La Follette Barely Leads Loudenbeck for Secretary of State
AP hasn't called race. Republican candidate John Lieber leads for State Treasurer.
Voters enter a polling location as they open in the morning Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, before voting in the midterm elections at the Stoughton Fire Department in Stoughton, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Longtime Democratic incumbent Doug La Follette narrowly leads state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton, in the race for Wisconsin Secretary of State.
In unofficial vote totals posted at 7:13 a.m. Wednesday, La Follette had 1,265,559 votes or 48.3 percent of the total and Loudenbeck had 1,258,516 votes or 48.1 percent. The two were 5,387 votes apart with 99 percent of votes counted. The Associated Press had not called the race as of that time. A couple of hours earlier, La Follette lead by .1 percent, or 1,360 votes. At one point during the night, Loudenbeck pulled head of La Follette.
Lawmakers have stripped the offices of the Secretary of State and State Treasurer of virtually all their powers; a push to amend Wisconsin’s constitution to eliminate the two offices was resoundingly defeated in 2018. But this year’s Secretary of State race came as the position has taken on added significance around the country, with some Republicans pledging to make major changes to the administration of elections in their states.
Wisconsin was no exception. Loudenbeck has expressed an interest in Wisconsin’s Secretary of State taking a larger role in running elections, if the state Legislature approved such changes and the governor signed them into law.
La Follette has said Wisconsin should keep the office out of administering elections.
Wisconsin elections are overseen by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which is run by a group of bipartisan appointees. The Wisconsin Secretary of State Office has one full-time employee. Many of the office’s past duties — such as handling documents for businesses, like trademarks and uniform commercial codes — have been shifted to other agencies.
Leiber could squeak out a victory for state treasurer
Republican John Leiber is leading the race for Wisconsin’s state treasurer as he pulls ahead of Democrat Aaron Richardson in the low-profile race.
In unofficial vote totals updated at 7:13 a.m. Wednesday, Leiber received 49.7 percent of the vote compared to Richardson’s 48.1 percent. In other words, Leiber was ahead by 40,292 votes with 99 percent of votes counted.
Leiber felt there was no need to expand the office, while Richardson advocated for restoring the office’s powers.
Editor’s note: WPR’s Andrea Anderson and Robert Mentzer contributed to this story.
Doug La Follette and Amy Loudenbeck are neck and neck in bid for Wisconsin Secretary of State was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio
