MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The strength of former President Donald Trump’s battleground support of Wisconsin will be tested in the race for an open congressional seat in Tuesday’s primary, when voters also officially set the stage for the state’s closely watched U.S. Senate race.
Voters will choose a Democratic candidate to take on a first-term Republican who captured a western Wisconsin congressional district after a generation under Democratic control. Also on the ballot are two constitutional amendments passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that take away power from the governor.
The election is the state’s first under new legislative maps more favorable to Democrats.
Here’s what you need to know:
Senate race
The Senate seat currently held by Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seen as a must-win for Democrats if they want to maintain majority control.
Republican millionaire banker Eric Hovde has dominated the GOP race, pouring $13 million of his own money into the race in just four months, and faces nominal opposition in his bid to unseat two-term incumbent Baldwin.
Hovde’s primary opponents, including chicken and pig farmer Charles Barman and University of Wisconsin Stevens Point College Republicans Chair Rejani Raveendran, have raised next to nothing in the race and have virtually no public campaigning.
Amendments to the Constitution
Voters will decide on two Republican-backed constitutional amendments that would strip the governor of the power to spend federal money.
Amendments put on the ballot by Republicans would require the approval of the law before the governor could use federal money coming into the state for disaster relief or other crises, unless it has already been appropriated.
Democratic governor Tony Evers and liberals object, arguing that it slows down the distribution of money when it needs to be spent quickly. But Republican supporters say it will increase oversight and act as a check on the governor’s power.
Congressional primaries
Three Republicans, one of whom Trump supports, are facing off in another primary for the open 8th Congressional District seat in northeastern Wisconsin. That opening came in the wake of the surprise resignation of Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, an occasional Trump critic, in April.
Former gas station chain owner Tony Wied, who is running in his first race, is touting his support for Trump, who cut a TV ad for Wied. The race will be a test of how far Trump’s support can go, as Wied faces two challengers who have won legislative races that include parts of the congressional district: Roger Roth, a former president of the state Senate, who is backed by former Gov. Scott. Walker and Andre Jacque, a current state senator who claims to be a “proven conservative fighter.”
Jacque ran a television ad showing him in boxing gloves, with the narrator promoting Jacque as not afraid to face both the powerful Republican convention speaker and a “woke mob.”
Dr. Kristin Lyerly, the obstetrician who sued to overturn Wisconsin’s abortion ban, is the only Democrat running.
In a confusing twist, voters will decide who will advance in the primary to serve a two-year term that begins in January and also who will fill Gallagher’s remaining term this year. These are two separate questions on the August and November ballot.
Western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, held by a Democrat for 26 years before flipping in 2022, is the most competitive district in the state, setting up a crowded Democratic primary to face incumbent Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden. .
Van Orden is a former Navy SEAL who was at the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 uprising and remains one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Wisconsin.
He is the main target of the Democrats. State Rep. Katrina Shankland, who has the support of more than 18 unions and the state’s two other Democratic members of Congress, faces former small business owner and political activist Rebecca Cooke and political newcomer Eric Wilson in the Democratic primary.
The Republican primary is also heavily Democratic in the 2nd and 4th congressional districts, and the Democratic primary is heavily Republican in the 7th congressional district.
Legislative competitions
This is the first election under the new legislative boundaries, which were enacted after previous maps were struck down as unconstitutional in December.
Lawmakers face each other in six primaries, including four Assembly races where the new maps pit them against each other.
The winners of Tuesday’s primary will face off in November, when all 99 Assembly seats and half of the Senate are on the ballot.
Democrats are fielding candidates in every Senate district for the first time in 20 years, hoping to take advantage of new lines more favorable to them. They have a legitimate chance to win a majority government, but Republicans are confident of holding onto the Senate.
The legislature has been under Republican control since 2011 and has served as a block on Evers’ agenda for the past six years. Evers has also rejected Republican initiatives and blocked most bills by a governor in Wisconsin history.
Republican House Speaker Robin Vos, who was targeted by Trump supporters in two failed recall efforts, will not face a primary challenger. Andrew Cegielski stopped campaigning in June, but his name remains as Vos’ challenger in the primaries.
Two Republicans, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen and Sen. Dan Knodl, are facing off in a new Assembly district representing Milwaukee’s far northwest suburbs. Brandtjen, who has been trying to overturn Trump’s loss in Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, backed the effort to recall Vos.
On the Senate side, Republican incumbent Rep. Dan Feyen will face former state Rep. Tim Ramthun in the primary for the Far East and Central Wisconsin seat. Ramthun, who also floated conspiracy theories that Trump won Wisconsin, is trying to get back into politics after a failed gubernatorial bid in 2020.
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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this report.
