Zamarripa Wins Secretary of State Race

JoCasta Zamarripa. Photo courtesy of Zamarripa’s campaign.

Milwaukee Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa is headed back to the State Capitol.

The Democrat won Wisconsin’s race for secretary of state Tuesday, defeating Republican Jay Schroeder and Green Party candidate Pete Karas.

Her victory makes Zamarripa the first Latina elected to statewide office in Wisconsin. It also sets up a special election for her seat on the Milwaukee Common Council.

Because of Karas’ presence, Zamarripa underperformed the top-of-the-ticket Democratic candidate David Crowley by about 3 percentage points, though Schroeder also marginally underperformed Tom Tiffany, the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Zamarripa, who represents the city’s south side 8th District, will be able to remain on the council until January 2027, when she takes office as secretary of state. Her departure will create a vacancy in a term that otherwise runs until April 2028.

A special election will be needed to fill the remainder of her council term. The timing of that election has not yet been announced.

It will be the second time Zamarripa has moved between the State Capitol and Milwaukee City Hall.

She was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010, becoming the first Latina elected to the Wisconsin Legislature. She served five terms before winning an open Common Council seat in 2020. She was reelected to the council in 2024.

When Zamarripa first won her council seat, she continued serving in the Assembly until her legislative term expired in January 2021. She is now positioned to make a similar transition in the opposite direction.

Her statewide victory also represents a historic milestone for Wisconsin.

The first woman and first Black person elected to statewide office in Wisconsin was another Milwaukee alderwoman, Vel Phillips, who won the secretary of state race in 1978.

Zamarripa will now follow Phillips from the Common Council to the same statewide office.

A Different Vision for Secretary of State

Zamarripa’s victory keeps the office in Democratic hands and defeats a Republican candidate who campaigned on fundamentally changing its responsibilities.

Schroeder, who previously ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2018, made restoring election administration powers to the office the centerpiece of his campaign.

Wisconsin removed election administration from the secretary of state’s office in 1974. Today, elections are overseen by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, with local clerks responsible for administering voting.

Schroeder wanted to eliminate the commission and transfer its authority to the secretary of state.

Zamarripa instead campaigned on making greater use of the powers the office already holds.

In announcing her campaign in September 2025, Zamarripa acknowledged that the secretary of state has limited formal authority, but argued that the position could still be used to advocate for policies affecting Wisconsin residents.

“This office may not come with sweeping powers, but it comes with a platform—and I’ll use it to fight for affordable child care, safe and stable housing, and better funding for our public schools,” she said.

The secretary of state serves as the chief clerk of state government, maintaining official records and authenticating documents. The position also includes a seat on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees trust funds that support public school libraries and provides loans for local government projects.

In an October interview with Erik Gunn, Zamarripa pushed back against the suggestion that the office is merely ceremonial.

“Our schools depend on that funding,” she said of the public lands board’s support for school libraries.

She also argued that her experience helping constituents navigate government services as an alderwoman would translate well to the secretary of state’s office.

Zamarripa succeeds Sarah Godlewski, who was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2023 after longtime Secretary of State Doug La Follette resigned.

Godlewski did not seek election to a full term, instead running for lieutenant governor.

A Vacancy on Milwaukee’s South Side

Zamarripa’s departure will create an opening on the 15-member Common Council and trigger a new campaign to represent the city’s 8th District.

During her nearly seven years on the council, Zamarripa has been an advocate for her south side district and several citywide policy initiatives.

She briefly chaired the council’s Public Safety and Health Committee, helped overhaul Milwaukee’s food truck regulations and was a leading supporter of Growing MKE, the city’s housing policy overhaul later renamed the Housing Element plan. Most recently, she has chaired the Licenses Committee.

The district includes a substantial portion of Milwaukee’s south side, an area Zamarripa has represented in elected office since her first Assembly victory in 2010. The oddly shaped council district is generally bordered by the Menomonee Valley, W. Oklahoma Avenue, S. 20th Street and S. 45th Street.

The next alderperson will serve only the remainder of Zamarripa’s term, through April 2028, rather than a new four-year term.

The vacancy will also mean a temporary reduction in the council’s membership until a replacement is elected.

For Zamarripa, the move represents both a promotion in political stature and a pay cut. The secretary of state’s annual salary is $78,583, compared to $84,205 for Milwaukee Common Council members.

But it gives her something she has not previously held: a statewide constituency.

“I’m running for Secretary of State to be a strong voice for all Wisconsinites—from small towns to big cities, from our farmworkers to our frontline workers,” Zamarripa said when launching her campaign.