Dora Drake Wins Unusual Special Election

Dora Drake. Photo from the candidate.

Following step two of one of the more unusual political campaigns in modern Wisconsin history, Representative Dora Drake is now state Senator Dora Drake. At least for now.

Drake won a special election Tuesday to serve the remainder of former senator Lena Taylor‘s term. And despite the fact that she was the only candidate on the ballot, she can’t stop campaigning.

The true showdown is to come on Aug. 13.

Drake faces a primary rematch with fellow Democratic Assembly representative LaKeshia Myers in two weeks. The winner of that race will get a full four-year term, though they’ll have to wait until November to formally win.

Republicans aren’t running a candidate in the heavily Democratic 4th Senate District, which means the winner of the Democratic primary will be the only candidate on the November ballot. The district covers much of northern Milwaukee County. A similar situation played out in early July, when Drake bested Myers by a nearly two-to-one margin to serve as Taylor’s replacement through the end of the year.

Taylor resigned in January after Governor Tony Evers appointed her to a vacant Milwaukee County Circuit Court judgeship. She had held the Senate seat for 19 years, though she frequently pursued other offices.

The stakes are high for those seeking to replace her. Drake and Myers are both giving up their State Assembly seats to run for the Senate seat.

Wisconsin’s senate districts are formed by three assembly districts, with Myers representing the western portion of the 4th District, Drake the middle and Darrin Madison Jr. the eastern portion.

As a result of redistricting, the district stretches southeast from Milwaukee County’s northwestern tip at N. 124th Street and W. County Line Road to E. Locust Street and N. Humboldt Boulevard in Riverwest. In addition to a large chunk of Milwaukee, the district includes portions of suburban Brown Deer and Wauwatosa and all of Glendale and Shorewood.

Drake was first elected to the Assembly in 2020 and previously worked at JusticePoint and the Center for Self-Sufficiency. She is a graduate of Marquette University.

Myers was first elected in 2018. Before being elected, Myers worked as a teacher at Milwaukee Public Schools. Since being elected, she’s worked for MPS, as an assistant principal in Madison and, most recently, as the dean of students for a Wauwatosa middle school, from which she resigned after an investigation.

Unofficial election results Tuesday from the Milwaukee County Election Commission showed voter turnout of approximately 5.7% in a single-race, single-candidate election. Drake earned 97% of the vote.