Underly wins state superintendent, Grogan wins judgeship, Republicans win special elections
(The Center Square) –There were almost no surprises on Election Day in Wisconsin.
Democrat Jill Underly won Tuesday’s election for state superintendent of Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction. She defeated Republican Deb Kerr. The state superintendent’s race is officially nonpartisan, but it saw lots of political spending. Underly was the choice of Wisconsin’s teachers’ unions, and she attracted more than $800,000 in outside political money. Kerr’s campaign got off to a slow start with a number of missteps, and she was massively outspent.
In other races, southeast Wisconsin is sending a conservative to the state’s appeals court. Judge Shelley Grogan easily defeated Tony Evers-appointee Jeff Davis in Tuesday’s election for the Second District Court of Appeals. Grogan currently clerks for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and is a part time municipal judge in Muskego. Davis was serving out the last of Brian Hagedorn’s term on the appellate court. The second district seat covers all of southeast Wisconsin, with the exception of Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Republicans will hold on to their majorities at the State Capitol by winning two seats in special elections yesterday. Republican John Jagler won the Senate seat that used to belong to Scott Fitzgerald in southeastern Wisconsin. Elijah Behnke won the Assembly seat north of Green Bay that used to belong to John Nygren. Both men were expected to win. The victories mean Republicans will retain majorities in the state legislature.
Most of the races on Tuesday’s ballots were local races for school board, city council, and local judges.
There is no official vote count for Wisconsin yet, but many local clerks say their turnouts were less than 20%.
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