GREEN BAY — Darwin and Elijah Behnke entered the primary election in Wisconsin as a father-son duo with newly drawn absentee ballots; according to unofficial results, only Elijah won.
Father and son were competing for legislative seats in two neighboring districts and faced thousands of dollars in mail, text messages and phone calls from opposition from the Stronger Wisconsin Fund, a political campaign fund that spent nearly $450,000 to influence the results of the Republican primary in northeastern Wisconsin districts.
Darwin had less than $4,000 in campaign funds since Jan. 1, less than the cost the Stronger Wisconsin Fund had to cover to send a round of counter-mails on July 23. He said he was a reluctant candidate after his son Elijah moved to the neighboring district.
Elijah Behnke had more than $26,000 to offset the more than $24,000 spent on attack ads against him in the weeks leading up to the primary.
4th Assembly District
With a vote share of 99%, David Steffen received about 66.7% of the votes (6,098) compared to 33.3% (3,043) for Darwin Behnke.
In Oconto County, where the district covers the southeastern part of the county, support was much more evenly balanced, with Steffen receiving 52% of the vote (1,994) compared to Behnke’s 48% (1,821).
Steffen dominated the Brown County portion of the district, receiving 77% of the vote (4,104) versus 23% (1,222) for Behnke.
On the Democratic side, Jane Benson easily defeated Alexia Unertl. Benson received 78.6% of the vote (3,515), while Unertl received 21.4% (958).
The split was similar in Oconto County, where voters gave Benson 79% of the vote (1,079) while Unertl received 21% (286).
6th Assembly District
Elijah Behnke will face Democrat Shirley Hinze in the general election after each advancement.
With about 99% of the estimated votes counted, Behnke received about 58% of the votes (4,842), compared to 41% (3,421) for Peter Schmidt.
Of the five counties in the 6th District, Behnke received the most support in the Oconto County portion, which includes communities on the western edge of the county, where he received 62% of the vote, while in Brown County he received 56%, in Menominee County 54%, in Shawano County 59% and in Waupaca County 55%.
Hinze ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
35th Assembly District
Calvin Callahan triumphed over his challenger Todd Mayr, receiving about 85% of the vote (6,865 to 1,238).
In Oconto County, only the city of Townsend is part of the district, and voters followed the example of the rest of the district. Townsend voters gave Callahan 85.4% (205) to 14.6% (35) for Mayr.
Callahan ran against Democrat Elizabeth McCrank, who ran unopposed.
Wied wins primary for US House of Representatives
Former gas station owner Tony Wied won the Republican primary to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher after a campaign that relied almost entirely on the support of former President Donald Trump.
Wied, whom Trump endorsed before his campaign officially launched in April, defeated former Appleton state Sen. Roger Roth and defeated De Pere state Sen. Andre Jacque in both the special primary and the regular primary. Roth and Jacque called Wied late Tuesday to concede defeat.
Because of Gallagher’s early retirement from Congress this year, candidates for the 8th Congressional District were on the ballot twice. The special election triggered by the early retirement fell on the same days as the regular election.
Wied will face OBG-YN Kristin Lyerly, a Democrat from De Pere, in November. The winner of the special general election will serve until Jan. 3, 2025 – the scheduled end of Gallagher’s term. After that, the winner of the regular general election will serve a full two-year term.
“I want to thank the voters for entrusting me with this honor,” Wied said in a statement. “I will not disappoint them.”
Lyerly ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
In Oconto County, Wied received the majority of votes (3,585, 54.3%), leaving Roth (1,767, 26.8%) and Jacque (1,252, 19%) behind.
Hovde wins Republican primary for US Senate
Republican banking and real estate mogul Eric Hovde won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin with nearly 90 percent of the vote, fending off competition within his party from Rejani Raveendran of Stevens Point and Charles Barman of Sharon.
“Since I began this campaign, my focus has been to defeat the do-nothing Tammy Baldwin and restore the American dream for the people of Wisconsin and across the country,” Hovde said in a statement, referring to the Democratic senator who is seeking a third term.
Hovde argued that Baldwin’s time in Washington had made it “time for a change.”
“I will always put the people of Wisconsin first as I work tirelessly to lower costs, secure the southern border and fix our broken health care system,” Hovde said.
Baldwin entered the general election by running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
In Oconto County, Hovde received 5,289 votes, or 85.5% of the vote, far outpacing Barman with 520 votes, or 8.4%, and Raveendran with 374 votes, or 6%.
Voters reject both referendums, victory for Democrats
Wisconsin voters have rejected two referendums to give the state legislature more power to distribute federal funds, a move that could have upended how billions of dollars are spent in the state. The result is a victory for Democrats who had pushed hard for a no vote in statewide ads and press conferences.
By Tuesday evening, more than 97% of the votes cast had been cast, with about 58% of voters rejecting both questions.
Because the majority of voters voted “no,” the Legislature is not prohibited from delegating its power to appropriate funds, nor is the governor required to obtain the Legislature’s approval in the form of a joint resolution before spending federal funds allocated to the state.
The outcome of the two referendums bucked the trend in Wisconsin — voters usually approve them. Of the 200 times lawmakers have proposed amendments to the state constitution since 1854, voters have rejected the changes only about 50 times, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.
Oconto County voters supported the yes vote, with about 62% voting in favor of passing each of the two questions.
Jesse Lin, Lawrence Andrea, Jessie Opoien and Rachel Hale contributed to this report.
