9:21 p.mIt’s another election day in Wisconsin, and there are dozens of races on the ballot that will have an impact on every corner of our state.
In Milwaukee, voters will decide whether or not to approve a $252 million referendum for Milwaukee Public Schools. In Kenosha, a new mayor will be chosen for just the third time since 1992.
Other races we’re watching include questions about two statewide constitutional amendments, a referendum for Mukwonago Schools, the battle for Milwaukee City Attorney, and much more.
TMJ4 News will update this blog with results from these and other races as they are called. Check back often the night for the latest updates.
See all of our election results here.
Latest updates:
9:23 pm — Evan Goyke is declaring victory in the Milwaukee City Attorney’s race over incumbent Tearman Spencer.
As of this writing, Goyke has 63% of the vote to Tearman’s 37%, with 59% of precincts reporting.
8:56 pm — The $252 million MPS referendum is going to come down to the wire.
With 88 percent of the vote in, 49.35% have voted “yes,” and 50.65% have voted “no.” Just 652 votes separate the two camps.
If approved, the referendum would add about $216 in property taxes for a home valued at $100,000. See Sydni Eure’s reporting on the referendum here.
8:37 pm — Wisconsin Question 1, a constitutional amendment, has been approved, just minutes after the call for Question 2.
Our partners at Decision Desk HQ made the projection.
The question stemmed from false claims that billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg used election grants to tip the balance of the 2020 presidential race in favor of President Joe Biden. Zuckerberg donated $350 million which was distributed to election offices across the country. More than 200 Wisconsin municipalities received about $10 million of that money.
Watch: Harm Venhuizen explains the two statewide constitutional amendments on today’s ballot.
Ballot questions will let Wisconsin voters decide on election grants and poll workers
A large majority of the money distributed in Wisconsin went to the state’s five largest cities — including Milwaukee and Green Bay — which are traditionally Democratic strongholds. Republicans alleged that the grants were used as bribes or to boost Democratic turnout, but there is no evidence to support that. Elections offices used the funds to deal with the added costs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Records show that grant funds were spent on expenses including new voting machines, personal protective equipment, and additional absentee ballots.
Several lawsuits and a complaint to the Wisconsin Elections Commission about the grants have been rejected. A Dane County judge in June 2022 ruled that the grants were legal.
8:25 pm — Wisconsin Question 2, a constitutional amendment, has been approved, according to our partners at Decision Desk HQ.
The ballot question was the result of controversy about a consultant hired by Green Bay elections officials in 2020. Conservatives have claimed that Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, who worked for the National Vote at Home Institute, was given improper access to election facilities and ballots. However, city officials have rebutted those claims, saying in a report that Spitzer-Rubenstein had “no decision-making authority” and “never assisted with any matters involving actual ballots.”
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The Legislature’s own nonpartisan attorneys have said they’re unsure how the second ballot question will change state law, if at all, since statutes already say that only election officials designated by state law can administer elections.
Read TMJ4’s Harm Venhuizen’s breakdown of this ballot question here.
8:22 pm — As expected, President Joe Biden and Donald Trump have won their respective races in the statewide presidential primary. Both candidates already have the nominations for their parties sewn up.
As of this writing, Donald Trump had 76% of the Republican primary vote, and Biden had 89% of the Democratic primary vote.
“Uninstructed,” an option in the Democratic primary that some are using as a protest vote to send a message to President Biden, currently has 8% of the vote.
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7:41 pm — We’re just minutes away from getting the first results from today’s elections. Polls close at 8 pm in Wisconsin, and we expect to see data pouring in shortly thereafter on our election results page.
At 9 pm, our news crews will bring you a live streaming update with what we know so far. You can watch that right here, or wherever you stream TMJ4 News. If you don’t have our app, make sure you have it now!
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