Wisconsin, Secretary of state

Wisconsin held an election for secretary of state on November 6, 2018. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2018.

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the secretary of state of Wisconsin was Douglas J. La Follette (D), who was first elected to the office in 1974 and was re-elected in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014.
In 2018, Wisconsin was a Republican trifecta. It had held this status since 2011, when Gov. Scott Walker (R) took office and Republicans gained majorities in the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin House of Representatives. Wisconsin was also under divided triplex control.
In presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Wisconsin was won by the Democratic candidate in 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012, and by the Republican candidate in 2016. The widest margin of victory was Barack Obama's 14 percent margin in 2008 while the narrowest was Al Gore's 0.22 percent margin in 2000.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Wisconsin every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Wisconsin 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	47.8%	Hillary Clinton	46.3%	1.5%
2012	Barack Obama	52.8%	Mitt Romney	45.9%	6.9%
2008	Barack Obama	56.2%	John McCain	42.3%	13.9%
2004	John Kerry	49.7%	George W. Bush	49.3%	0.4%
2000	Al Gore	47.8%	George W. Bush	47.6%	0.2%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Wisconsin from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Wisconsin 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Ron Johnson	50.2%	Russ Feingold	46.8%	3.4%
2012	Tammy Baldwin	51.4%	Tommy Thompson	45.9%	5.5%
2010	Ron Johnson	51.9%	Russ Feingold	47.0%	4.9%
2006	Herb Kohl	67.3%	Robert Lorge	29.5%	37.8%
2004	Russ Feingold	55.3%	Tim Michels	44.1%	11.2%
2000	Herb Kohl	61.5%	John Gillespie	37.0%	24.5%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Wisconsin.

Election results (Governor), Wisconsin 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Scott Walker	52.3%	Mary Burke	46.6%	5.7%
2010	Scott Walker	52.3%	Tom Barrett	46.5%	5.8%
2006	Jim Doyle	52.7%	Mark Green	45.3%	7.4%
2002	Jim Doyle	45.1%	Scott McCallum	41.4%	3.7%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Wisconsin 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2014	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2012	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2010	5	62.5%	3	37.5%	R+2
2008	3	37.5%	5	62.5%	D+2
2006	3	37.5%	5	62.5%	D+2
2004	4	50%	4	50%	-
2002	4	50%	4	50%	-
2000	4	44.4%	5	55.6%	D+1

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Wisconsin Party Control: 1992-2020
Two years of Democratic trifectas • Ten years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Governor	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D
Senate	D	R	R	R	D	D	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

Demographic data for Wisconsin

	Wisconsin	U.S.
Total population:	5,767,891	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	54,158	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.3%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	86.5%	73.6%
Black/African American:	6.3%	12.6%
Asian:	2.5%	5.1%
Native American:	0.9%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	91%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$53,357	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Wisconsin.

As of July 2017, Wisconsin had a population of approximately 5,800,000 people, with its three largest cities being Milwaukee (pop. est. 600,000), Madison (pop. est. 250,000), and Green Bay (pop. est. 110,000).