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The2017 Wisconsin Spring Election was held in theU.S. state ofWisconsin on April 4, 2017. The top of the ballot was the election for stateSuperintendent of Public Instruction. There was also an uncontested election forWisconsin Supreme Court, three uncontested elections forWisconsin Court of Appeals, and several other nonpartisan local and judicial elections. There were also a number of local referendums for school funding. The2017 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held February 21, 2017.
In the election for Superintendent of Public Instruction, incumbentTony Evers won a third term. He would not complete the term, however, as he waselectedGovernor of Wisconsin the following year.
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 County results Evers: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Holtz: 50–60% | ||||||||||||||
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Incumbent Superintendent of Public InstructionTony Evers easily defeated challenger Lowell E. Holtz, taking nearly 70% of the vote. Evers' performance in this statewide election would prove useful as he made his case in a crowded Democratic primary field for Governor of Wisconsin in 2018.[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Election, February 21, 2017[2] | |||||
| Nonpartisan | Tony Evers (incumbent) | 255,552 | 69.43% | ||
| Nonpartisan | Lowell E. Holtz | 84,398 | 22.93% | ||
| Nonpartisan | John Humphries | 27,066 | 7.35% | ||
| Nonpartisan | Rick Melcher (Write-in) | 377 | 0.10% | ||
| Scattering | 703 | 0.19% | |||
| Total votes | 368,096 | 100.0% | |||
| General Election, April 4, 2017[3] | |||||
| Nonpartisan | Tony Evers (incumbent) | 494,793 | 69.86% | +7.71% | |
| Nonpartisan | Lowell E. Holtz | 212,504 | 30.00% | ||
| Nonpartisan | Rick Melcher (write-in) | 62 | 0.01% | ||
| Scattering | 930 | 0.13% | −0.04% | ||
| Plurality | 282,289 | 39.86% | +17.39% | ||
| Total votes | 708,289 | 100.0% | -11.08% | ||
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| Elections | ||
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 County results Ziegler: 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||
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A regularly scheduled Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held this year. IncumbentAnnette Ziegler was unopposed seeking her second ten-year term.
This was the first unopposed supreme court election since2006. As of 2025[update], it is the most recent. As of 2025[update], this is also the most recent instance in which an incumbent justice has won re-election to the court.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Annette Ziegler (incumbent) | 492,352 | 97.20% | |
| Write-in | 14,165 | 2.80% | ||
| Total votes | 506,517 | 100.0% | ||
Three seats on theWisconsin Court of Appeals were up for election in 2017. All three were uncontested.
Forty eight of the state's 249circuit court seats were up for election in 2017. Eleven of those seats were contested. No incumbent judge was defeated in the general election, butTrempealeau County judge Charles V. Feltes was defeated in the February primary. Feltes had been appointed by GovernorScott Walker the previous July.
| Circuit | Branch | Incumbent | Elected | Defeated | Defeated in Primary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes | % | Name | Votes | % | Name(s) | |||
| Burnett | Kenneth Kutz | Melissia R. Christianson Mogen | 1,850 | 63.03% | David Grindell | 1,085 | 36.97% | ||
| Columbia | 2 | W. Andrew Voigt | W. Andrew Voigt | 5,024 | 99.31% | ||||
| Dane | 9 | Richard G. Niess | Richard G. Niess | 58,785 | 99.11% | ||||
| 12 | Clayton Kawski | Jill J. Karofsky | 50,585 | 57.54% | Marilyn Townsend | 37,110 | 42.21% | ||
| Dodge | 2 | Martin De Vries | Martin De Vries | 7,988 | 64.09% | Randall E. Doyle | 4,476 | 35.91% | |
| Door | 2 | David L. Weber | David L. Weber | 5,426 | 99.12% | ||||
| Fond du Lac | 5 | Robert Wirtz | Robert Wirtz | 9,140 | 99.66% | ||||
| Grant | 1 | Robert P. VanDeHey | Robert P. VanDeHey | 6,086 | 99.51% | ||||
| Green Lake | Mark Slate | Mark Slate | 1,643 | 99.58% | |||||
| Iron | Patrick J. Madden | Patrick J. Madden | 1,081 | 98.45% | |||||
| Jefferson | 4 | Randy R. Koschnick | Bennett J. Brantmeier | 6,087 | 98.94% | ||||
| Kenosha | 4 | Anthony Milisauskas | Anthony Milisauskas | 10,390 | 99.16% | ||||
| 7 | Jodi L. Meier | Jodi L. Meier | 12,386 | 85.10% | John Anthony Ward | 2,145 | 14.74% | ||
| Manitowoc | 3 | Jerome L. Fox | Bob Dewane | 7,646 | 55.03% | Patricia Koppa | 6,217 | 44.75% | Donald J. Chewning |
| Marathon | 4 | Gregory J. Strasser | Gregory J. Strasser | 12,528 | 99.52% | ||||
| 5 | Michael K. Moran | Michael K. Moran | 12,780 | 99.58% | |||||
| Milwaukee | 1 | Maxine Aldridge White | Maxine Aldridge White | 55,038 | 98.90% | ||||
| 4 | Michael J. Hanrahan | Michael J. Hanrahan | 52,096 | 98.81% | |||||
| 9 | Paul Van Grunsven | Paul Van Grunsven | 51,192 | 98.80% | |||||
| 10 | Vacant | Michelle Ackerman Havas | 52,032 | 98.71% | |||||
| 13 | Mary E. Triggiano | Mary E. Triggiano | 52,348 | 99.02% | |||||
| 18 | Pedro Colón | Pedro Colón | 54,247 | 98.80% | |||||
| 19 | Dennis R. Cimpl | Dennis R. Cimpl | 51,670 | 98.93% | |||||
| 21 | Cynthia Davis | Cynthia Davis | 52,464 | 98.96% | |||||
| 33 | Carl Ashley | Carl Ashley | 52,473 | 99.11% | |||||
| 35 | Frederick C. Rosa | Frederick C. Rosa | 52,864 | 98.89% | |||||
| 36 | Jeffrey Kremers | Jeffrey Kremers | 52,611 | 98.69% | |||||
| 47 | John Siefert | Kristy Yang | 49,342 | 57.20% | Scott A. Wales | 36,705 | 42.55% | ||
| Oconto | 1 | Michael T. Judge | Michael T. Judge | 4,846 | 100.0% | ||||
| Outagamie | 1 | Mark J. McGinnis | Mark J. McGinnis | 14,032 | 100.0% | ||||
| Polk | 1 | Daniel J. Tolan | Daniel J. Tolan | 4,839 | 60.06% | Malia Malone | 3,218 | 39.94% | David D. Danielson |
| 2 | Jeff Anderson | Jeff Anderson | 6,959 | 100.0% | |||||
| Racine | 3 | Emily S. Mueller | Emily S. Mueller | 15,242 | 100.0% | ||||
| Rock | 6 | John M. Wood | John M. Wood | 11,822 | 99.13% | ||||
| Sheboygan | 2 | Kent Hoffmann | Kent Hoffmann | 10,159 | 99.65% | ||||
| 3 | Angela W. Sutkiewicz | Angela W. Sutkiewicz | 10,722 | 99.55% | |||||
| 5 | Daniel Borowski | Daniel Borowski | 10,143 | 99.46% | |||||
| Trempealeau | Charles V. Feltes | Rian W. Radtke | 2,856 | 52.29% | Rick Schaumberg | 2,594 | 47.49% | Charles V. Feltes | |
| Vernon | Michael J. Rosborough | Darcy Rood | 3,253 | 56.43% | Timothy J. Gaskell | 2,512 | 43.57% | ||
| Washington | 1 | James G. Porous | James G. Porous | 10,004 | 99.32% | ||||
| 3 | Todd K. Martens | Todd K. Martens | 8,903 | 73.32% | Robert T. Olson | 3,210 | 26.44% | ||
| Waukesha | 3 | Ralph M. Ramirez | Ralph M. Ramirez | 31,937 | 99.33% | ||||
| 3 | Lloyd V. Carter | Lloyd V. Carter | 30,757 | 99.29% | |||||
| 4 | William Domina | William Domina | 31,326 | 99.31% | |||||
| Waupaca | 1 | Philip M. Kirk | Troy L. Nielsen | 4,522 | 63.74% | Eric D. Hendrickson | 2,568 | 36.19% | |
| Waushara | Guy Dutcher | Guy Dutcher | 2,078 | 100.0% | |||||
| Winnebago | 2 | Scott C. Woldt | Scott C. Woldt | 11,811 | 99.18% | ||||
| 6 | Daniel J. Bissett | Daniel J. Bissett | 11,715 | 99.26% | |||||
Dane CountyExecutiveJoe Parisi won re-election without opposition.
InRacine's special mayoral election, held in October, State AssemblymemberCory Mason was elected to fill the remainder of MayorJohn Dickert's unexpired term. Mason topped a six-person primary and went on to defeat Alderman Sandy Weidner in the special election.[5]
There were 65 local education-fundingreferendums on the ballot in the 2017 election. 40 of those referendums passed, awarding the school districts approximately $700 million in additional funding.[6]
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