State Rep. Adam Jarchow (R-Balsam Lake) defeated state Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls) in the Republican primary special election in the 10th Senate District on Tuesday. Jarchow received a large majority of votes in Polk County, his home county, to win the district 3,909 votes to 3,123.
WisPolitics notes that it was not a friendly primary. “One Jarchow mailer accused Zimmerman of not living in the district and said voters couldn’t trust him,” WisPolitics reported. “A Zimmerman radio ad knocked his opponent for siding with Dems against Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s priorities.”
However, Zimmerman said he will support Jarchow in the general election on January 16.
Jarchow will face Democrat Patty Schachtner (D-Somerset) who won a three-way primary.
Congrats to Patty Schachtner on her win. It’s a rematch of sorts. I ran against her son in my first Assembly race. Looking forward to a spirited campaign as we discuss our respective visions for the 10th. https://t.co/QTq7cZsOdn
— Adam Jarchow (@AdamJarchow28) December 20, 2017
Donald Trump won the district with 55.3 percent of the vote. The special election in the 10th Senate District became necessary after the appointment of Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) was appointed Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary by Governor Scott Walker.
My cocktail napkin math: GOP candidates scored combined 6,596 votes to 4,831 for Dems in primary (57.72% of total). Harsdorf won 2016 election with 63.22%. Excludes Pierce Co., which hasn’t posted results. #wipolitics https://t.co/nt1sRhWwTf
— Chris Rochester (@cdrochester) December 20, 2017
In the 58th Assembly District, Washington County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger) won a four-way primary to advance to the general election. As this is a very Republican district (87.5 percent of the ballots cast in the primary were for the GOP), the January 16 election will likely be just a formality.
Gundrum and second-place finisher Tiffany Koehler were both endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life and Pro-Life Wisconsin.
The election became necessary after the death of state Rep. Bob Gannon (R-West Bend).
Meanwhile, Democrats in Racine voted for Greta Neubauer with 53.6 percent of the vote to replace state Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) in the 66th Assembly District. She is currently running unopposed in the January 16 election. Mason was elected mayor of Racine. Neubauer is a former Mason staffer and the former director of the Fossil Fuel Divestment Student Network. Neubauer has not yet issued a statement how she intends to get to the state Capitol to work without fossil fuels.
