Conservative Brian Hagedorn declared victory early Wednesday in a razor-thin race with fellow Appeals Court Judge Lisa Neubauer to become Wisconsin’s next justice.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, The Associated Press had Hagedorn with 601,007 votes, or 50.2 percent, to 595,206, or 49.8 percent, for Neubauer.

That margin was within the threshold required under Wisconsin law for Neubauer to request a recount. But if it holds up after the final vote tally, she’d have to pay for the costs of the second count.

Hagedorn called the margin “insurmountable.”

“The voters chose to have a Court that keeps personal political beliefs out of the courtroom and applies the law as written,” Hagedorn said.

Several hours earlier, Neubauer’s campaign manager Tyler Hendricks said the race was too close to call and “almost assuredly” headed to a recount.

“We are going to make sure every vote is counted,” he said. “Wisconsinites deserve to know we have had a fair election and that every vote is counted.”

Following Hagedorn’s declaration, Neubauer’s campaign said it was sticking to its earlier remarks.

In the 64th AD, Dem Thaddeus “Tip” McGuire will face Republican Mark Stalker in the April 30 general election after winning a three-way primary.

The seat was formerly held by Rep. Peter Barca, who left the Assembly to become Revenue secretary.

McGuire, an assistant DA for Milwaukee County and former Barca aide, is at 55.2 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting in the Kenosha-area seat, according to a WisPolitics.com tally.

He won over two challengers: community organizer Gina Walkington, who got 39.2 percent of the vote, and Spencer Zimmerman, a perennial candidate who lives in Janesville, well outside the district. He got 5.5 percent of the vote, per the unofficial county results.

At the local level, former Dem state Rep. Eric Genrich handedly won the race for Green Bay mayor Tuesday, pulling 57.6 percent of the vote for the open seat.

Meanwhile, Satya Rhodes-Conway defeated longtime Madison Mayor Paul Soglin in a landslide. She took 61.9 percent of the vote to become the first openly gay mayor in city history and only the second woman to win the office.

See more in the Election Blog: https://www.wispolitics.com/category/election/

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