Results of Tuesday’s Partisan Primary

Wisconsin voters went to the polls Tuesday for the partisan primary, setting the stage for several major races on the November ballot.

The biggest race of the night was the contest for governor, where Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany easily won his party’s nomination.

Tiffany defeated Andy Manske and will now face Democrat David Crowley in November.

The Democratic primary was much closer. Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, narrowly defeated State Representative Francesca Hong after a race that went down to the final absentee ballots being counted in Milwaukee. Crowley was endorsed by outgoing Democratic Governor Tony Evers, while Hong ran as the more progressive candidate.

Crowley’s victory sets up a November matchup between Crowley and Tiffany for an open governor’s seat, as Tony Evers is not seeking a third term.

In the Republican lieutenant governor’s race, David Varnam defeated Will Martin. Varnam won despite Martin receiving the endorsement of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Democrat Sarah Godlewski was unopposed in her party’s primary.

There was no contested primary for attorney general. Republican Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac County district attorney will face incumbent Josh Kaul in November for a rematch of their race four years ago.

In Fond du Lac County, 18,728 ballots were cast Tuesday, accounting for a 31% voter turnout.

The county’s Republican primary was much larger than the Democratic primary, with more than 9000 Republican ballots compared with about 7,500 Democratic ballots.

In the Republican governor’s race, Tom Tiffany dominated locally, receiving 9,132 votes, compared with just 318 for Andy Manske.

The Democratic governor’s race was considerably more competitive in Fond du Lac County, although Crowley still won comfortably. He received 3,722 votes, or about 43 percent of the county’s Democratic vote.

Francesca Hong finished second with 3,044 votes, followed by Joel Brennan with 585.

Jay Schroeder won the county’s Republican secretary of state primary with 4,169 votes.

Tuesday’s primary now clears the way for the November general election, when Wisconsin voters will choose a new governor and lieutenant governor, as well as decide races for attorney general, secretary of state, state treasurer, congress and the state legislature.

The general election is November 3.