Wisconsin 2022 midterm election coverage: These are the winners across Wisconsin

Who won key Wisconsin election races?

Wisconsin Governor: Democratic incumbent Tony Evers overcame national headwinds facing his party this midterm election to win a second term as governor. Evers defeated U.S. Army veteran and construction executive Tim Michels. (Results | Story)

Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seat: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been declared the winner. The incumbent Republican has 50.5% of the vote (1,334,670) over Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes (49.5% and 1,307,296 votes) with 98.9% of the vote counted. The race was too close to call on Election Night. (Results)

Wisconsin's U.S. House of Representative seats: It appears that Republicans will hold 6 of Wisconsin's 8 House seats. In a closely watched race in Wisconsin's Third District, Republican Derrick Van Orden has been declared the winner of Democrat Brad Pfaff in the 3rd congressional district, a highly watched race to replace retiring Democrat Ron Kind. (Results | Story)

Wisconsin Attorney General: Incumbent Josh Kaul will remain Wisconsin's attorney general after holding off a challenge from Republican Eric Toney.(Results | Story)

Wisconsin Secretary of State: Democratic incumbent Doug LaFollette's lead is just 5,387 votes with 99% of the vote counted over Republican Amy Loudenbeck. That's 48.3% of the vote to 48.1% and a race potentially headed for a recount. Separated by two-tenths of a percentage point, it's too close to call as of 8 a.m. Wednesday. (Results)

Wisconsin State Treasurer: With an estimated 99% of the votes counted around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Republican John Leiber is leading Democratic nominee Aaron Richardson by just under 40,000 votes, a race now called in Leiber's favor. (Results)

Wisconsin State Legislature: Republicans came up short on Tuesday in their quest for a supermajority in the state Legislature to give lawmakers the power to override the governors' vetoes. As of midnight, Democrats held onto their seats in northwestern Wisconsin, the Fox Valley, the western Milwaukee suburbs and the Racine/Kenosha area. (Wisconsin State Senate results | Wisconsin State Assembly results)

More:Judge denies request to sequester military ballots following Milwaukee election official case

Leiber officially wins Wisconsin treasurer race

John Leiber, a Republican, will be Wisconsin’s next state treasurer.

Leiber beat Democrat Aaron Richardson by nearly 40,000 votes, according unofficial vote counts. The Associated Press called the race on Wednesday afternoon.

The two ran to replace current Treasurer Sarah Godlewski.

In Wisconsin, the state treasurer has one duty: to be a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which manages 80,000 acres and a $1.3 billion trust fund and dispenses budget-allocated funding to public schools.

Treasurers also may promote Wisconsin's unclaimed property program — an initiative based on a state law that requires businesses to provide all unclaimed money to the Department of Revenue to assist Wisconsinites searching for unclaimed assets.

Leiber sat on the board of the Racine County Republican Party. He recently earned a law degree from UW-Madison.

Richardson has served as the mayor of Fitchburg for three years, drawing on support and name recognition in deep blue Dane County. Richardson earned a business degree from UW-Green Bay and his MBA from UW-Whitewater.

— Laura Schulte

NBC and CNN officially declare Senate race for Ron Johnson (and now AP does too)

Ron Johnson will retain his U.S. Senate seat in Wisconsin, according to NBC News, which became the first major outlet to officially call the race for the Republican incumbent.

The Associated Press has yet to officially declare Johnson the winner, but CNN and ABC followed NBC in calling the race. UPDATE: As of noon Wednesday, the Associated Press also called the race.

In Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, the AP is calling the race for Republican Derrick Van Orden, who flips a seat previously held by retiring Democrat Ron Kind. Van Orden defeated Democrat Brad Pfaff for the slot.

Libertarian, Green Party votes contribute to tight Secretary of State race, La Follette says

Doug La Follette, Wisconsin’s Secretary of State for the last 43 years, said he is continuing to wait on results for his race, which are too close to call with 99% of the votes in.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, La Follette, a Democrat, had two-tenths of a percentage point over his Republican challenger, state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck.

La Follette had 1,265,099 votes, or 48.3% of the total, compared to Loudenbeck’s 1,258,516 votes, or 48.1%.

“We probably won’t know much for a few more hours,” he said.

Loudenbeck did not concede or declare victory in a statement Wednesday morning.

“Due to the closeness of Tuesday’s election results my team and I will continue to review the results of the official canvassing and certification; then decide what steps to take once all of the votes have been counted,” she said.

La Follette believes the candidates for secretary of state from the Libertarian Party and the Green Party caused the race to be especially tight.

Combined, Neil Harmon and Sharyl McFarland account for 3.6% of the overall vote, according to the latest results from the Associated Press.

La Follette received about 90,000 fewer votes than his fellow Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, who won reelection. The latest results show that Harmon and McFarland gathered about 95,000 votes combined.

— Sophie Carson

Ron Johnson: 'There is no path' for Barnes to win

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson proclaimed victory in his quest to retain his seat against Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes, releasing a statement saying, "There is no path mathematically for Lt. Gov. Barnes to overcome his 27,374 vote deficit. This race is over."

The Associated Press and the major networks had yet to call Wisconsin's marquee race when the Johnson campaign issued the statement. The Barnes campaign has not conceded the race and contends there are still votes to count.

With just more than 1% of the vote remaining to be tabulated, the race isn't official, but only 6% of the vote remains to be counted in the high-population Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee County, with all but 1.5% of the votes to be counted in Dane County.

The next six highest-populated counties (Waukesha, Brown, Racine, Outagamie, Winnebago, Kenosha), all of whom have favored Johnson, have reported between 86% and 93% of votes.

Statewide races still too close to call, especially secretary of state

As you wake up Wednesday, statewide races are still up in the air in Wisconsin, and more than just the battle for a U.S. Senate spot between Republican incumbent Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes.

Democratic incumbent Josh Kaul leads Republican challenger Eric Toney in the race for the state attorney general by less than 33,000 votes, but with 99% of the vote reported, Kaul has declared victory and Toney has conceded.

In the battle for secretary of state, Democratic incumbent Doug LaFollette's lead is just 5,387 votes with 99% of the vote counted over Republican Amy Loudenbeck. That's 48.3% of the vote to 48.1% and a race potentially headed for a recount. Separated by two-tenths of a percentage point, it's too close to call as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Republicans in other states have targeted the secretary of state office for its election oversight powers. In Wisconsin, the secretary of state does not oversee elections.

Loudenbeck previously dismissed suggestions she wouldn't abide by election results. She didn't specify what changes she would make, saying those issues should be determined by the Legislature, but she supported consolidating oversight duties in the secretary of state's office. She also contended that election laws were not uniformly enforced during the 2020 election.

La Follette, meanwhile, framed the race for secretary of state as a referendum on democracy. He suggested Loudenbeck could toss out legitimate Democratic victories and refuse to certify their election if she took office.

Legislators have gradually reduced the powers of the secretary of state over the years. The office, which has two positions and an annual budget of less than $300,000, is in the basement of the state Capitol. La Follette's primary duties involve authenticating documents and filing oaths of office and deeds for state lands and buildings.

There are no automatic recounts in Wisconsin elections but one can be requested. The state pays for recounts where the margin is less than or equal to 0.25% of the total vote. If the margin is greater than those covered by the state, the requester of the recount must pay for the process.

In the state treasurer's race, Republican John Leiber has 49.7% of the vote and Democrat Aaron Richardson has 48.1%, a separation of just more than 40,000 votes.

— Sophie Carson

Ron Johnson expects to declare victory this morning

Though a little more than 1% of the vote remains outstanding, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson aniticpates declaring victory this morning in Neenah at 10 a.m. according to 1310 AM talk-show host Brian Schimming.

The incumbent Republican has 50.5% of the vote (1,334,670) over Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes (49.5% and 1,307,296 votes) with 98.9% of the vote counted. The race was too close to call on Election Night.

Elsewhere, Republican Derrick Van Orden has declared victory over Democrat Brad Pfaff in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, a spot currently held by retiring Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Kind.

Wisconsin's Secretary of State race appears too close to call between Doug La Follette and Amy Loudenbeck

The race for Wisconsin Secretary of State appeared to be too close to call as of 1:15 a.m.

The Associated Press reported about 99% of votes were in, but the two candidates were separated by less than 1%.

A different count from CNN showed a thin margin of about 10,000 votes separating the two candidates.

Democrat incumbent Doug La Follette faced off with Republican state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck.

Republicans in other states have targeted the secretary of state office for its election oversight powers. In Wisconsin, the secretary of state does not oversee elections.

Legislators have gradually reduced the powers of the secretary of state over the years. The office, which has two positions and an annual budget of less than $300,000, is in the basement of the state Capitol. La Follette's primary duties involve authenticating documents and filing oaths of office and deeds for state lands and buildings.

— Sophie Carson

U.S. Senate race between Ron Johnson and Mandela Barnes is 'too close to call'

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes were locked in a race that was too close to call early Wednesday.

With 93% of the vote in, Johnson had 50.7% of the vote to 49.3% for Barnes, a difference of nearly 40,000 votes.

"We've looked very closely at the numbers," Johnson told supporters in Neenah. "We feel confident there's no way they can make up the gap."

Johnson said he was not going to declare victory until all the numbers were in but said, "I want to give you folks a sense that this race is over."

Johnson added that he expected to declare victory later in the morning.

Felesia Martin, first vice chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, told the crowd at Mandela Barnes election night party that the race against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson was too close to call shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday.

"This race is far too close to call tonight," Martin said. "And there are tens of thousands of votes left to be counted."

She urged Barnes supporters to head home while the campaign works to make sure all of the votes are counted.

"I really appreciate you," she said. "But you know, we're in Wisconsin. And you all know the drill. We've been here many times - our elections have a razor's edge. And this US Senate race is no different."

Martin urged people to "keep the positive energy going."

— Mary Spicuzza

Mark Chambers Jr. easily wins Cavalier Johnson's former Milwaukee Common Council seat

Mark Chambers Jr. handily won the race for the Milwaukee District 2 Common Council seat vacated by Cavalier Johnson when he was elected mayor this spring.

Chambers received 76% of the vote to Jerel Ballard’s 23%, according to unofficial results.

His win was unsurprising, given the three-way August primary in which Chambers took 60% of the vote to Ballard’s 22.5%.

His victory, and the election of state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff to District 3 in an uncontested race, mean two of the four currently vacant council seats will be filled in the coming weeks.

Two others are expected to be filled in the spring election.

Another seat is expected to be vacated this month by Ald. Nikiya Dodd. She has declined to specify when she will step down.

— Alison Dirr

Milwaukee Election Commission executive director heckled at Central Count

Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg told the Journal Sentinel after the city's results were delivered to the county that some observers at central count had heckled her as she was trying to get flash drives ready to take them to the county courthouse this evening.

She said she had created a detailed process of how the city’s election officials would document and try to be as transparent as possible about the flash drives because they were the source of conspiracy theories in the 2020 presidential election.

For instance, on the last of the machines used to count the absentee ballots she said they took issue with how she was documenting a door of the machine that when opened pulled the power cord out.

“It seemed like there was just a small group that was very isolated but that they weren’t going to believe anything,” she said.

She said at one point she had to tell the two or three people heckling her that they might have to leave.

However, those interactions did not slow the process, she said.

Instead, she said what slowed things down was election officials going more methodically from one machine to next, making sure to document the process and wait five to 10 minutes for results to export before moving to the next machine.

That was in contrast to 2020, when she said she went from one machine to the next as results were exporting.

Still, she arrived at the courthouse with the flash drives at 11 p.m.

— Alison Dirr

Gov. Tony Evers wins second term as Wisconsin governor, Tim Michels concedes

Gov. Tony Evers has won a second term as Wisconsin governor after defeating Tim Michels.

Michels conceded the race around 12:20 a.m. Wednesday to Evers. In a speech lasting only a few minutes, he said he had just called incumbent Evers after realizing he could not pull out a victory.

“Unfortunately, the math doesn’t add up,” he said.

Michels thanked his supporters and campaign staff and said Wisconsin was the “greatest state in the union” with a tremendous work ethic and the most wonderful people on the planet.

“In hindsight looking back I don't know what we would have done differently. It was a very spirited effort ... but it wasn't our night tonight,” he said.

— Katelyn Ferral

Republicans in Wisconsin do not gain supermajority in Wisconsin state Legislature

Republicans came up short on Tuesday in their quest for a supermajority in the state Legislature to give lawmakers the power to override the governors' vetoes.

As of midnight, Democrats held onto their seats in northwestern Wisconsin, the Fox Valley, the western Milwaukee suburbs and the Racine/Kenosha area.

Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed more bills than any governor before him, symbolizing the bitter divisions that have defined the statehouse in recent years.

If Assembly Republicans had flipped five seats and Senate Republicans flipped just one, Evers' vetoes — or future vetoes by any governor — won't have any power.

If the Legislature was able to override vetoes during the past legislative session, they could have banned schools from teaching about systemic racism, expanded rights for firearm owners, and overhaul the state's voting policies.

— Corri Hess

Milwaukee’s bipartisan election commissioners accompanied ballot delivery for 'more transparency'

Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg delivered the city’s absentee ballot results at 11 p.m. Tuesday, accompanied by the city’s three election commissioners and a number of observers who had been at central count earlier.

As the results were being uploaded, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson, surrounded by Milwaukee’s bipartisan election commissioners, said the commissioners accompanied the ballot results from central count to the Milwaukee County Courthouse.

He called it a “bipartisan observation effort” meant to “continue the effort of more transparency.”

“We hope that it’s received in that spirit of cooperation and of transparency,” he said.

Republican Election Commissioner Douglas Haag called it a “wise” decision and a “historical moment” that the commissioners were allowed to ride with along and witness the chain of custody.

“Everything has been properly recorded, documented and witnessed,” he said.

— Alison Dirr

Gov. Tony Evers expected to win a second term

Sources in both parties are saying that Gov. Tony Evers is going to win a second term for governor.

“For Michels, I don’t see a path,” said a prominent GOP source.

With two-thirds of the vote in, Evers was leading Republican businessman Tim Michels by 51.2% to 47.8%. But those figures did not include the 61,000 absentee ballots still to be counted in Milwaukee County.

“It’s over,” said a leading Democratic source.

— Daniel Bice

Tammy Baldwin says long wait means 'our democracy is working'

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin assured the crowd at Mandela Barnes' election night party that the wait for results - while tough - is a sign that "our democracy is working" as ballots were counted Tuesday night.

"We all know that waiting is the hardest part. And yet what they're doing right now is a sign that our democracy is working. And I think we can all agree that that is something to celebrate," Baldwin said to cheers.

She also praised the supporters gathered at Turner Hall Ballroom in downtown Milwaukee, saying, "thank you for all of your efforts. I believe that it has made a tremendous difference between whether we have a senator who unites or divides, a senator who serves the public or serves himself."

— Mary Spicuzza and Benjamin Wells

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos easily holds seat

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos easily held onto his seat Tuesday after former President Donald Trump and his endorsed primary candidate launched an expensive attack against Vos through a write-in campaign.

With 50% of precincts reporting, Vos has 8,802 votes compared to write-in challenger Adam Steen, who has 3,533 votes.

Vos will begin his 10th term even as Trump leveled his weight in the GOP against the Assembly Speaker in an effort to boost Steen over the finish line with a new endorsement, calling Vos "horrendous." It didn't work.

— Corri Hess

Milwaukee County Clerk: 'This election has gone very smoothly'

Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said about 9:30 p.m. that Tuesday’s election had gone well.

“This election has gone very smoothly, and we expect it to continue to go smoothly,” he said, adding that there had been long lines in several municipalities.

He said 496 reporting units out of 530 across the county had reported results so far.

No results from central count locations had yet come in.

He expected the City of Milwaukee results to be in around 11 p.m.

Democrats putting faith in Gov. Tony Evers' chances

It’s early, but trends appeared to be emerging in Wisconsin’s big races.

In the governor’s race, Democrats are increasingly optimistic about Gov. Tony Evers’ chances.

They are pointing to the fact that the first-term governor is outperforming his 2018 numbers in traditionally conservative Waukesha County while liberal stronghold Dane County turned out voters in record numbers.

With nearly half of the vote in, Evers was leading Republican businessman Tim Michels by six percentage points, 52.5% to 46.5%.

In the U.S. Senate contest, Democratic candidate Mandela Barnes was ahead of incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson by 50.7% to 49.3% -- a difference of only 20,000 votes.

Republican insiders said they believed that Johnson will be able to make up that margin in the state’s rural counties, many of which have not reported their voter tallies.

But they are both fluid contests, and much could change by the end of the night.

— Daniel Bice

Green Bay reports 14 polling places needed extra ballots

Voter turnout Tuesday in Green Bay was such that 14 of the city's roughly 60 polling places had to have more ballots printed, City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys said Tuesday night.

As far as Jeffreys knew, she said, the shortage didn't prompt any voters to leave without voting. Poll workers presumably notified voting officials of the impending shortages before the ballot supply ran dry.

Through 4 p.m., staff at the clerk's office checked in by telephone with chief inspectors at a majority of polling places. That check showed approximately 20,000 people had voted with four hours left in the voting day, though not all chief inspectors were able to be contacted.

In terms of errors that are known, Jeffreys said she believes that one voter was allowed to cast a ballot without having to show identification.

"It's a mistake, and we'll note it in the inspector's statement," she said. "It means it's 20,000 times an ID was taken (from a voter) and one time that it wasn't."

— Doug Schneider

Green Bay labor union rally outside Central Count calls to 'count every vote'

About 25 labor union members and community activists gathered outside Green Bay's Central Count at City Hall at 8 p.m. calling for every vote to be counted.

Led by Service Employees International Union Local 1, community members came together to support election workers counting votes and to make sure their voices are heard, organizers said.

Participants sported "Count every vote" T-shirts and signs as SEIU and American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin union leaders spoke about the importance of Election Day.

"We're here standing up for every person that voted today for them to have the peace of mind to know that that we are out here," said Bianca Guzman, one of the SEIU organizers. "We're making sure our ballots get counted and that are voices are being heard with our ballots."

— Danielle DuClos

Milwaukee County could have final results by 10:30 p.m.

Milwaukee’s central count is preparing to export final results. Election officials expect final results to be out to the county by 10:30 p.m.Slightly more than 61,000 early ballots have been returned, Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the city’s election commission, said.An observer is raising objections to the process, the grounds of which are unclear.The commission identified 21 early ballots missing a poll worker’s witness signature. Those votes will be still be counted, Woodall-Vogg said, because the error was not the voter’s.

— Genevieve Redsten

Wauwatosa has 65% of absentee ballots counted

Wauwatosa was 65% finished counting absentee ballots about half an hour after polls closed, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson told the Journal Sentinel.

He expected the city would be done by midnight.

Wauwatosa, like other communities across the state, counts its absentee ballots at a single location known as “central count.”

The results shown at the courthouse mirror those available online. The rolling results are available on the Milwaukee County Clerk's Facebook page while the results from individual municipalities are updated throughout the night on the clerk's website.

— Alison Dirr

Darrin Madison is 'almost certainly' the first Black socialist in legislature

Running unopposed, Darrin Madison and Ryan Clancy became the first democratic socialists elected to the Wisconsin Legislature in nearly 90 years on Tuesday.

According to historian John Gurda, Madison is “almost certainly” the first Black socialist elected to the statehouse in history.

Madison said he believes his election will encourage people to “move beyond the traditional avenues of leadership.”

Members of the Socialist Party of America were the last known socialist candidates to be elected, which happened in the early 1930s, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. Many of those members switched over to the Progressive Party by the late 1930s.

Madison and Clancy will caucus with the Democratic Party but will also form a new socialist caucus, Clancy told the Journal Sentinel.

Clancy, who is also a Milwaukee County Board supervisor, said tenants rights would be a priority. Madison said he is focused on engaging people 16 to 24 more in the economy and wants to build support systems for incarcerated people as they enter back into society.

— Drake Bentley

Milwaukee ballots counted in midterm races

Security at Michels' campaign event includes Wisconsin State Patrol

At the Tim Michels’ campaign event at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, Wisconsin State Patrol officers were stationed at each building entrance, even in front of the bathroom.

Members of the press were cordoned off in a corner of a ballroom and were not allowed to speak to attendees nor leave the building and return.

A Michels campaign representative said the measures were for security reasons but did not say if there were any specific threats to the election night event.

— Katelyn Ferral

South side senior center voter turnout 'very busy'

As of 7 p.m., an hour before polls closed, a little over 600 people had cast a ballot at OASIS senior center on Milwaukee’s south side, a total that struck Carl Malischke, chief inspector, as high.

“We’ve been very busy,” he said, adding that more than 80 people had newly registered to vote at the polling site.

Malischke said he had not anticipated any problems at the polling site and had encountered no major issues.He said he had to send some voters to the correct polling site at Longfellow School after officials at another polling site had wrongly sent them to OASIS.

Pang Xiong, 38, said one of the most important issues for her this election was the right to an abortion.

She knows people who have had pregnancy complications that put the mother’s life at risk. She said such decisions shouldn’t be dictated by a law.

“A lot of men don’t know what women have to go through,” she said after casting her ballot at OASIS. “It should be the woman’s choice.”

Joshua Villafuentes, 39, said the issues most important to him were inflation and the economy. He was also concerned with the country’s pace transitioning to alternative sources of energy.

“We’re not ready,” he said. “There’s a lot of people moving too fast.”—Sarah Volpenhein

Election official talks about voting system involving flash drives

Green Bay city clerk says election workers have been busy

Green Bay has had eight polling places require extra ballots because of a heavy turnout today, but City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys says poll workers have encountered no major problems.

Speaking at a 5 p.m. media availability, Jeffreys said the "upwards of 400 people" working the election in the city had encountered no problems other than lines that reminded some people of the crowds associated with the 2020 presidential election.

Besides the heavy turnout at the roughly 60 polling places in the city, poll workers will have to count the roughly 10,100 ballots cast before the election, and the 200 to 400 that arrived by mail in the past two days, Jeffreys said.

"In terms of a midterm election," she said, "turnout has been very high."

Any registered voter who is in line at his or her polling place by 7:59 p.m. tonight, she said, will be able to cast a ballot. But someone who arrives at 8:01 p.m., however, will be out of luck.

— Doug Schneider

Election chief 'expected it to be a little busier' in Waukesha

In Waukesha, the day started fast but became quiet through the lunch hour, with few problems.

Waukesha City Clerk Gina Kozlik said one voting machine failed at one site, but a second was readily available to offset the problem. Other than that, the day was uneventful through noon. That included no voter intimidation incidents.

“We heard there might be something like that, but I haven’t heard about anything so far,” Kozlik said.

At Waukesha City Hall, the polling site for wards 5 to 8, election chief Harry Krueger said the lines were long shortly after the polls opened at 7 a.m., and he was expecting a crowd after the school day ended, but in between it had been relatively quiet.

“I expected it to be a little busier,” Krueger said.

At the National Guard Armory on Walton Avenue in Waukesha, polling had remained fairly steady all day, with short lines forming for wards 21-23, Chief Inspector David Simmons said at about 4:30 p.m.

But more surprising was what fed the crowd: new voter registrations. “Definitely more than our last mid-terms (in 2018),” Simmons said. “Many, many more people registering.”

— James Riccoli

Polling places busy in Muskego

Jon Thelen in Muskego voted Republican today because the candidates are “absolutely 100% correct on the issues,” such as controlling inflation and crime rates, he said.

He voted at Muskego City Hall, and while the polling place was relatively crowded, the city clerk’s office said that high voter turnout for Muskego isn’t out of the ordinary.

“I think what's going to happen at the national level now is that, hopefully the Republicans win and the Democrats still have the White House – they'll be forced to work together,” Thelen said.

— Quinn Clark

Milwaukee has more than half of absentee votes processed

By 4 p.m., the City of Milwaukee had processed 35,236 absentee ballots out of 61,264 returned so far, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said Tuesday.

She expected a few hundred additional absentee ballots would still be returned Tuesday out of the nearly 67,000 total ballot sent to voters.

The city processes its absentee ballots at a single location, known as “central count.” This election, central count is located at the Wisconsin Center downtown due to the higher volume of ballots than in lower-turnout elections.

Woodall-Vogg said she expected all of the absentee ballots would be counted between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.

She described “bustling” polling places across the city, saying turnout is expected to be about 70% to 75% of registered voters.

There have been no issues with election observers that officials were not able to address, she said.

“We are having really great communication with our observers,” she said. “If there’s been a misunderstanding, everything has been able to be remedied without having to issue any order to leave.”

She said the only issue she had been made aware of at polling places were voters who have questioned why observers are watching them.

Whether the number of observers eclipses past elections won’t be known for a few days, when election officials review observer logs. She expected the numbers would be similar to past elections.

Central count has seen fewer observers and less media than expected, she said.

— Alison Dirr

Voter turnout in Sherman Park respectable

Allyn Lottouzee, 33, has been working for the Wisconsin Election Commission for 4 1/2 years, he is the chief poll inspector at the Mary Ryan Boys and Girls Club located at Sherman Park. He also worked this location during the 2020 presidential election and says turnout in 2022 has been lower, but still substantial. “I’ve seen it really busy, I’ve seen it nowhere, and I’ve seen it in the middle. This is somewhere in the middle, closer to busy though,” he said.

Lottouzee said the neighborhood has a lot of absentee voters, and he’s seen a lot of voters return their ballot to the polling place today. “So if the numbers don’t look as impressive physically in here, I think they balance out when you take the absentee ballots,” he said.

Kat S., 26, a new Sherman Park resident, said it was important to vote because she is studying to be a social worker and believes it is important that elected leaders represent everyday people. “I think that if we want to make a difference it’s important to vote in our local elections, in our midterm elections, because these are the people who are making decisions for us that are impacting people in our communities,” she said.

— Drake Bentley

Kenosha poll observer says he was ejected from polling place after rectifying erroneous challenge to students' eligibility

The voting eligibility of several people were erroneously challenged and the leaders of a local NAACP chapter and a nonprofit that serves Wisconsin’s Latinx community were kicked out of a Kenosha polling site Tuesday.

Darryl Morin, the president of Forward Latino, said Kenosha’s city clerk was eventually called to the site and “took immediate and corrective action,” but he said the series of events “underscore how important the role of poll observers are to the process.”

“You can see where there was a huge opportunity for a significant number of voters to be disenfranchised,” Morin said.

Morin said his organization was called to the site, at Kenosha’s Civil War Museum, after a group of at least three students from Carthage College were initially told they could not vote and their names were not on the rolls, when in fact they were, Morin said.

A second incident involved another group of six students — five of them white and another Latino — entering the location at the same time. Morin said the Latino student was the only one asked where he was from and why he was voting there.

Morin said all the students involved were eventually allowed to vote. But Morin eventually was kicked out of the polling site after he tried to help a voter get a question answered, he said.

Morin said a voter — a Black woman — approached him with a question, but because he was there as a poll observer, he was not allowed to speak to her. He said he saw her wandering around looking for someone else to consult, so he helped get the attention of a poll worker to help her.

That, apparently, was enough to get him kicked out by the chief inspector at the site.

Morin said the chief “very loudly ejected me.”

Anthony Davis, the president of the Kenosha chapter for the NAACP, also was present at the site as an observer. He said he was ejected by the chief when he said hello and hugged a poll worker that he knew from high school.

“I think it was an overreaction,” Davis said.

Morin said other workers with Forward Latino stayed at the site to make sure the corrective actions by the clerk were followed.

Michelle Nelson, the Kenosha City Clerk, did not immediately return a request for comment.

— Elliot Hughes

Wauwatosa lines long after voting machine stopped working

Wauwatosa voters are enduring lines over an hour long after a ballot scanner at City Hall stopped working, causing election workers to combine all three districts into one line rather than the two they planned for. Election workers are now asking voters to place ballots in a slot below the scanner for the votes to be scanned later.

In response to the hold-up, some voters were seen leaving the voting line, with most saying they would come back at night and others saying they weren't sure whether they would have the time to cast their vote.

One voter, Richard Wight, said he simply doesn’t have the time to wait an hour to vote because of work, so he is going to come back at night in hopes of finding shorter lines.

“This is an important election so I’m really going to want to get my vote in, but I just don’t have time right now and I’m a bit worried about when I’ll have time to come back,” said Wight.

At Hart Park, another voting location in Tosa, voters are seeing lines tightly snaked around the Muellner Building’s stairwell and out its door as the location experiences its first major election under new voting districts.

Due to redistricting, the location now serves two more districts than before causing lines to be longer and election workers to be overwhelmed. Nancy Hall, chief inspector at the location, said the long lines started at 8 a.m. and have not stopped since.

“Usually we get voters during the morning, lunch and after work rush, but this year it has just been hour-long waits the whole time … I’ve never seen it this busy,” said Hall.

Despite the long lines, expected to hold steady throughout the rest of the night, Hall said things have run very smoothly and there have been no incidents while voters are waiting in line.

— Beck Salgado

Appleton polling place seeing high turnout

Halfway through Election Day, midterm voter turnout had already surpassed primary turnout at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Appleton.

By 2 p.m., the polling place had 50% of registered voters in its wards cast their ballots, according to Chief Inspector Carolyn Klein-Marsh.

“(In the primary), we had about 33% of eligible voters vote by the end of the night,” Klein-Marsh said. “This is really good turnout today.”

There has also been an uptick in curbside voting at the polling place.

Klein-Marsh said seven people had cast their ballots curbside by 2 p.m., when most elections, she’s seen about three the whole day.

— Sophia Voight

The scene in Lake Country

Mike Draeger, a Nashotah resident, describes himself as a “blue collar guy who works hard and wants a fair election.” He’s voting for Republicans this year. He considers himself a moderate, but said it’s hard to do so these days.

“I vote Republican, not because I'm proud of them or admire them,” Draeger said. “I vote Republican because I'm terrified of the Democrats and what they have become these days.”

Evers’ response to COVID-19 is just one example of the many radical choices made on the left, he said.

Draeger voted at Nashotah Village Hall, and votes in every election he can. “It's my duty. I have to do it,” he said. “I cannot complain about the problem unless I'm at the polls.”

By 3 p.m., about 600 people voted at Nashotah Village Hall, said village clerk Cynthia Pfeifer. About 20 people so far have registered to vote today, she said. The polling place has been busy, but that isn’t unusual for them, she said.

“It was real busy earlier,” Pfeifer said. “Now it seems like it's slowing down a little bit. It'll get busier again when school gets out, and then for the rest of the evening.”

The main issues that drove Draeger to the polls are government spending and gun rights. He is tired of losing so much of his paycheck to taxes when he doesn’t see any positive change in the community.

— Quinn Clark

Dane County turnout could exceed 85%

After projecting an 85% voter turnout earlier today, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell is now calling that a “floor” projection which may go higher.

Melanie Conklin, a spokesperson for the Dane County Clerk’s Office, said the office had to request an additional 3,000 ballots this afternoon for polling locations on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and the city's east side.

“Just had to reorder some ballots. I ordered a lot of ballots. So take that as some sort of tea leaf,” McDonell said in a tweet.

Conklin said it was a proactive request and none of the city’s polling locations have run out of ballots. She said no locations in the city have reported any issues.

— Elliot Hughes

The scene in Mequon and Milwaukee's north side

Chief poll inspector at Rufus King High School, Victoria Robinson, has been working the polls at the school for about five years. She says this is the strongest turnout she’s seen, adding that its been “steady” all day. She also said she’s seen more first time voters than she’s seen before.

“We had at least 20 first time voters this morning,” she said

Khari Pleas-Carnie, 22, lives in the Rufus King neighborhood and said he felt it was necessary to vote because he doesn’t want to see legislation implemented that was passed in other states. He encourages others his age to vote saying, “A lot of people my age won’t be able to go out to the booth or don’t see the importance of going out to the booth and I’m just like, 'Your voice matters.'”

The stream of voters has briefly slowed in Mequon at the Lumen Christi Catholic Church located at 2750 W Mequon Rd as of 1:45p.m. Chief Inspector Diana Turner said the polling place was busy this morning and are expecting more voters later in the day.

As of 2:30p.m., voters are waiting more than 30 minutes to get inside the polling place at the Shorewood Village Center, located at 3920 N. Murray Ave. Chief Inspector Janet Kreilein said the line has been mostly consistent throughout the day. Between wards 1-4, more than 750 people have voted, and in wards 5-8, 625 voters have cast their ballots as of 2:30p.m. Kreilein said turnout has been comparable to a presidential Election-Day race.

— Drake Bentley and Alexandria Groth

Student IDs need expiration dates

Turnout was high at Riverside High school with many new registrants, said chief inspector Bill Christianson, just before explaining to a UWM student that he needed a different student ID to vote.

Students who have out-of-state drivers licenses can use student IDs instead, but the IDs must have expiration dates. The regular UWM IDs don’t have that, so students need to request them, Christianson said.

Christianson told the student he could fill out a provisional ballot and later bring his ID, or he could walk back to UWM to get a new ID printed that day. The student walked.

Other than those issues, Christianson said the day was running smoothly, with two election observers visiting from the Republican Party and one from the Democratic Party.

“I was expecting a lot more; they prepared us for a lot more,” he said.

In the gym at Riverside, Wenshet Burkman voted for the first time Tuesday as a new citizen. She brought her two kids to vote at Riverside High School, where they helped her feed her ballot into the machine.

“I was a little nervous because I had never seen it but it was really easy,” she said.

Burkman said abortion was a top issue for her. She also wanted to support public education and especially would like to see better school meals. Her kids attend Maryland Montessori.

Another voter at Riverside, Ali Reese, also said abortion was a top issue. She said she wished the Democrats’ advertising would have gone more into other issues in addition to abortion, but it was still a big concern.

“I didn’t want things that I might be able to have a say in just get blown over, because I didn’t have a say,” she said.

— Rory Linnane

Election monitors are in Milwaukee and Racine

The Justice Department has election monitors in 64 jurisdictions in 24 states today, including Milwaukee and Racine.

The department has sent monitors to election sites for more than five decades to make sure polling sites are complying with federal voting rights laws.

The department's monitors include workers from the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorneys' Offices.

Civil Rights Division personnel also are taking tips from the public about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws online at civilrights.justice.gov or by phone at 800-253-3931.

— Ashley Luthern

Hmong voters want their voices heard

Jimmy Xiong, 45, voted for Democrats Tuesday at Richard Kluge Elementary School, around the corner from where he lives in Milwaukee’s Silver Spring neighborhood.

“It all comes down to voting,” he said. “It’s very critical right now. Democrats need every bit of help.”

Xiong doesn’t trust Republicans to pay attention to people like him, and he credits Democrats with a hot job market and improving worker wages. Xiong himself recently switched jobs. He had earned about $14 an hour at his previous job, but now earns $19 an hour working at a manufacturing company in New Berlin.

He also stands to benefit from student loan relief that President Joe Biden, a Democrat, announced earlier this year. Xiong has a two-year degree and about $20,000 in student loans, he said. He submitted an application for loan forgiveness through Biden’s initiative, which is currently being held up by legal challenges. If the loan forgiveness goes through, Xiong said it would help “a lot.”

Ying Yang, 50, was at Kluge School with her daughter, who helped translate the ballot for her. It was Yang's second or third time voting, and this was the first time Yang — who doesn't speak much English — had assistance, she said through her daughter.

Yang voted because she wanted to make the Hmong and Southeast Asian community heard, she said through her daughter, Lisa Vue.

The polling site did not have a Hmong-speaking poll worker. Jackie Christian, the chief inspector at the site, said people who need language assistance usually bring someone with them who can help translate or interpret.

— Sarah Volpenhein

In Bay View, security guard's first day includes poll security

Shauniqua Johnson didn’t expect her first day as a security guard to include helping out at the polls Tuesday.

Johnson, who was recently hired by Durable Security Services, was assigned to work the lobby of the Bay View Branch of the Milwaukee Public Library for Election Day.

However, seeing the early morning rush, she volunteered to help guide voters as they came through the doors, working with a poll worker to direct voters to the registration and ballot pick-up tables.

By early afternoon she’d encountered happy people, angry people and people who just didn’t want to talk, she said.

“It’s quite the experience,” Johnson said. “I kind of like it. I didn’t know I’d be such a people person until today.”

Chief inspector Dawn Wenszell was appreciative of the help on a day she called “insane.”

The polling place picked up an additional ward with a lot of apartment buildings this year, and many of the voters were new to the area and needed to register to vote, she said. As of 1 p.m., 646 ballots had been cast at the library.

“This is the busiest I recall, Wenszell said.

At the library and at the South Shore Park Pavillion, voters were standing in long lines when polls opened.

Election inspector Mary Dannecker said poll workers set up an extra table to split Ward 239, allowing them to move voters through the line more quickly.

Things had slowed by the lunch hour, giving Dannecker some breathing room as she checked in poll workers who were arriving for the afternoon and evening shift.

As of noon, 740 people had voted at the pavilion.

“This feels way ahead of most elections,” Dannecker’s husband and co-inspector, Joe Dannecker, said.

— Karl Ebert

Mayor Cavalier Johnson speaks at Central Count

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson just made an appearance at Central Count after visiting polling stations across the city, including the south and north sides. He took to the microphone to congratulate the election workers present on their hard work.

“I know that over the course of the past couple of years what happens right here in places like this and Wisconsin have gotten more of a microscope, and those of you who have taken so much of your time, your energy, your effort to make sure we have a transparent day,” he said.

“I want to thank you for stepping up to make sure that we continue to have a functioning, well-run elections organization right here in the City of Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “It’s good for the city. It’s good for the state.

— Vanessa Swales

Man in custody after carrying knife into West Bend polling place and demanding staff 'stop the voting'

West Bend police said a 38-year-old man is in custody after entering the West Bend Community Memorial Library with a knife and “demanding for staff to ‘stop the voting.'" No one was injured in the incident, though voting was interrupted for about 30 minutes.

Voters and children playing in a nearby play area were escorted into the voting room, a poll worker said, and the doors were shut.

“Heavy police presence,” the poll worker said. “They were all over the place.”

Library staff declined to comment on the incident.

The incident took place at 12:35 p.m., and voting operations have returned to normal. In fact, voters who came later weren't even aware of what had transpired.

One man said one of his workers told him about it: “I guess nothing surprises me anymore," he said. "I just don’t understand it. Go vote if you don’t like (how things are going).”

About an hour before the incident, West Bend city officials told the Journal Sentinel there had been no reported issues across the city’s eight polling locations.

More than 500 voters cast their votes shortly before 1 p.m. at West Bend’s City Hall — a number poll workers said was high compared to previous elections.

“It’s been busy,” said John Strange, a volunteer who has worked the polls at past elections in the city. “We had about 30 or 40 people in line before we opened up.”

City officials said they expected a high turnout Tuesday. They projected about half of the more than 18,000 eligible voters in the city, including 5,000 absentee votes before Election Day, had voted by noon.

Shortly after noon, voters formed two lines just inside the city hall — one to register to vote and another to collect a ballot and vote.

Mark Vos, 59, said he voted for Republicans across the ticket and noted that races for governor and Senate are tight.

Vos said rising prices were a big problem for him. He sees Republicans like Tim Michels and Ron Johnson as being able to bring down those costs.

“It’s very expensive, and I’m on a fixed income,” Vos said. “So I need all the help I can get.”

Other voters expressed a range of reasons they came out to vote Tuesday. One woman said she didn’t like what she called Democrats’ “woke agenda” in schools, and another man said he refused to vote for anyone endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

Melissa Nichelson and her mother, Sandra Wallace, voted shortly after 12:30. Abortion rights, they said is a key issue this election. Inflation is also an issue, Wallace said, “but that’s something I really don’t blame on Joe Biden. I blame it on COVID.”

“We’re probably in the minority here saying that,” Nichelsen said, noting Washington County is strongly Republican. “But we’re used to it.”

— Lawrence Andrea

'I wanted to change the narrative'

The nation's voting rights struggle factored into Tyron Cooper’s, 44, decision to come to the polls today at the Clinton Rose Senior Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive

“Pretty much exercising the right to vote because our ancestors didn’t have that right in the past,” Cooper said “(I) wanted to do my part in something that we as African Americans weren't able to do before.”

Even as a Black man, he said his biggest issue in this election is access to abortion. He said Mandela Barnes’s challenger, Ron Johnson, has said some “barbaric” things when it comes to reproductive rights.

“I wanted to change that narrative,” Cooper said.

“We are all in agreement that abortion should not be used for birth control … and there is plenty of reason why a woman would or wouldn’t, but that should be an option.”

— La Risa Lynch

Students showing up at UWM to cast ballots

At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student union, which is one of the city’s largest polling places, poll workers said turnout was steady throughout the morning and will pick up later in the day. A long table with at least seven chairs were filled with people registering to vote.

First-time voter Max Zimmerman, a music major at the school, was among them. He called the voter registration process “super easy.”

Zimmerman voted blue down the ballot because he said women’s and LGBTQ rights are under threat.

There were six election observers at one point in the day but no issues reported, according to the polling place’s chief inspector.

Lines sometimes formed outside the voting room, especially before and after class-period changes.

“Stay in line,” one older woman called out to the students waiting in line. “Your vote is really important.”

— Kelly Meyerhofer

State election chief: Smooth sailing in Wisconsin

Other than routine reports of long lines at polling locations this morning, “as of this afternoon there are no major issues that have been reported and Election Day in Wisconsin is going smoothly,” the state’s chief election official said.

Megan Wolfe, the administrator for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, made the remarks at a 1 p.m. online news conference as officials across the state reported high turnout.

Lines of 45 minutes to an hour were reported in Shorewood, Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, Wauwatosa and Hayward, according to Alyssa Mauk, a spokesperson for the ACLU of Wisconsin.

Other polling locations on Milwaukee’s north and northwest sides reporting higher than average voter turnout in the morning with smaller wait times, while turnout in Dane County is expected to reach 85%, according to County Clerk Scott McDonell.

Wolfe said more than 815,000 absentee ballots had been requested in Wisconsin and more than 741,000 had been marked as returned by the morning.

Officials and members of both political parties said they were had not been notified of any substantial issues, but some of them did acknowledge a range of small concerns.

Wolfe said she has seen “minor reports of potentially tense situations” regarding poll observers on social media, but she said “we’re not aware of any major disturbances at any of our polling places.”

Barbara Beckert, director of external advocacy at Disability Rights Wisconsin, said she received a report of one voting location not offering curbside voting for disabled persons. But most of the calls she received in the morning centered around disabled people needing transportation to the polls and a lack of options in places such as Racine and Waukesha.

“Otherwise, we’ve really only seen routine calls and questions at this point,” Wolfe said.

— Elliot Hughes

Sorority helps run polling at Senior center

Voting at the Clinton Rose Senior Center was a Delta affair, with the Delta Sigma Theta sorority returning to staff their adopted polling location. Poll Chief Kimberly Eubanks said she was “shocked” at the high turnout in a good way. More than 200 voters and nearly 40 new registrations were recorded at the site with 6 ½ hours to go until doors close.

Sherell McKinney, a poll worker who has been participating in election work for at least 15 years, said the turnout reminded her of the 2020 election.

“There’s so many people who want Ron Johnson out and don’t want Michels in,” she said.

McKinney, who said she was surprised and pleased by the turnout so far, said it proves the get-out-to-vote effort has been much more successful than many anticipated.

“They were really hitting all the issues: social security, abortion,” McKinney said of political campaigns. “It’s making people mad, and they’re coming out.”

— Talis Shelbourne

Things still running smoothly at Central Count in Milwaukee

At Central Count, the ballot-counting process continues to run smoothly. City of Milwaukee Elections Commission director, Claire Woodall-Vogg issued a reminder over the loudspeaker that workers must submit bi-hourly reports that show how many ballots have been run through each of the tabulators.

When asked of her impressions about the process, Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Ann Jacobs said, “Quiet and fairly calm.”

Woodall-Vogg also reminded observers that they may ask election workers what their party affiliation is by asking workers show their colored wristbands (either blue or red). Election workers were also reminded that they play a nonpartisan role in their capacity today, with Woodall-Vogg saying: “We are all nonpartisan today serving our Constitution — not having any discussions about politics.”

There are nine tabulating machines at Central Count.

— Vanessa Swales

You know what goes great with voting? Tacos

Vote.org positioned a food truck outside the polling station at Benjamin Franklin School, giving out free tacos. The effort is part of a national push to encourage people to come out and vote. This is the food truck's first stop and began setting up around noon. The truck plan to give out 1,000 tacos in the area.

A couple miles up the row, Jerry Key said turnout has been brisk at the Villard Square Branch Library. A poll worker for the last 22 years, Key said they will probably have about 200 voters come through the northside site’s doors before the polls close. But as the clock struck noon, 100 people have cast ballots so far.

But because of redistricting. Key noted that a roughly a third of those previously using that polling location had been relocated, and he said that caused a lot confusion and frustration for people.

“People who had been voting here for years had to go someplace else,” Key said.

— La Risa Lynch

The scene in Green Bay, including planned rallies

Voter turnout is higher than usual at the Trinity Church polling location in downtown Green Bay, by noon already exceeding what the location typically sees.

So far about 180 people have voted there when turnout is usually around 160 voters for the entire day, according to the chief inspector.

For voters, this is their chance to swing federal and state government in their party's favor.

Kegan King said the main reason he voted is to push Democrats out of office and put Republicans in.

"That's all I care about," he said.

He voted for "anything with a Republican on it" for all the races on the ballot. His number one issue is President Joe Biden, especially because he doesn't believe Biden won the 2020 presidential election.

"I just can't stand that man. He's running this country into the ground," King said.

Emily Kyle, who aligns mostly with Democrats, voted for Tony Evers for governor for "feminist and education purposes."

One of her top issues is education. "I was a teacher in the past. I have a lot of respect for teachers and have changed career fields due to the times (that we're in) to be honest."

The Green Bay School District has a $92.6 million capital referendum on the ballot which King left blank because he wasn't sure what it was for. Kyle voted for the referendum because as a former teacher, she said she values education.

Two labor unions are holding a rally at 7:30 p.m. outside City Hall's Central Count to "demand city officials be allowed to count every vote," according to a Service Employees International Union Local 1 press release.

Joining SEIU state council member Bianca Guzman is the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin executive board member Jon Shelton.

Voters will "speak out" against efforts to "silence the voices of working families," according to the release. Local voters, labor leaders and community leaders will speak at the event.

— Danielle DuClos

The scene in Germantown

At the American Legion Post 1 polling place in Germantown, Jason Adames exited after voting wearing a MAGA hat. He said no one said anything to him or any official told him to remove his hat. He voted peacefully, he said.

"Why not? It is my First Amendment right," Adams said, adding that he has voted over the years at the American Legion six to eight times, and it has always been smooth.

Another voter, Victor Davis, said he is voting because he is fearful that democracy will be taken away. "I can't understand how a man can do so much wrong and not get prosecuted," said Davis. "If it were a Black, Asian or Jew, it would be a whole different story. He offended nearly every ethnic group."

More than a dozen voters said they felt safe voting, and it was smooth. Tom and Dee Kemppainen said the process was smooth. "No one tried to influence us. I was worried about that," said Dee.

By 1 p.m., 835 voters voted at this Germantown location.

— Cathy Kozlowicz

Election observers at Central Count 'to make sure they don't cheat,' and many are from outside Wisconsin

At about 10 a.m., at Central Count there is a group of roughly 25 observers who identify as either independent or unaffiliated, according to Jefferson E. Davis, an observer and spokesman for the Ad-Hoc Committee for Wisconsin’s Full Forensic Physical Cyber Audit. Davis is a conservative who has sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a move that is illegal and impossible.

When asked why he was here, he told the Journal Sentinel: “To make sure they don’t cheat,” referring to the election workers.

Davis, a former Menomonee Falls village president who resigned that post in 2005 to settle a campaign finance violation case, still does not accept that Biden won Wisconsin and the presidency.

“Like I said, you beat us fair and square, congratulations, but you cheat, then we got problems.,” he said. “We're not going to be caught with our pants down like we were in ‘18 and ‘20, and probably ‘16 and probably ‘12.”

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in any of the elections Davis mentioned.

Davis said the group supported the work done by Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who was hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin.  But Gableman produced no evidence that called the election results into question after spending $1 million of taxpayer money and he was eventually fired by Vos, who then called his review "an embarrassment to the state."

The group of observers he mentioned consists primarily of attorneys and lobbyists, with roughly 10 coming from out of state from D.C. and Georgia, Davis said.

— Vanessa Swales

Envelopes get sliced by counting machine at Central Count

At Milwaukee Central Count,, hundreds of ballots were accidentally cut by a envelope slicer machine.

“One ward had 200 (ballots cut),” said Claire Woodall-Vogg, executive director of the Milwaukee Elections Commission, adding workers did not realize they were cutting ballots.

Workers review the addresses and witnesses for each ward before opening the envelopes with a machine.Woodall-Vogg said the ballots are being reconstructed so they can be counted.

“All the issues have been resolved,” Woodall-Vogg said.

— Ricardo Torres

The scene at Greenfield, Fox Point and more

At the Greenfield Community Center, chief inspector Devan Gracyalny said turnout was the highest he’s ever seen in a non-presidential election since he started working the polling place in 2010.

“I think people are more informed, and COVID’s done and they’re getting out, and it’s good weather,” he said.

Voters were lined up around the block when Gracyalny opened the doors this morning and have continued in a steady stream. He said there’s been less early and absentee voting than in prior years.

“People want to get out and see their vote count, put their ballot in that machine,” he said. “I think people just want to touch it, feel it and get it in there.”

Some Greenfield voters said inflation was top of mind.

Nancy Peterson said it’s been difficult to adjust to rising grocery prices while retired on a fixed income. She said she wasn’t sure exactly what could be done about it, but she put her hope in Republican candidates.

She also voted against a referendum for more funding for Greenfield schools.

“We’ve been pumping big money into schools and they continue to be a concern,” Peterson said. “I don’t think money’s the answer.”

Kevin Nugent, who owns Milwaukee Steakhouse, two gun shops, a sports bar and three other companies, said he was voting for Republicans to “fix the country.” He said pandemic restrictions hurt business.

“It’s been a terrible tragedy what the Democrats have done to this country,” he said.

Voters lined up out the door in Fox Point to cast their ballot at the police station, located at 7300 N Santa Monica Boulevard. As of around 10:30a.m. Chief Inspector Mary Beth Mills said turnout so far has been similar to a presidential election year.

Fox Point voters also have a referendum on the ballot deciding whether to renew a $3.1 million operational referendum. The referendum supports school district programming, class sizes and teacher staffing levels, according to the district.

“I value education. I think it’s important to maintain smaller class sizes and getting the school the funds they need. I went to school there,” said voter Hayley Sentz. She voted at Longacre Pavilion, 7343 N Longacre Road in Fox Point.

Chief Inspector Mark Grady at Longacre Pavilion also said new registrations have been higher than expected. He said it’s been a mix of new residents and first-time voters.

At Indigenous People’s Park, Poll Chief Freda Fowlkes-Bell said the site, with 147 voters before noon, has already surpassed the average number of votes on Election Day, which is roughly 125.

“Our percentage is always higher than the city,” she said. “We have a good group of of neighbors.”

One observer was present, and the scene was bustling with regular traffic. Fowlkes-Bell praised the election commission for its level of organization.

She also said she wasn’t concerned about voter intimidation, adding, “I wish they would come up to me. I’ve got my backup crew. I don’t intimidate easily.”

The poll chief said she believes a combination of aggressive political advertising and more people becoming interested in politics have contributed to the higher-than-normal turnout.

She noted more young people than she’s ever seen before, which she attributed to the marijuana referendum on this year’s ballot.

“I don’t think a lot of people know about it, and if they did, I think more people would come,” she said.

Aaron Bridges, 38, grew up just blocks away from Indigenous Peoples Park where he voted today. With his daughter at his side, he said he wanted to vote to make his voice heard because, he said, “it matters.”

He said in the current polarized political climate, he finds himself “firmly on one side,” citing price inflation as his top issue. “I don’t see the end of it if we continue the current set of policies,” he said.

Bridges said he is also concerned about attempts to transition the country from traditional fuels to “ones that don’t seem to exist yet,” and said he doesn’t believe wind and solar power are ready to sustain the country.

One candidate in particular, Bridges said, stood out to him: Ron Johnson, whom Bridges said made an impression on him after hosting his “COVID-19: A Second Opinion” panel.

“Ron Johnson stepped right into the fray and gave that second opinion and that spoke really loudly to me,” Bridges said.

In Menasha, by 11 a.m., the polling place located in the Menasha Senior Center had processed about 900 votes between absentee ballots and in-person voters. The location serves about 2,500 voters, according to Chief Inspector Rob Konitzer.

The line hadn’t been out the door, but it did take about an hour to get through the initial rush, he said.

Likewise, another polling place in Menasha at Clovis Grove Elementary School had about 30 people lined up outside when doors opened at 7 a.m., said Chief Inspector Larry Gressler.

Tuesday’s election marks 22 years that Gressler has been working local elections. He said this election is the busiest he’s seen since the 2020 presidential election. The Clovis Grove polling place usually has about six workers, but they doubled that for this election.

Gressler and his team have about 550 absentee ballots to process. Just after 10:30 a.m. they’d made it through roughly a quarter of them and had to recreate nine of them that had been damaged in the mail or some other capacity, which he said isn’t unusual.

There was one ballot Gressler and his team had to reject entirely because the woman had died between the time she submitted her absentee ballot and Tuesday.

Nearly a dozen poll workers at the Benjamin Franklin School sat at tables assisting voters. Roughly 317 people voted at the site, which represents three wards; 52 new voters were registered as well. Two observers were in the room, along with the poll chief who said they haven’t had any issues with voter intimidation.

— Rory Linnane, Alexandria Groth, AnnMarie Hilton and Talis Shelbourne

Green Bay clears 10,000 voters on Election Day

As of 10 a.m., about 10,000 people have voted in Green Bay according to the city's clerk Celestine Jeffreys. She ordered 37,000 ballots for voting at the polls.

There are over 400 election workers across the 27 polling locations. Jeffreys said there are election observers at all voting locations, including Central Count at City Hall.

Only one report of potential voter intimidation or a negative voter experience has been reported to the election protection hotline. It's being investigated by the clerk's office.

"We're dealing with that one," Jeffreys said.

Jeffreys said the turnout for early absentee voting, which ran from Oct. 25 to Nov. 6, was excellent. Each day there was an average of 250 voters, with three of the days seeing over 1,200 voters.

"So far I have to say the turnout's been great," Jeffreys said. "Turn out for in-person absentee voting was really brisk and wonderful."

As of of Friday, there were 51,000 registered voters in Green Bay, which could increase with Election Day voter registration.

— Danielle DuClos

Goodbye, political TV ads

It was a good laugh this morning when WTMJ Channel 4 in Milwaukee tweeted that the last political ad on its airwaves for this election is scheduled to air at 4:46 p.m. this evening.

The scene at South Division High School (and elsewhere)

Voters have been trickling in at South Division High School in Milwaukee, said Melody Villanueva, who is serving as chief of that polling location.As of 10:20 a.m., 31 people, including three first-time voters, had cast ballots at the polling location, which contains two wards, she said.Three voters arrived before 7 a.m. and patiently waited until polls officially opened, she said.

Several voters have asked for language assistance and a bilingual assistant who spoke Spanish was available on site to help those who needed it.

"I would suggest that everybody get out and vote," Villanueva said. "Today is very important. It is for we, the people, to show our involvement and our dedication to protecting our democracy."

At Plymouth Church, poll workers report an uptick in voters thanking them for volunteering their time to help run Election Day.

“People seem overly grateful and appreciative,” said poll worker Joanne Lipo Zovic. “Someone said ‘thank you for working on behalf of our republic.’ That’s not the typical expression of gratitude.”

Nearly 300 ballets had been cast by 10 a.m., which she said are “big numbers” for a midterm in a ward with about 1,200 voters.

Lipo Zovic said the compliments she and other poll workers have received speak to the sensitivities of the current climate around election integrity. The acknowledgement from voters, she said, is simultaneously encouraging and heartbreaking that this is what the country has come to.

In West Allis as of late morning, it’s been a “smooth and organized” Election Day, according to Deputy City Clerk Gina Gresch.

She said there was an initial line at City Hall when the polls first opened, but it’s been steady ever since. She said the other polling places in the city are also “chugging along.”

“People have actually complimented the workers there how smooth and organized it is,” Gresch said.

Those casting their ballots are interested and passionate, she said.

“There's a lot of interest in this one and a lot of people that are making sure they come out to vote,” she said.

A total of 2,430 West Allis voters cast their ballots early and in person, Gresch said.

At Alright United Methodist Church, election poll chief James Napper said turnout is heavier than expected. In the 2020 presidential election, the site brought in 146 voters. Heading into the noon hour, already 75 had voted, including 14 new registrations.

“I think the issues are probably what is contributing to people coming out,” he said.

“Mostly young people, we are very encouraged by this,” said Napper, who has been an election worker for nearly seven years.

He said there have been no worries around voter intimidation.

— Ashley Luthern, Kelly Meyerhofer, Bob Dohr, Talis Shelbourne and La Risa Lynch

Not registered? Remember, Wisconsin has same-day voting registration

Tomethius "Marley" Brown, 31, and his fiancée, Alexandria, 35, completed same-day voter registration at the Dineen Park Pavilion.

The couple waited before they registered because they wanted to vet all the candidates. Brown said they didn't want to base their decision on what other people said about the candidates or based on someone's skin color, " because you could be signing your rights away."

"It took some time to do homework on each candidate," Brown said.

He said he was on the fence about some, but he voted for Gov. Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes.

He also voted for Josh Kaul for attorney general.

"He is going to be at the center of a lot of pieces," Brown said. "He is going to take on a big chunk of the responsibility in getting our city back safe."

Voters can register in person at the same place where they cast their ballot. Visit MyVote for more information.

Absentee vote totals surge compared to 2018 midterms

Before the polls opened Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites had already sent in their ballots, with mail-in and in-person absentee voting totals the day before the election far outnumbering those of the last midterm cycle.

By Tuesday, 741,795 people mailed in their absentee ballot or voted in-person in the state, according to data from the Wisconsin Election Commission. That number surpassed the 565,591 people who voted absentee ahead of the the 2018 midterms.

The jump in absentee voting across Wisconsin, which began Oct. 25, comes as candidates from both parties pushed their bases to get out and vote over the last two weeks. But it also represents a shift in voter behavior brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is substantial voter engagement in this year's elections," said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, "but the larger number of early votes compared to 2018 is more a sign of changing preferences about the method of voting than a sign of much higher turnout," Burden said.

Read the full story here.

— Lawrence Andrea

Abortion issue brings voters to the polls

Gwendolyn Williams, 56, didn’t vote in the last midterm election, but she made sure to vote this time — she said abortion rights are on the line.

“It’s like we’re going back in time,” she said. “You can’t tell a person what to do about their body.”

Williams was among a steady stream of voters Tuesday morning at the Milwaukee Sign Language School on the city’s northwest side.

For Debra Canady, 65, the issues driving her to the polls were not only abortion, but education, crime and social security.

She wants to see more funding for public schools, which Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, has called for.

“Everybody can’t afford private schools,” she said.

She also criticized efforts by Republicans to restrict schools from teaching about systemic racism.

Canady is also concerned about crime, saying it has been “out of control for years.” She doesn’t know anyone who hasn’t been touched in some way by crime.

For today, Canady is just glad the election is almost over and the political ads will end.

“They were just exhausting,” she said.

— Sarah Volpenhein

Recurring theme: Turnout is high

A theme of unexpectedly high turnout this election continued at the Ralph Metcalfe Neighborhood School’s Todd Wehr Community Center, where poll worker Paulette Webster said voter turnout at 9:30 a.m. was already at the same number it usually is around 6 p.m.

“We don’t usually see that until some of the people get off work,” she said of the numbers, adding that she is surprised and happy.

Chief Inspector Felix Onukwugha at the ward said there are roughly 349 registered voters in that area, but only around 50 typically turn out during election season. They were already at 25 mid-morning. This midterm, he said, has been different.

“A lot of things are at stake for people,” he said. Onukwugha, who has been working elections for over a decade, said he’s not too worried about voter intimidation. In past presidential elections, protestors for and against abortions have shown up outside the center, but he said he doesn’t think they’ll show this year.

However, he pointed out, it is still early.

Poll Chief Valeria Sauvé at the Dineen Park pavilion said both turnout and registrations are higher than normal. With 135 voters and 25 new registrations, she said the atmosphere has resembled more of a general election than a midterm.

“We’ve had five people at the registration and two waiting,” she said at one point.

Poll worker David Armstrong said roughly two-thirds of voters have been older with younger people making up the remaining third. He said he expects even more voters after 4 p.m.

Three observers were on hand, with only two allowed inside and one available to rotate in. One observer told the Journal Sentinel, per their instructions, they are not allowed to speak to anyone.

— Talis Shelbourne

Public education on the ballot in today's election

At Doerfler School, near National Avenue and 30th Street, Luz Tate voted blue, with her 13-year-old nephew in tow.

She said she’d like to see more funding for public schools, which Gov. Evers has called for.

Tate, who herself is in an online college program with Penn State, raised three children and is now raising her sister’s three children who are in Milwaukee Public Schools. She also cares for her grandson, who she said is autistic and in special education.

“Public schools have helped as much as they can, and I just feel like they need more help,” Tate said. “Kids need more programs, more activities to be involved in. Not all schools have the sports, music, chorus, all the things we used to have.

Statewide, there are 81 school referendum questions across 59 districts on the ballot this year. Districts are asking for a total of over $2 billion more in funding beyond their tax revenue limits set by state law.

Tate also marked yes on the referendum question about prohibiting semi-automatic firearms.

“The gun thing is running rampant; we need some kind of control,” she said. “I think right now it’s too easy for everybody to have it.”

Poll workers at Doerfler said turnout wasn’t as busy as the presidential election but was busier than other past elections. They had only seen two election observers as of 9:30 a.m.

— Rory Linnane

Machine jam at Central Count resolved quickly

City of Milwaukee Elections Commission director, Claire Woodall-Vogg, is present at Central Count. At 9:47 a.m., she assisted ballot workers when there was a brief jam in one of the ballot machines. The issue was resolved. The director took to the microphone shortly after to speak to the election workers, reminding them how to feed the ballots into the machine correctly and telling them they were doing a great job. The room of workers cheered.

— Vanessa Swales

'Everything's so chaotic right now'

Early voter turnout was light at the United Community Center, on South 9^th Street, and Lincoln School near 18^th Street and Lincoln Avenue.

Juan Puventud was one of the early arrivals at the UCC. He’s a Republican who votes in every election. Social issues were high on his list of concerns.

“We need a new government altogether,” Puventud said. “The border is wide open and the economy’s going to crap.”

Edward Wills, a Democrat voting at the UCC, said he’s worried about democracy and the economy.

“No politician is going to fix crime. That has to start in the home,” Wills said.

Diana Anguiano, a Republican voting at the UCC, said she’s seeking change in the way government’s run.

“Everything’s so chaotic right now. There’s just so many twisted things going on,” she said.

Noemi Gaytan, a Democrat, said the governor’s race, abortion, and a ban on assault rifles were high on her list of issues.

“I’m anxious to see how the turnout is going to be,” she said while voting at around 8 a.m. at the UCC.

Kenneth Miller, a Democrat, said the candidates’ position on abortion was important to him as he voted at the UCC.

“I’m a father of two daughters, and I think they have a right to choose. I think it’s beneficial for future generations to have that right as well,” he said.

— Rick Barrett

There are 45 election observers at Central Count

Since 7 a.m., the familiar hum of dozens of election workers shuffling through ballots and tabulators has played out at the Wisconsin Center (Central Count) as ballots are processed ward by ward for the City of Milwaukee. As of 9 a.m. there are at least 45 election observers present in the hall.

Not far away at City Hall, an election observer had a tense exchange with a voter who was dropping off an absentee ballot. The woman, who declined to give her name, was reminded that observers are not supposed to interfere with voters.

The woman said she approached him because she believed he was trying to return more than one ballot. Several voters have been told they cannot return ballots for family members like a spouse or parent.

More:Partisan observers have always monitored the polls in Wisconsin. Here's why they're likely to be out in force more than ever

— Mary Spicuzza and Vanessa Swales

Could we still see absentee ballots counted by midnight?

One of the biggest talking points from the 2020 election was the late hour absentee-ballot results were counted; Wisconsin is one of seven states that does not permit any pre-processing procedures to be completed with absentee ballots prior to 7 a.m. on Election Day, and a high volume of absentee ballots in the 2020 election complicated the timeline.

Neil Albrecht, who previously served as executive director for the Milwaukee Election Commission, said the goal is still to complete counting absentee ballots by 11 p.m. or midnight, even though he said many Milwaukee voting sites are experiencing lines and high turnout.

Local election officials have been asking to begin processing and counting absentee ballots early since at least the 2012 presidential election, Albrecht says. But the GOP-controlled state Legislature hasn’t agreed to make those changes, meaning ballots couldn't be counted in Wisconsin until 7 a.m. today.

Albrecht is helping out today while current Milwaukee Election Commission executive director Claire Woodall-Vogg is busy at Central Count.

— Mary Spicuzza

Beloit College gives students day off to vote

Colleges and universities have long promoted the importance of voting to their students. Beloit College is taking it a step further.

The school canceled classes on Tuesday for its roughly 1,000 students to make voting as easy as possible.

“It’s a day from classes but not a day off,” Beloit College political science professor Ron Watson said. “It’s a day of action, and we hope our students view it that way.”

Watson, who helped organize the college’s voting campaign, said democracy is in danger, and it’s the college’s responsibility to instill in students the importance of voting as a lifelong habit.

Young voters turn out at much lower rates than older generations. Habits haven't formed and for many newly eligible to cast ballots, the process can be confusing, particularly among college students whose addresses change every year.

Despite their historically lower turnout, the number of young adults casting ballots can have huge electoral consequences, especially for Democrats. Polls show young voters are less likely to identify with a political party but more likely to identify as liberal.

CIRCLE, a nonpartisan research center at Tufts University, identified Wisconsin as the No. 1 state where youth turnout has the highest potential to influence the outcome of the governor's race and No. 5 state in the Senate race.

— Kelly Meyerhofer

First-time voter brought to polls by mom, but she's happy to have voice heard

LaTaurus Washington, 46, brought her 18-year-old daughter, Kymora, to the polls today. It was her daughter's first time voting. Washington wanted to make sure her daughter understood what’s at stake especially for the younger generation.

“One of my main things is social security. They are trying to take that away from you and abortion,” she said outside the Washington Park library after they voted.

Though Kymora Washington, a freshman at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee came because her mom made her, she understands.

“Now that’s she said that, I agree," Kymora said. "I want to get my voice heard.

“I’m proud having her being 18 and voting; it’s a right, and they are trying to take our right away. We need to fight as much as we can to keep it, especially women,” LaTaurus Washington said.

— La Risa Lynch

Voter turnout up, at least at a couple polling places

Poll Chief Kim Lewis said turnout is higher than she has usually seen in her eight years of working during the polls. Within the first hour of polls being open at the Merrill Park Apartments location, she said 34 voters had already come through.

Dennis Sims, a 59-year-old Merrill Park resident, said he votes in every election, big or small, because, he said, “Our people fought too hard for us to do this here.” Sims, who was mainly voting on the issue of education, said he believes the Democrats he cast a ballot for — Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes — will make a difference. “I trust the Democrats,” he said. “(Republicans) ain’t going to do nothing; they’re out for themselves.”

Meanwhile, several dozen Oak Creek residents lined up outside of American Legion Post 434 on Shepard Avenue before the poll opened to cast their votes on Tuesday.

Once the clock hit 7 a.m., voters streamed in quickly and election volunteers were able to handle the rush.

Election officials at the American Legion Post expect a high turnout for the city of Oak Creek, as roughly 26% of eligible residents have voted, including more than 5,500 early and mail-in ballots have been requested and returned.

Meanwhile, a polling station at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Place, was seeing a strong turnout on Tuesday morning, including several University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students who registered to vote, said polling supervisor Scott Lehmann.

The voters include Erin Nachtigall. She voted for Tony Evers in the governor’s race but was mainly motivated by her vote for Mandela Barnes in the U.S. senate election.

“He just really seems to care for everyone in the community,” Nachtigall said.

Others voting for Evers and Barnes, both Democrats, included William Bull and Jarrett English.

“They are people for the people,” English said. “They have an understanding of what families go through.”

— Talis Shelbourne, Ricardo Torres and Tom Daykin

Here's what you need to vote and where to cast your ballot

You must bring identification to register and to vote. An ID must include a photo unless it was issued under religious exemption. Eligible forms of ID include:

• Wisconsin driver's license, unexpired or expired.

• Wisconsin DOT-issued ID card, unexpired or expired.

• Military ID card, unexpired or expired.

• U.S. passport, unexpired or expired.

• ID issued by federally recognized Indian tribe, unexpired or expired.

• Limited types of student ID.

• Current veteran's ID

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters must vote at the polling location assigned based on their residential address. You can use the Wisconsin Election Commission's website at myvote.wi.gov and input your address to find your polling location.

If you have already requested and received an absentee ballot but haven't returned it, you can return your ballot to the absentee processing center at the Wisconsin Center at the corner of Vel R. Phillips and Wisconsin avenues between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. You may also return your ballot to the Milwaukee Election Commission on the 5th Floor of City Hall at 200 E. Wells St. in Milwaukee in Room 501.

Each voter is required to turn in their own ballot unless they require assistance due to a disability. Find more information about resources for voters with disabilities through Disability Rights Wisconsin at https://disabilityvote.org/.

— Isaac Yu and Alison Dirr

What's on the ballot?

The highest profile primaries are for U.S. senator and Wisconsin governor. Gov. Tony Evers is the Democratic incumbent and Sen. Ron Johnson is the Republican incumbent. There are also competitive races for attorney general, secretary of state, lieutenant governor and treasurer.

Wisconsin's seven congressional representatives are also on the ballot as well as the state assembly and some state senate seats. There are also handful of county races throughout the state.

Don't forget about education, too

It's easy to forget about the public education measures that are on the ballot. Statewide, there are 81 referendum questions across 59 districts. Districts are asking for a total of over $2 billion more in funding beyond their tax revenue limits set by state law.

Here's a full story on what's at stake, including the role education pays in the gubernatorial races between Tony Evers and Tim Michels. School vouchers and student privacy (especially as it relates to the use of pronouns) are among the issues on which the candidates differ.

A Twitter List by journalsentinel

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election results: Midterm winners in Wisconsin