election Day, whichever is later. Prospective voters can also register at their polling place on Election Day using same-day voter registration. Voters must provide proof of residence when registering to vote.^[12]

Automatic registration

Wisconsin does not practiceautomatic voter registration.^[14]

Online registration

See also:Online voter registration

Wisconsin has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visitingthis website.

Same-day registration

Wisconsin allowssame-day voter registration.^[15]

Residency requirements

Wisconsin law requires 28 days of residency in a precinct before a person may vote.^[12]

Verification of citizenship

See also:Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Wisconsin does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. According to the state's voter registration application, a voter who provides false information "may be subject to fine or imprisonment under State and Federal laws."^[16]

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment.^[17] Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The siteMy Vote, run by the Wisconsin Election Commission, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Wisconsin requires voters to present photo identification while voting.^[18][19]

The following list of accepted ID was current as of January 2026.Click here for the Wisconsin Election Commission's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Wisconsin Department of Transportation-issued driver's license
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation-issued identification card, with or without a photo
• Veteran ID card or U.S. Uniformed Service ID card
• U.S. passport book or card
• Identification card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin
• Photo identification card issued by a Wisconsin accredited university, college, or technical college, containing the date the card was issued, an expiration date, and a signature. (If expired, the voter must also provide a separate document proving enrollment)
• Certificate of naturalization issued within the past two years
• Driver’s license receipt issued by Wisconsin Department of Transportation (valid for 45 days from date issued)
• Identification card receipt issued by Wisconsin Department of Transportation (valid for 45 days from date issued)
• Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles ID Petition Process Photo Receipt (valid for 60 days from date issued)

To view Wisconsin state law pertaining to voter identification,click here.

The following voters do not need to provide photo ID:^[20]

• Confidential electors
• Active military and permanent overseas voters who vote by absentee ballot
• Indefinitely confined voters who vote by absentee ballot

Voters can obtain a free Wisconsin State ID Card at a Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles office. Voters need the following to apply for an ID:^[21]

• Proof of name and date of birth (such as a birth certificate)
• Proof of identity (Social Security Card, Medicaid/Medicare Card, etc.)
• Proof of Wisconsin residency (utility bill, government mail, lease, etc.)
• Proof of U.S. citizenship (U.S. Birth certificate or citizenship paperwork)
• Social Security Number

Voters who do not have all or any of the materials listed above can still obtain an ID. Call the voter ID hotline for assistance at (844) 588-1069.^[21]

Early voting

Wisconsin permits early voting. Learn more by visitingthis website.

Early voting allows citizens to cast their ballots in person at a polling place before an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.

Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia permit no-excuse early voting. Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire do not offer no-excuse early voting.

Absentee voting

All voters are eligible to vote absentee/by mail in Wisconsin. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee/by mail.^[22][23]

To vote absentee/by mail, a request to the municipal clerk must be received by 5 p.m. on the fifth day before Election Day. Once completed, returned ballots must be received no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day.^[23][24] Indefinitely confined voters and military voters who are not away from their residence must request an absentee ballot by the fourth day before the election.^[23]

See also

• Wisconsin State Senate
• Wisconsin State Legislature
• State legislative elections, 2020

External links

Suggest a link

• Wisconsin State Legislature

Footnotes

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