The 2010 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on November 2, 2010. All of Wisconsin's executive and administrative officers were up for election as well as one of Wisconsin's

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

seats, Wisconsin's eight seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, seventeen seats in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

, and all 99 seats in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

. The 2010 Wisconsin Fall Partisan Primary was held September 14, 2010. The

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

swept all of the fall elections for statewide officials, except Secretary of State, winning the open seat for

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

and

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, defeating an incumbent Democratic

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

, and reelecting the incumbent Republican

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. They also won control of both chambers of the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republ ...

, and defeated incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, h ...

and U.S. Representative

Steve Kagen Steven Leslie Kagen (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 by Reid Rib ...

, and won the open U.S. House seat previously held by Democrat

Dave Obey David Ross Obey ( ; born October 3, 1938) is an American lobbyist and former politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1969 to 2011. The district includes much of the northwestern portion of the sta ...

. The 2010 Wisconsin Spring Election was held April 6, 2010. This election featured a contested election for

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

and several other nonpartisan local and judicial races. The 2010 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held on February 16, 2010.

Federal

United States Senate

Incumbent Democratic Senator

was challenged by Republican businessman

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

and Rob Taylor of the Constitution Party. Johnson defeated Feingold in the general election with 51.86% of the vote to Feingold's 47.02% and Taylor's 1.08%. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010

United States House

All 8 of Wisconsin's seats in the

were up for election in 2010. The Republican Party gained 2 seats, taking a 5-3 majority in the Wisconsin House delegation.

Governor and lieutenant governor

Incumbent Governor

Jim Doyle James Edward Doyle Jr. (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he narrowly defeated incumbent Republican governor Scott M ...

and Lieutenant Governor

Barbara Lawton Barbara Lawton (born July 5, 1951) is an American businesswoman and politician from Green Bay, Wisconsin who is the President and CEO of Americans for Campaign Reform. A member of the Democratic Party, Lawton was the 43rd Lieutenant Governor ...

did not run for reelection. Democrat Tom Barrett and Republican Scott Walker, along with several third-party candidates, contested the seat. Walker defeated Barrett in the general election with 52.25% of the vote to Barrett's 46.48%. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican

J.B. Van Hollen John Byron Van Hollen (born February 19, 1966) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from Wisconsin. He served as the 43rd attorney general of Wisconsin, from 2007 to 2015. Earlier, he was appointed United States Attorney ...

defeated Democrat Scott Hassett in the race for

Wisconsin Attorney General The attorney general of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Forty-five individuals have held the office of attorney general since statehood. The incumbent is Josh Kaul, ...

, winning 57.79% of the vote to Hassett's 42.13%. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010

Secretary of state

Incumbent Democrat

Doug La Follette Douglas J. La Follette (born June 6, 1940) is a retired American academic, environmental scientist, and Democratic politician from Wisconsin. He was the 28th and 30th secretary of state of Wisconsin, serving from 1975 to 1979, and from 1983 to ...

defeated Republican David King in the race for

Wisconsin Secretary of State Wisconsin ( ) is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Su ...

, winning 51.61% to King's 48.3%. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010

Treasurer

Republican challenger Kurt W. Schuller defeated incumbent Democrat Dawn Marie Sass in the race for Wisconsin Treasurer, winning 53.39% of the vote to Sass's 46.47%. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010

Legislature

State senate

The 17 odd-numbered seats of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

were up for election in 2010. The Republican Party won control of the State Senate.

Summary

State Assembly

All 99 seats in the

Wisconsin Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican Pa ...

were up for election in 2010. The Republican Party won control of the Assembly.

Summary

Judiciary

State Court of Appeals

Three seats on the

were up for election in 2010, two of those seats were contested. * In District I, Judge

Joan F. Kessler Joan F. Kessler (born 1944) is an American lawyer and a retired judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, serving from 2004 to 2020. Kessler previously served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin under President Jimmy ...

was elected to her second six-year term without opposition. * In District II, Wisconsin circuit court judge

Paul F. Reilly Paul F. Reilly is a retired American lawyer and judge. He served on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in the Waukesha-based District II from 2010 until his retirement in 2022. Earlier, he served 7 years as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Wauke ...

narrowly defeated fellow-Waukesha County circuit judge , to succeed retiring judge Harry G. Snyder. * In District IV, Dane County

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Brian Blanchard Brian Blanchard (born November 7, 1958) is an American attorney, judge, and Democratic politician. He currently serves as a judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in Madison-based District IV. Biography Born in State College, Pennsylvania, J ...

defeated Richland County circuit judge Edward Leineweber, to succeed retiring judge Charles P. Dykman. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 6, 2010 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 6, 2010

State Circuit Courts

Forty four of the state's 249

circuit court Circuit courts are court systems in several common law jurisdictions. It may refer to: * Courts that literally sit 'on circuit', i.e., judges move around a region or country to different towns or cities where they will hear cases; * Courts that s ...

seats were up for election in 2010. Nine of those seats were contested, only two incumbent judges faced a contested election and one was defeated.

References

External links

Elections & Election Results
by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
Wisconsin Congressional Races in 2010
for campaign finance data for federal races from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

Wisconsin--State Races in 2010
campaign finance data for state races from ''Follow the Money'' {{United States elections, 2010

Wisconsin State Legislature elections