WI Primary Election 2022 Voter Guide: Governor, Senate Races

WISCONSIN — Voters across Wisconsin will head to the polls on Tuesday to decide which candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and more continue past the primaries and onto the November general election.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m., but if you are in line by poll close you can still vote. It's too late to vote early, but if you have an absentee ballot to return you can drop it off in person to your local clerk until polls close.

If you are not registered to vote, you can register at the polls. All voters need to bring identification to cast a ballot. To find your polling location and more information about how to vote, visit myvote.wi.gov.

Election Will Set The Stage For Fall

Results of the primary will clarify who is likely to run against Democrat Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in the November general election.

The field of Democrats competing for the U.S. Senate cleared in recent weeks, with Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes the last remaining frontrunner. The Republican race for governor, however, has remained hot up to election day.

Tim Michels, a co-owner of one of Wisconsin's largest construction companies, was competing closely against former Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. State Rep. Tim Ramthun was also running.

What To Know About The Republican Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

Two candidates, each with hopes to unseat Gov. Tony Evers, have emerged as frontrunners in the Republican primary: Kleefisch, who served with Scott Walker for eight years, and construction executive Michels. The race became heated in the days ahead of the primary, with Michels airing attack ads against Kleefisch.

Notably, both have received an endorsement in some part from the previous U.S. presidential administration. Michels has emerged as an apparent ally of former President Donald Trump, while former Vice President Mike Pence put his support behind Kleefisch, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Ramthun emerged as a candidate in February and has largely campaigned on overturning the 2020 election. At a debate hosted in July by TMJ4, he said he would "decertify" the election which Trump lost, and his original campaign website called for a "full forensic physical cyber audit" of the Nov. 2022 election, including his own race, regardless of the outcome. Adam Fischer is also in the running.

When it comes to where the candidates stand on policy, there is considerable overlap, such as with universal school choice, abortion, and more.

But while Kleefisch has touted her previous experience as Lt. Governor as a plus, Michels has cast himself as an outsider, telling a convention he's not inside "the bubble," PBS Wisconsin reported.

The 2020 Election And Voting Laws

Republican candidates each had something to say about the 2020 election, which Trump lost against Biden. The results of the election have withstood an audit from a conservative law firm and multiple partial recounts.

In a debate hosted by TMJ4 News in July, Michels vowed to end indefinitely confined status and unmanned ballot boxes.

"I want to make sure that we don't have these questions ever again in Wisconsin," Michels said in the debate.

When pressed by TMJ4 moderators about overturning the 2020 election, he said it was not a priority, but in a more recent WISN12 town hall Michels said "everything will be on the table."

Kleefisch told Patch in March that she would ban "ballot harvesting" and unattended drop boxes. Kleefisch also intends on dismantling the Wisconsin Elections Commission and replacing it with a law enforcement agency that has the power to investigate fraud and audit elections, she said.

Kleefisch has called the 2020 election "rigged," but has said overturning it is "not constitutionally possible."

Abortion

Michels, Kleefisch and Ramthun have all expressed support for Wisconsin's current abortion ban, which holds that anyone other than the mother who kills an unborn fetus may be criminally charged unless the abortion is to save the mother's life.

Kleefisch has said she doesn't believe procedures for ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage are abortions.

What To Know About The Democrat U.S. Senate Primary

The remaining Democrat U.S. Senate candidates include Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Steven Olikara. As early as July, most candidates had galvanized a shared goal in running: to defeat Ron Johnson.

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Milwaukee Bucks Executive Alex Lasry all touted themselves on the debate stage as the best to beat Johnson, but less than a month later, only Barnes remained as a frontrunner after Nelson, Lasry and Godlewski all dropped out within the span of a week.

Each gave their endorsement to Barnes as they dropped out. Nelson, the first to drop out, called Barnes "the one candidate who is not trying to buy this election." Godlewski was the last to drop out among the frontrunners.

"We are in a stronger position than we have ever been to defeat Ron Johnson once and for all. And it's because this is bigger than any one of us," said Barnes after Godlewski dropped. "This is about retiring a Senator who has left working people in the dust for more than a decade while he doubled his own personal wealth and delivered for his wealthy donors," Barnes said in a statement.

Among his priorities, Barnes lists fighting inflation, reproductive rights, and marijuana legalization. To accomplish his goals of expanding access to abortion, Barnes has said he supports ending the Senate filibuster, a position that Godlewski had also agreed with during a July debate.

Here is who else is running in other primary races:

Lt. Governor

• Peng Her, Democrat.
• Sara Rodriguez, Democrat.
• Patrick Testin, Republican.
• Will Martin, Republican.
• Kyle Yudes, Republican.
• Roger Roth, Republican.
• David C. Varnam, Republican.
• Cindy Werner, Republican.
• David D. King, Republican.
• Jonathan Wichmann, Republican.

Attorney General

• Josh Kaul, Democrat.
• Eric Toney, Republican.
• Karen Mueller, Republican.
• Adam Jarchow, Republican.

Secretary of State

• Doug La Follette, Democrat.
• Alexia Sabor, Democrat.
• Amy Lynn Loudenbeck, Republican.
• Jay Schroeder, Republican.
• Justin D. Schmidtka, Republican
• Neil Harmon, Libertarian.

The Associated Press contributed to the writing and reporting of this article.