2020 Wisconsin Senate election
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The 2020 Wisconsin Senate elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin. 16 of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Before the election, Republicans held 18 seats, Democrats held 13, and two were vacant. Of the seats up for election, seven were held by Republicans, seven were held by Democrats, one was vacated by a Democratic resignation, and one was vacated by a Republican resignation. The primary election was held on August 11, 2020.
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November 3, 2020
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16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin State Senate 17 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results of the elections: Republican hold Republican gain Democratic hold No election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Republicans maintained control of the Senate but fell one seat short of a supermajority, defeating one Democratic incumbent and winning an open seat previously held by a Democrat. After the elections, Republicans were set to enter the 105th Wisconsin Legislature with 21 of 33 seats, but one member resigned due to election to another office, leaving them with 20 seats at the start of the legislative term.
Results summary
| Seats | Party (majority caucus shading) |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Republican | |||
| Last election (2018) | 6 | 11 | 17 | |
| Total after last election (2018) | 14 | 19 | 33 | |
| Total before this election | 14 | 19 | 31 | |
| Up for election | 8 | 8 | 16 | |
| of which: | Incumbent retiring | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Vacated | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Unopposed | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| This election | 6 | 10 | 16 | |
| Change from last election |  |
 1 |
1 | |
| Total after this election | 12 | 21 | 33 | |
| Change in total | 2 |
 2 |
| |
Close races
Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:
- State Senate district 32, 0.6%
- State Senate district 8, 8.54%
- State Senate district 30, 9.4% (gain)
Outgoing incumbents
Retiring
- Dave Craig (R–Vernon), representing District 28 since 2016, announced that he would not seek reelection to a second term in order to get "a break from public life."[1]
- Dave Hansen (D–Green Bay), representing District 30 since 2000, announced in January 2020 that he would be retiring to spend more time with his family.[2]
- Mark F. Miller (D–Monona), representing District 16 since 2004, announced in January 2020 that he would not be running for reelection.[3]
- Luther Olsen (R–Ripon), representing District 14 since 2004, announced in February 2020 that he would not seek reelection, stating, "there comes a time in life when it’s time to move on."[4]
- Fred Risser (D–Madison), representing District 26 since 1962, announced in March 2020 that he would be stepping down from the Legislature. Upon his retirement, Risser was the longest-serving lawmaker in American history, having served in the Wisconsin State Assembly and Senate for 64 years.[5]
Vacated office
- Jennifer Shilling (D–La Crosse), who had represented District 32 since 2011 and served as Minority Leader since 2015, resigned her seat on May 15, 2020 in order to explore "unspecified career opportunities."[6]
- Tom Tiffany (R–Hazelhurst), who had represented District 12 since 2014, left office on May 18, 2020, after winning the special election for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district.[7]
Race summary
| District | Incumbent | This race | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | First elected | Status | Primary candidates[8][9] | General election candidates[10] | Result | |
| 2 | Robert Cowles | Republican | 1987 | Running | Robert Cowles (Republican) |  Robert Cowles (Rep.) |
Incumbent re-elected |
| 4 | Lena Taylor | Democratic | 2004 | Running | Lena Taylor (Democratic) | Lena Taylor (Dem.) |
Incumbent re-elected |
| 6 | La Tonya Johnson | Democratic | 2016 | Running |
|
|
Incumbent re-elected |
| 8 | Alberta Darling | Republican | 1992 | Running |
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|
Incumbent re-elected |
| 10 | Patty Schachtner | Democratic | 2018 (special) | Running |
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|
Incumbent lost New member elected Republican gain |
| 12 | Tom Tiffany | Republican | 2012 | Vacant |
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Incumbent vacated office to run for U.S. Representative New member elected Republican hold |
| 14 | Luther Olsen | Republican | 2004 | Not running |
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Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold |
| 16 | Mark F. Miller | Democratic | 2004 | Not running |
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Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold |
| 18 | Dan Feyen | Republican | 2016 | Running |
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Incumbent re-elected |
| 20 | Duey Stroebel | Republican | 2014 | Running | Duey Stroebel (Republican) | Duey Stroebel (Rep.) |
Incumbent re-elected |
| 22 | Robert Wirch | Democratic | 1996 | Running | Robert Wirch (Democratic) | Robert Wirch (Dem.) |
Incumbent re-elected |
| 24 | Patrick Testin | Republican | 2016 | Running |
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Incumbent re-elected |
| 26 | Fred Risser | Democratic | 1962 | Not running |
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Kelda Roys (Dem.) |
Incumbent retired New member elected Democratic hold |
| 28 | Dave Craig | Republican | 2016 | Not running |
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Incumbent retired New member elected Republican hold |
| 30 | Dave Hansen | Democratic | 2000 | Not running |
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Incumbent retired New member elected Republican gain |
| 32 | Jennifer Shilling | Democratic | 2011 (recall) | Vacant |
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Incumbent vacated office New member elected Democratic hold |
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[11] | Likely R | October 21, 2020 |