2008 Wisconsin Senate election

2008 Wisconsin State Senate election
16 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate; 17 seats needed for a majority
	Map of the incumbents:; Democratic hold; Republican hold; No election

The 2024 Wisconsin Senate election was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Sixteen of the 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate were up for election—the even-numbered districts. Prior to the election 17 seats were held by Democrats, 14 were held by Republicans, and 2 seats were vacant.

The primary was held on September 9, 2008, and the filing deadline was July 8, 2008.

Summary

Seats		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total

		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2006)		9	8	17
Total after last election (2006)		18	15	33

Total before this election		18	15	33
Up for election		8	8	16
of which:	Incumbent retiring	1	1	2
	Vacated	1	1	2
	Unopposed	4	2	6
This election		8	8	16
Change from last election

Total after this election		18	15	33
Change in total

Popular vote

Democratic			52.74%
Republican			45.53%
Independent			1.73%

Senate seats won

Democratic			50%
Republican			50%

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

State Senate district 18, 0.19%
State Senate district 8, 1.01%
State Senate district 12, 2.48%
State Senate district 32, 2.85%

Outgoing incumbents

Vacated

Roger Breske (D–Eland), first elected in a 1990 special election, resigned his seat on June 4, 2008, after being appointed Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner by governor Jim Doyle.^[1]
Carol Roessler (R–Oshkosh), first elected in a 1987 special election, resigned her seat on July 4, 2008, after being appointed Administrator of State and Local Finance by governor Jim Doyle.

Results summary

Dist.	Incumbent				This race^[a]^[2]
Dist.	Member	Party	First elected	Status	Candidates	Results
02	Robert Cowles	Rep.	1987 (special)	Incumbent Running	▌ YRobert Cowles (Rep.) 99.35%	Incumbent re-elected
04	Lena Taylor	Dem.	2004	Incumbent Running	▌ YLena Taylor (Dem.) 98.82%	Incumbent re-elected
06	Spencer Coggs	Dem.	2003 (recall)	Incumbent Running	▌ YSpencer Coggs (Dem.) 98.85%	Incumbent re-elected
08	Alberta Darling	Rep.	1992	Incumbent Running	▌ YAlberta Darling (Rep.) 50.46% ▌Sheldon Wasserman (Dem.) 49.45%	Incumbent re-elected
10	Sheila Harsdorf	Rep.	2000	Incumbent Running	▌ YSheila Harsdorf (Rep.) 56.40% ▌Alison H. Page (Dem.) 43.49%	Incumbent re-elected
12	Vacant^[b]				▌ YJim Holperin (Dem.) 51.21% ▌Tom Tiffany (Rep.) 48.73%	New member elected. Democratic hold
14	Luther Olsen	Rep.	2004	Incumbent Running	▌ YLuther Olsen (Rep.) 99.36%	Incumbent re-elected
16	Mark Miller	Dem.	2004	Incumbent Running	▌Mark Miller (Dem.) 99.29%	Incumbent re-elected
18	Vacant^[c]				▌ YRandy Hopper (Rep.) 50.05% ▌Jessica King (Dem.) 49.86%	New member elected. Republican hold
20	Glenn Grothman	Rep.	2004	Incumbent Running	▌ YGlenn Grothman (Rep.) 80.26% ▌Clyde Winter (Ind.) 19.64%	Incumbent re-elected
22	Robert Wirch	Dem.	1996	Incumbent Running	▌ YRobert Wirch (Dem.) 66.65% ▌Benjamin Lee Bakke (Rep.) 33.21%	Incumbent re-elected
24	Julie Lassa	Dem.	2003 (special)	Incumbent Running	▌ YJulie Lassa (Dem.) 67.67% ▌Tom Kimmet (Rep.) 32.28%	Incumbent re-elected
26	Fred Risser	Dem.	1962 (special)	Incumbent Running	▌ YFred Risser (Rep.) 99.13%	Incumbent re-elected
28	Mary Lazich	Rep.	1998 (special)	Incumbent Running	▌ YMary Lazich (Rep.) 99.24%	Incumbent re-elected
30	Dave Hansen	Dem.	2000	Incumbent Running	▌ YDave Hansen (Dem.) 66.06% ▌Chad Fradette (Rep.) 33.88%	Incumbent re-elected
32	Dan Kapanke	Rep.	2004	Incumbent Running	▌ YDan Kapanke (Rep.) 51.38% ▌Tara Johnson (Dem.) 48.53%	Incumbent re-elected

Notes

References

[1]

[a]

[2]

[b]

[c]

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