Wisconsin primary: Senate seat, constitutional amendment on ballot
MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin's primary election on Aug. 13 will give voters the chance to have a say in the future of both the state and local communities.
Some voters in the Milwaukee area might feel déjà vu.
Senate District 4
The Wisconsin Senate seat long held by Lena Taylor is on the ballot. She resigned her seat this year when Gov. Tony Evers appointed her to serve as a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge.
The governor called a special election for the seat in July. It pitted two state representatives against one another: Dora Drake and LaKeshia Myers.
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Wisconsin Senate election, Rep. Dora Drake wins open seat
Democratic State Rep. Dora Drake beat fellow Democratic State Rep. LaKeshia Myers to win an open seat in the Wisconsin Senate.
Drake won the primary with 4,439 votes to Myers' 2,298. Drake told FOX6 she isn't sure when she'll be sworn in to serve the rest of Taylor's term, which runs to January 2025.
With the Legislature out of session, it's possible Drake may not cast any Senate votes. Her focus now is winning the new full term, and the Aug. 13 primary again pits her against Myers.
The winner of the August primary will make it to the November election, where they will face no Republican opponent.
Ballot referendums
Two constitutional amendment referendums are on all Wisconsin ballots. The August vote is the final approval.
"I’d really be surprised if it’d be a 10% turnout, which means 10% of the voters are deciding to amend the constitution – instead of the 90% who are going to be voting in November," said Mordecai Lee, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor emeritus.
WI constitutional amendment before voters; referendums on power of purse
You will decide whether to amend the Wisconsin Constitution. The question on your ballot now deals with your tax money.
The first question asks voters if the constitution should ban the Legislature from delegating its power of the purse. The second question asks if the Wisconsin Constitution should ban the governor from spending federal money without the Legislature's approval.
"They really are at war with the governor, and this is one of the ways they’re doing it," Lee said.
No votes for president
In battleground Wisconsin – one of the few toss-up states that will decide who wins the White House – it's kind of hard to miss politics. But the presidential primary will not be on the August ballot – it was held in April.
President Joe Biden garnered 511,845 votes in the Democratic primary (89%), while former President Donald Trump collected 476,355 (79%).
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Why in August?
Wisconsin's fall primary used to be after Labor Day.
"For people who are as old as me, they remember the partisan primary used to be the Tuesday after Labor Day. That’s why in Wisconsin there was this sort of cycle that you had the summer, you had Labor Day, then your kids went back to school, grandkids, and then you started thinking about politics," Lee said.
"That was a sort of natural cycle in Wisconsin, but partly because of the need to get absentee ballots to the military overseas; there was a federal requirement that forced the Legislature and the governor to move up the primary from after Labor Day to the middle of August."