Michels to face Evers on Nov. 8

By Neal Hogden

In a hotly contested race to win the Republican governor slot on this fall’s election, Tim Michels emerged victorious against five other candidates in the primary election.

The primary victory gives Michels the opportunity to take on current governor Tony Evers in the Nov. 8 election. The army veteran received over 47 percent of the statewide vote while his main opponent, Rebecca Kleefisch, took home 41 percent of the statewide votes.

Michels won the Clark County vote by a margin of 2353 to Kleefisch’s 1196 votes. In Marathon County, Kleefisch pulled out the victory garnering 48 percent of the votes in the county.

Michels received his bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College and spent 12 years in the army before coowning a construction company.

Kleefisch delivered a statement to supporters after conceding to Michels late Tuesday night.

“I could not be more grateful,” Kleefisch said. “I honestly feel like this team, you all, left it all on the field and I could not be more proud.”

Michels was endorsed by former U.S. President Donald Trump shortly before the primary election. Trump said Michels would be able to “drain the swamp” and bring jobs to Wisconsin.

“Wisconsin needs a governor who will stop inflation, uphold the rule of law, strengthen our borders and end the well-documented fraud in our elections,” Trump said. “Tim Michels is the best candidate to deliver meaningful solutions to these problems, and he will produce jobs like no one else can even imagine.”

A Marquette Law poll that was taken before the primary showed Evers as the favorite to beat Michels by a 48 to 41 percent clip.

Senate

The race for the democratic spot on the ballot for the U.S. senate was won won by Mandela Barnes. The current lieutenant governor under Tony Evers ran away with the election as he garnered 77.8 percent of the votes from around the state. Barnes beat out a host of other candidates but most had withdrawn their candidacies before the election to voice their support for the 35-year-old primary winner.

A statement released by Barnes after learning of his victory said he intends to change the Senate if he is elected in November.

“I don’t fit the bill of a normal politician, and it took me a little while to understand that that’s a good thing,” Barnes said. “Because the way we’ll change Washington is by changing the people we send to Washington. And that work starts today.”

Barnes will now face incumbent republican Ron Johnson for the seat on Nov. 8. Johnson has held the seat since 2011 and has served on multiple committees during his time in Washington.

The race to be the Republican representative for the lieutenant governor’s election was won by Roger Roth.

The race featured four candidates who earned over 13 percent of the votes. Roth took home 32.2 percent of the votes while Patrick Testin earned 17.1 percent, Cindy Werner earned 13.5 percent and Jonathan Wichmann took home 13.2 percent of the votes.

Roth will face democrat Sara Rodriguez, who won the democratic primary, earning 75.8 percent of the votes over Peng Her.

The race to be the Republican representative for the attorney general election in November came down to the wire. Eric Toney came out with the win as he gathered 37.5 percent of the votes. Not far behind was Adam Jarchow who earned 36.9 percent of the votes.