Dems Kalan Haywood and Shelia Stubbs won primaries for open Assembly seats in Milwaukee and Madison, respectively, while Tim Ramthun won the GOP race for the open 59th District in eastern Wisconsin.
None will have an opponent on the November ballot, meaning they are all but assured of becoming members of the Assembly.
Ramthun’s win was a bit of an upset. The Kewaskum School Board member didn’t file any campaign finance reports in the race, meaning he didn’t raise or spend enough to trigger the reporting requirements. Meanwhile, Ty Bodden was endorsed by outgoing GOP Rep. Jesse Kremer, who is leaving the seat to return to the private sector, and the American Federation for Children’s independent expenditure arm did spots backing Rachel Mixon, a teacher.
But with 100 percent of the vote in, Ramthun was at 34.4 percent, while Bodden was his closest opponent at 30.9 percent.
The top two candidates in the 16th AD come from well-known African-American families in Milwaukee. Haywood’s father, also Kalan Haywood, is a well-known developer. Meanwhile, Supreme Moore Omokunde is the son of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee.
With all of the vote in, Haywood won 37.4 percent, while Omokunde was at 33.4 percent in the five-way primary.
Leaders for a Better Community Inc. did independent expenditures backing Haywood, a 19-year-old college student.
Stubbs, meanwhile, was considered the favorite going into Tuesday’s primary after locking up support from Dem Rep. Terese Berceau, who is retiring from the seat, and a series of Dem elected officials.
With all but one precinct in, she had 49.9 percent of the vote in the four-way primary with immigration attorney Shabnam Lotfi in second at 36.1 percent.
The primary win puts Stubbs in line to become the first African-American elected to state government in Dane County.
