Four Districts Will Shape Control of Wisconsin Senate

Wisconsin State Capitol. Photo by Dave Reid.

The 17 state senators – 12 Republicans and five Democrats – up for reelection next year will be running in new districts, but party leaders suspect only a handful of races will decide which party controls the Senate in 2027.

Trying to avoid potentially divisive primaries on Aug. 11 – less than three months before the Nov. 3 general elections – Senate Democrats have made it clear who their preferred candidates are against Republicans Rob Hutton, of Brookfield; Van Wanggaard, of Racine, and Howard Marklein, of Spring Green.

Because Republicans control the Senate by an 18-15 margin, Democratic wins in two of those three districts would give them control of that house of the Legislature.

The best hope for Senate Republicans is reelecting Hutton, Marklein and Wanggaard and targeting Democratic Sen. Jeff Smith, of Eau Claire, who won by only 697 votes in 2022.

The wild cards are new Senate districts that Republicans, who have controlled the Legislature since 2011, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers agreed to early in 2024. That kept the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by liberals, from drawing new districts.

In those new districts, which Democrats call “fair maps,” Democrats picked up 14 seats in the Legislature in November 2024. Those gains have Democrats claiming momentum heading into the 2026 election cycle.

Wanggaard, a retired Racine police officer, had no Democratic opponent in his old district in 2022. Wanggaard, who is 73, was elected to the Senate in 2010, recalled in 2011 after he voted for Act 10 and reelected in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

On Sept. 16, Democratic Party leaders endorsed former Racine alderman Trevor Jung, who now runs the city’s transit system, as Wanggaard’s opponent in the November 2026 general election in the new 21st Senate District.

Jung “is the strongest candidate to win this seat, to help win a Democratic majority, and to deliver real solutions for Wisconsinites,” Senate Democrats said in a statement that included endorsements from the Legislature’s top Democrats – Sen. Dianne Hesselbein and Rep. Greta Neubauer.

In a signal to other Racine-area Democrats not to challenge Jung in an August primary, three current legislators – Sens. Kelda Roys and Dora Drake and Rep. Angelina Cruz – and former senators Kim Plache and John Lehman joined Jung’s announcement.

On July 18, the Wisconsin Examiner reported that Hesselbein joined Democratic Rep. Robyn Vining’s announcement that she will run against incumbent Republican Hutton in Senate District 5, which includes West Allis and Wauwatosa and other portions of Milwaukee County and parts of Waukesha County, including Pewaukee, Brookfield and Elm Grove.

Another Democrat, small business owner Sarah Harrison, is also running for the District 5 Senate seat. That could force the August primary that Senate Democratic leaders want to avoid.

Hutton served in the Assembly from 2013 to 2018.  He was elected to the Senate in the old District 5 in 2022 with 53% of the vote.

On July 8, five of the 15 Senate Democrats joined Democratic Rep. Jenna Jacobson’s announcement that she will challenge Marklein, the co-chairman of the Legislature’s Finance Committee and an architect of the 2025-2027 state budget, in new Senate District 17.

The five Democratic senators at Jacobson’s announcement were Hesselbein, Roys, Drake, Mark Spreitzer and Brad Pfaff.

Jacobson lives in Oregon, in the eastern part of Senate District 17, which includes Iowa, Lafayette, Green, Crawford and Grant counties, as well as parts of Dane County.

Marklein served in the Assembly before his 2014 election to the Senate. He won a third term in the old District 17 in 2022 with 60% of the vote.

Lisa White, of Potosi, who started and runs a painting business, is another Democrat running in District 17.

Five potential Democratic candidates in District 17 attended a Dodgeville forum this summer, according to The Cap Times. They included Jacobson, White, Corrine Hendrickson, Matt Raboin and Sam Rikkers, acting CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

In a July 31 op-ed essay in the Cap Times, Raboin said he met with Senate Democratic leaders who control campaign donations and resources and was told they were backing Jacobson to avoid an August primary.

Raboin decided to not run. But he criticized his party’s anointing of Jacobson, saying Democrats “need creativity, energy and open dialogue – not another preselected path dictated by insiders.”

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com