2014 Wisconsin Senate election

2014 Wisconsin Senate election

November 4, 2014
17 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Scott Fitzgerald Chris Larson (retired as leader) Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat 13th–Juneau 7th–Milwaukee Last election 8 seats, 45.28% 8 seats, 53.13% Seats before 18 15 Seats won 19 14 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 623,358 529,906 Percentage 53.87% 45.80% Swing 8.59 pp 7.33 pp Seats up 10 7 Races won 11 6
Results of the elections:      Republican hold      Republican gain      Democratic hold      No election
President before election Michael G. Ellis Republican Elected President Mary Lazich Republican

The 2014 Wisconsin Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin. Seventeen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the odd-numbered districts. Before the election, Republicans held 17 seats, Democrats held 15 seats, and 1 seat was vacant. Of the seats up for election, 7 were held by Democrats, 9 were held by Republicans, and 1 was vacant due to the resignation of a Republican member. The primary election was held on August 12, 2014.

Republicans maintained control of the Senate, flipping one Democrat-held seat. They were set to enter the 102nd Wisconsin Legislature with 19 of 33 Senate seats, but one Republican Senator resigned after the election, leaving them with 18 seats at the start of the legislative term.

Elected members took office on January 5, 2015.

Results summary

Seats		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total
		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2012)		8	8	16
Total after last election (2012)		15	18	33
Total before this election		15	17	32
Up for election		7	10	17
of which:	Incumbent retiring	3	3	6
	Vacated	0	1	1
	Unopposed	2	0	2
This election		6	11	17
Change from last election		1	1
Total after this election		14	19	33
Change in total		1	2

Popular vote Republican   53.87% Democratic   45.80% Other   0.33%

Senate seats won Republican   64.71% Democratic   35.29%

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. State Senate district 25, 2.35%
2. State Senate district 31, 4.70%

Outgoing incumbents

Retiring

• Timothy Cullen (D–Janesville), representing District 15, did not run for re-election.
• Michael Ellis (R–Neenah), representing District 19, did not run for re-election.
• Robert Jauch (D–Poplar), representing District 25, did not run for re-election.
• Dale Schultz (R–Richland Center), representing District 17, did not run for re-election.

Seeking other office

• John Lehman (D–Racine), representing District 21, ran for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin.
• Joe Leibham (R–Sheboygan), representing District 9, ran for U.S. House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, but lost in the primary.

Vacated

• Neal Kedzie (R–Elkhorn), resigned from District 11.

Candidates and results

Dist.	Incumbent				This race
	Member	Party	First elect	Status	Candidates	Results
01	Frank Lasee	Republican	2010	Ran	Y Frank Lasee (Rep.) 61.59% Dean P. Debroux (Dem.) 38.37%	Incumbent re-elected
03	Tim Carpenter	Democratic	2002	Ran	Y Tim Carpenter (Dem.) 97.1%	Incumbent re-elected
05	Leah Vukmir	Republican	2010	Ran	Y Leah Vukmir (Rep.) 73.03% Wendy Friedrich (Dem.) 26.17%	Incumbent re-elected
07	Chris Larson	Democratic	2010	Ran	Y Chris Larson (Dem.) 59.5% Jason Red Arnold (Rep.) 40.26%	Incumbent re-elected
09	Joe Leibham	Republican	2010	Ran for U.S. House of Representatives	Y Devin LeMahieu (Rep.) 59.95% Martha Laning (Dem.) 39.94%	Incumbent retired to run for U.S. House New member elected Republican hold
11	--Vacant--				Y Stephen Nass (Rep.) 63.29% Dan Kilkenny (Dem.) 36.63%	Incumbent resigned New member elected Republican hold
13	Scott Fitzgerald	Republican	1994	Ran	Y Scott Fitzgerald (Rep.) 62.69% Michelle Zahn (Dem.) 37.28%	Incumbent re-elected
15	Timothy Cullen	Democratic	1974 (2010)	Did not run	Y Janis Ringhand (Dem.) 59.47% Brian Fitzgerald (Rep.) 40.47%	Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold
17	Dale Schultz	Republican	1991	Did not run	Y Howard Marklein (Rep.) 55.07% Pat Bomhack (Dem.) 44.85%	Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold
19	Michael Ellis	Republican	1982	Did not run	Y Roger Roth (Rep.) 57.17% Penny Bernard Schaber (Dem.) 42.76%	Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold
21	John Lehman	Democratic	2006 (2012)	Ran for lieutenant governor	Y Van Wanggaard (Rep.) 61.42% Randy Bryce (Dem.) 38.39%	Incumbent retired to run for lieutenant governor New member elected Republican gain
23	Terry Moulton	Republican	2010	Ran	Y Terry Moulton (Rep.) 61.15% Phil Swanhorst (Dem.) 38.84%	Incumbent re-elected
25	Robert Jauch	Democratic	1986	Did not run	Y Janet Bewley (Dem.) 51.16% Dane Deutsch (Rep.) 48.81%	Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold
27	Jon Erpenbach	Democratic	1986	Ran	Y Jon Erpenbach (Dem.) 97.51%	Incumbent re-elected
29	Jerry Petrowski	Republican	2012	Ran	Y Jerry Petrowski (Rep.) 65.73% Paul Demain (Dem.) 34.26%	Incumbent re-elected
31	Kathleen Vinehout	Democratic	2006	Ran	Y Kathleen Vinehout (Dem.) 52.32% Mel Pittman (Rep.) 47.62%	Incumbent re-elected
33	Paul Farrow	Republican	2012	Ran	Y Paul Farrow (Rep.) 73.86% Sherryll Shaddock (Dem.) 26.07%	Incumbent re-elected

See also

• 2014 Wisconsin elections
  • 2014 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
  • 2014 Wisconsin Attorney General election
  • 2014 Wisconsin State Assembly election
  • 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin
• 2014 United States elections
• Wisconsin Senate
• Elections in Wisconsin
• Redistricting in Wisconsin

External links

• Wisconsin Elections Commission
• Wisconsin at Ballotpedia
• Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, "Wisconsin", Voting & Elections Toolkits
• "Wisconsin: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links", Vote.org, Oakland, CA
• "League of Women Voters of Wisconsin". September 7, 2017. (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters)
• Wisconsin 2021 & 2022 Elections, OpenSecrets