Friday Is Last Day To Vote Early In-Person For WI August Primary

WISCONSIN — Voters across Wisconsin will get the chance to visit the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballot in the 2022 fall primary election.

The vote will narrow down candidates in each party running for Wisconsin governor, U.S. Senate, Attorney General, Secretary of State and more.

You can also vote early through your local clerk, whether that's in person or absentee, but only until Friday. Polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday across the state and close at 8 p.m. So long as you are in line by poll close, you can vote. If you have an absentee ballot to return, you can do so until polls close.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the Aug. 9 election.

What's On The Ballot

The most hotly watched election is likely the Republican governor's race in which former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch is facing off against businessman Tim Michels, State Rep. Tim Ramthun and Adam Fischer. Each is vying for a chance to compete against Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers in the fall general election.

The three Republican frontrunner candidates shared some of their views at a debate moderated by TMJ4 in July.

In the debate, Kleefisch, Michels and Ramthun all said they were anti-abortion and largely supported the current law on Wisconsin's books, although Kleefisch did note she believes procedures for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages are not abortion.

Ramthun, who has campaigned on the idea of overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election, has remained steadfast in that goal. During the debate Kleefisch and Michels said overturning the election was not a priority, but they did discuss changing Wisconsin election law.

More about the Republican gubernatorial primary candidates:

Takeaways From The 2022 Republican Primary Debate For WI Governor

Candidate Profile: Rebecca Kleefisch For Wisconsin Governor

Candidate Profile: Adam Fischer For Wisconsin Governor

Editors note: Michels and Ramthun have not replied to requests to create a Patch candidate profile.

The other hotly watched race has been for U.S. Senate. The Democratic field of candidates was crowded leading up to the election, but within the past two weeks nearly all candidates have dropped out, leaving Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes as the frontrunner. Steven Olikara is also running.

Whoever wins the Democratic U.S. Senate primary is poised to compete against Republican incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson in the fall, and that's largely been the focus of the race.

At a debate in July hosted by TMJ4, front-running candidates all agreed their goal is to get Johnson out of office. After Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, businessman Alex Lasry and State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski all dropped out of the race, they each endorsed Barnes.

"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 in a statement after Godlewski ended her bid.

"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," said Barnes.

Here's what else is on the ballot:

Lt. Governor

• Peng Her, Democratic
• Sara Rodriguez, Democratic.
• 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, Democratic.
• Eric Toney, Republican.
• Karen Mueller, Republican.
• Adam Jarchow, Republican.

Secretary of State

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

How To Vote

You can vote in-person absentee and register to vote at your local clerk's office until Friday. After that, you will have to vote in-person at your local polling place on Tuesday.

To find your local polling place, you can use my.vote.wi.gov.

If you have an absentee ballot that you need to return, the recommended deadline to mail has already passed. You can still return your completed ballot in-person to your local clerk until polls close on Tuesday.

Fortunately, if you aren't registered to vote ahead of Tuesday, you can still register the day of the election at your polling place. Be sure to bring proof of residency and an ID.

All voters will require an ID to vote.

Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly labeled State Rep. Tim Ramthun as State Sen.