WISCONSIN - The midterm election held Tuesday, Nov. 6 had it all. There were upsets, blowouts and elections almost too close to call.
Let’s start locally–Republican Loren Oldenburg defeated Democrat Paul Buhr to win the 96th State Assembly District, formerly held by Republican Lee Nerison. Oldenburg did not poll well in the primary election where the two Democrats ran up big numbers.
In Crawford County, both Buhr and his Democratic primary opponent Alicia Leinberger each got more votes than Oldenburg. Well, things changed in the general election on Tuesday. Oldenburg beat Buhr in Crawford County 3,292 to 3,266.
In Vernon County, Buhr held on to win 6,539 to 6,231. It was nowhere near the margin he ran up in the primary.
A portion of Monroe County added to the 96th in the 2011 redistricting proved to be the key to victory for Oldenburg. There, Oldenburg won 2,793 to 1,740 for Buhr.
The total vote for the 96th Wisconsin State Assembly District was Oldenburg-12,316 Buhr-11,545.
Although Oldenburg won the seat, and won in Crawford County by a small margin, Democrats had plenty of victories in the area and across the state.
The blowout win for the Democrats was provided locally and statewide by U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, who easily won re-election over Republican challenger Leah Vukmir. In Crawford County unofficially it was Baldwin 3,852 to 2,703 for Vukmir.
The biggest Democratic blowout of the night was the huge victory for U.S. Representative Ron Kind over Republican challenger Steve Toft. Kind beat Toft unofficially in Crawford County by a huge margin–4,244 to 2,322.
And yes it took until 1:30 a.m., but it seems Democrat Tony Evers has defeated incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker in a close election. In Crawford County, Evers beat Walker–3,354 to 3,117.
Heavy turnout locally, statewide and nationally was the story of the 2018 midterm election.
In Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove voter turnout was around 215 in each village, which is close to the numbers of the 2016 presidential election.
Initial unofficial results, showed 6,604 people voted of 8,377 registered voters in Crawford County–that’s almost 79 percent.
In both villages, Democrats won every single race. However, the margins of victory varied widely.
The largest margin of victory in both villages was garnered by incumbent U.S. Congressman Ron Kind. Kind defeated his Republican challenger Steve Toft 155 to 59 in Soldiers Grove and 152 to 63 in Gays Mills.
The smallest margin of victory in both villages came in the highly contested 96th State Assembly District race, where Democrat Paul Buhr squared off against Republican Loren Oldenburg. Buhr defeated Oldenburg 119 to 91 in Gays Mills and 114 to 99 in Soldiers Grove.
Tony Evers defeated incumbent Governor Scott Walker in Soldiers Grove 124-90 and 118-88 in Gays Mills.
In the townships of Crawford County, the results varied. Utica and Clayton were both swept by Democrats. Democrats also won in Freeman, Haney, and Scott.
Governor Scott Walker won in the Townships of Bridgeport, Eastman, Marietta, Prairie du Chien, Seneca and Wauzeka. However Baldwin also won in Bridgeport, Marietta and Seneca and tied in Wauzeka.
