2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State election

2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State Election
← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →
	La Follette: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Schroeder: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Secretary of State before election; Doug La Follette; Democratic	Elected Secretary of State ; Doug La Follette; Democratic

The 2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State election took place on November 6, 2018 to elect the Wisconsin Secretary Of State. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Doug La Follette who had been serving in the position since 1983 won re-election to a 10th four-year term, defeating Republican nominee Jay Schroeder 53-47%.

Schroeder, La Follette's opponent made a pledge to abolish the position entirely if elected.^[1] This was likely a response to the power of the office slowly being weakened ever since 1990, with more and more powers the office once had going to the legislature, other agencies, or being abolished entirely. According to analyses published by the Council of State Governments, the office is the weakest directly elected member of the National Association of Secretaries of State.^[2]

Background

In 1974, La Follette was elected to his first term as Secretary of State. He served for one four-year term, but did not run for re-election, in order to run for lieutenant governor in 1978. He was succeeded as Secretary of State by Vel Phillips. After losing his bid for lieutenant governor, La Follette primaried Phillips in 1982 and subsequently won the general election. La Follette had run for re-election every cycle, and had been re-elected every time, even as the governorship and other offices at the top of the ticket went to the Republicans. Since returning in 1982, power had slowly been stripped from the office and instead given to jurisdictions. These powers include lobbying regulation and business registration, which La Follette had long advocated for the return of.

Though he had won most of his re-election campaigns with ease, 2010 was his closest result since 1986, winning only by 2%. This close result can be attributed to the red wave year of 2010, which saw many big wins for Wisconsin Republicans, including the ousting of popular Democratic senator Russ Feingold, as well as Scott Walker winning the governorship by 5% on the same ticket. La Follette was able to improve on his margin in 2014, winning by 4% under similar circumstances as the 2010 election, but this was still a notable decrease based on the results he had had in the past. The 2018 elections were expected to be very favorable for Democrats, making La Follette a favorite going into it.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Doug La Follette was challenged from the left by Arvina Martin, a member of Madison Common Council. La Follette won the primary decisively, receiving 65% of the vote, and notably carrying all counties, including Dane County, home to Madison, which both candidates are from.

Nominated

Doug La Follette, incumbent secretary of state, candidate for governor in the 2012 recall election, former state senator from the 22nd district

Eliminated in primary

Arvina Martin, member of the Madison Common Council

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doug La Follette (incumbent)	327,020	65.9
	Democratic	Arvina Martin	169,130	34.1
Total votes			496,150	100.0

Republican primary

Nominated

Jay Harvey Schroeder

Eliminated in primary

Spencer Zimmerman, perennial candidate

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jay Harvey Schroeder	254,424	71.4
	Republican	Spencer Zimmerman	101,818	28.6
Total votes			356,242	100.0

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing^[3]	Safe D	October 11, 2018

With La Follette holding the position for so long, the race was seen to be not very competitive. In the end, La Follette won by six percentage points.

Results

Wisconsin Secretary of State election, 2018
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Doug La Follette (incumbent)	1,380,752	52.7	+2.7%
	Republican	Jay Schroeder	1,235,034	47.2	+0.9%
	Write-in		2,162	0.1	N/A
Total votes			2,617,948	100.0	+12.7%

By county

	La Follette Democratic		Schroeder Republican		Margin		County Total
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#
Adams	3,892	44.59%	5,088	55.41%%	993	10.81%	9,183
Ashland	4,441	64.05%	2,493	35.95%	1,948	28.09%	6,934
Barron	7,623	41.05%	10,300	57.38%	2,305	12.60%	18,295
Bayfield	5,315	61.21%	3,368	38.79%	1,947	22.42%	8,683
Brown	55,195	48.82%	57,858	51.18%	2,663	7.48%	113,053
Buffalo	2,628	45.16%	3,191	54.84%	563	9.68%	5,819
Burnett	2,959	39.59%	4,515	60.41%	1,556	20.82%	7,474
Calumet	9,758	42.03%	13,457	57.97%	3,699	15.93%	23,215
Chippewa	12,529	46.17%	14,607	53.83%	2,078	7.66%	27,136
Clark	4,599	40.40%	6,786	59.60%	2,187	19.21%	11,385
Columbia	14,368	54.06%	12,211	45.94%	2,157	8.12%	26,579
Crawford	3,567	54.94%	2,925	45.06%	642	9.89%	6,492
Dane	219,538	76.04%	69,184	23.96%	150,354	52.08%	288,722
Dodge	14,527	39.30%	22,440	60.70%	7,913	21.41%	36,967
Door	8,151	51.02%	8,141	48.98%	339	2.04%	16,621
Douglas	11,243	60.73%	7,269	39.27%	3,974	21.47%	18,512
Dunn	9,019	49.73%	9,118	50.27%	99	0.55%	18,137
Eau Claire	27,636	57.91%	20,088	42.09%	7,548	15.82%	47,724
Florence	676	31.43%	1,475	68.57%	799	37.15%	2,151
Fond du Lac	17,631	39.82%	26,649	60.18%	9,018	20.37%	44,280
Forest	1,635	42.67%	2,197	57.33%	562	14.67%	3,832
Grant	9,772	51.01%	9,378	48.96%	394	2.05%	19,150
Green	9,595	57.32%	7,144	42.68%	2,451	14.64%	16,739
Green Lake	2,836	35.24%	5,211	64.76%	2,375	29.51%	8,047
Iowa	6,819	62.31%	2,695	37.69%	2,385	24.63%	10,943
Iron	1,366	45.01%	1,669	54.99%	303	9.98%	3,035
Jackson	4,041	51.38%	3,824	48.62%	217	2.76%	7,865
Jefferson	16,781	45.09%	20,437	56.28%	3,656	9.82%	37,218
Juneau	4,249	42.66%	5,710	57.34%	1,461	14.67%	9,959
Kenosha	35,781	53.72%	30,829	46.28%	4,952	7.43%	66,610
Kewaunee	3,926	42.01%	5,420	57.99%	1,494	15.99%	9,346
La Crosse	33,060	59.33%	22,663	40.67%	10,397	18.66%	55,723
Lafayette	3,347	52.15%	3071	47.85%	276	4.30%	6,418
Langlade	3,395	37.62%	5,630	62.38%	2,235	24.76%	9,025
Lincoln	5,662	43.22%	7,439	56.78%	1,777	13.56%	13,101
Manitowoc	15,354	44.19%	19,388	55.81%	4,034	11.61%	34,742
Marathon	26,567	43.69%	34,239	56.31%	7,672	12.62%	60,806
Marinette	6,662	39.15%	10,356	60.85%	3,694	21.71%	17,018
Marquette	3,044	43.18%	4,006	56.82%	962	13.65%	7,050
Menominee	847	78.14%	237	21.86%	610	56.27%	1,084
Milwaukee	269,143	70.34%	113,482	29.66%	155,661	40.68%	382,625
Monroe	7,347	44.45%	9,182	55.55%	1,835	11.10%	16,529
Oconto	6,276	36.46%	10,936	63.54%	4,660	27.07%	17,212
Oneida	8,540	44.73%	10,553	55.27%	2,013	10.54%	19,093
Outagamie	38,391	47.11%	43,109	52.89%	4,718	5.79%	81,500
Ozaukee	19,801	39.38%	30,480	60.62%	10,679	21.24%	50,281
Pepin	1,374	44.95%	1,683	55.05%	309	10.11%	3,057
Pierce	8,421	48.62%	8,899	51.38%	478	2.76%	17,320
Polk	7,635	41.41%	10,803	58.59%	3,168	17.18%	18,438
Portage	19,075	56.12%	14,916	43.88%	2,559	12.24%	33,991
Price	2,916	44.33%	3,662	55.67%	746	11.34%	6578
Racine	42,821	50.07%	42705	49.93%	116	0.14%	85,526
Richland	3,648	52.86%	3,253	47.14%	395	5.72%	6,901
Rock	40,630	60.92%	26,068	39.08%	14,562	21.83%	66,698
Rusk	2,418	40.41%	3,565	59.59%	1,147	19.17%	5,983
Sauk	15,870	56.00%	12,468	44.00%	3,402	12.01%	28,338
Sawyer	3,662	45.58%	4,372	54.42%	710	8.84%	8,034
Shawano	6,416	36.50%	11,164	63.50%	4,748	27.01%	17,580
Sheboygan	22,949	43.93%	29,289	56.07%	6,340	12.14%	52,238
St. Croix	17,267	43.57%	22,365	56.43%	5,098	12.86%	39,632
Taylor	2,650	33.72%	5,209	66.28%	2,559	32.56%	7,859
Trempealeau	5,864	49.06%	6,088	50.94%	224	1.87%	11,952
Vernon	6,898	53.94%	5,891	46.06%	1,007	7.87%	12,789
Vilas	4,901	39.64%	7,464	60.36%	2,563	20.73%	12,365
Walworth	18,499	41.39%	26,200	58.61%	7,701	17.23%	44,699
Washburn	3,374	43.40%	4,401	56.60%	1,027	13.21%	7,775
Washington	20,697	29.80%	48,749	70.20%	28,052	40.39%	69,446
Waukesha	77,918	35.90%	139,149	64.10%	61,231	28.21%	217,067
Waupaca	8,540	38.85%	13,441	61.15%	4,901	22.30%	21,981
Waushara	3,939	37.88%	6,461	62.13%	2,522	24.25%	10,400
Winnebago	37,353	50.25%	36,980	49.75%	373	0.50%	74,333
Wood	14,719	45.52%	17,618	54.48%	2,899	8.96%	32,337
Totals	1,380,752	52.7%	1,235,034	47.2%	145,718	5.5%	2,615,786

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Schroeder won five of eight congressional districts.^[4]

District	La Follette	Schroeder	Representative
1st	47%	53%	Paul Ryan
2nd	72%	28%	Mark Pocan
3rd	53%	47%	Ron Kind
4th	78%	22%	Gwen Moore
5th	41%	59%	Jim Sensenbrenner
6th	45%	55%	Glenn Grothman
7th	44%	56%	Sean Duffy
8th	45%	55%	Mike Gallagher

References

^ "Schroeder Campaign:Eliminate Secretary of State Position" (PDF). February 19, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
^ "2021 Book of the States". The Council of State Governments. pp. 154–156. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
^ Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races". Retrieved October 20, 2025.
^ "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

[1] "Schroeder Campaign:Eliminate Secretary of State Position" (PDF). February 19, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2022.

[2] "2021 Book of the States". The Council of State Governments. pp. 154–156. Retrieved March 9, 2022.

[3] Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races". Retrieved October 20, 2025.

[4] "DRA 2020". Daves Redistricting. Retrieved August 18, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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2018 Wisconsin Secretary of State election

Background

Democratic primary

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

Republican primary

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

By congressional district

See also

References

Wikious

Boobota

Sagapedia