Trump’s endorsement will be tested as Wisconsin voters decide key primaries

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The power of an endosement by former President Donald Trump in battleground Wisconsin will be tested in a race for an open congressional seat in Tuesday’s primary, when voters also will officially set the field for the state’s closely watched U.S. Senate race.

Voters will choose a Democratic candidate to take on a first-term Republican who captured a western Wisconsin congressional district after a generation under Democratic control. Two constitutional amendments passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that would take power away from the governor also are on the ballot.

The election is the state’s first under new legislative maps more favorable to Democrats.

Here is what to know:

Senate race

The Senate seat currently held by Sen. Tammy Baldwin is seen as a must-win for Democrats if they hope to maintain majority control.

Republican millionaire banker Eric Hovde has dominated the GOP race, pouring $13 million of his own money into the race in just four months, and faces nominal opposition in his quest to defeat two-term incumbent Baldwin.

Hovde’s primary opponents, including chicken and pig farmer Charles Barman and chair of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point College Republicans Rejani Raveendran, have raised next-to-nothing for the race and had almost no public campaign.

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Constitutional amendments

Voters will decide on a pair of Republican-backed constitutional amendments that would take power away from the governor to spend federal money.

The amendments put on the ballot by Republicans would require legislative approval before the governor could spend any federal money coming to the state for disaster relief or any other crisis, unless it’s already earmarked.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and liberals are opposed, arguing it will slow down the distribution of money when it needs to be spent quickly. But Republican backers say it will add more oversight and serve as a check on the governor’s powers.

Congressional primaries

Three Republicans, including one backed by Trump, face off in another primary for the open 8th Congressional District seat in northeast Wisconsin. That opening was caused by the surprise resignation in April of Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, a sometimes Trump critic.

Former gas station chain owner Tony Wied, running his first race, touts his endorsement by Trump, who cut a TV ad for Wied. The race will be a test of how far Trump’s backing can go, as Wied faces two challengers who have won legislative races that include portions of the congressional district: Roger Roth, the former president of the state Senate who is backed by former Gov. Scott Walker, and Andre Jacque, a current state senator who argues he is the “proven conservative fighter.”

Jacque ran a television ad showing him in boxing gloves with the narrator touting Jacque as not afraid of taking on both the powerful Republican Assembly speaker and the “woke mob.”

Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an obstetrician who sued to overturn Wisconsin’s abortion ban, is the only Democrat running.

In a confusing twist, voters will decide who advances in the primary to serve a two-year term starting in January and also who will fill out the remainder of Gallagher’s term this year. Those are two separate questions on the ballot in August and November.

Western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, which had been represented by a Democrat for 26 years before it flipped in 2022, is the most competitive district in the state, resulting in a crowded Democratic primary for the chance to take on incumbent Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

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Van Orden is a former Navy SEAL who was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and remains one of Trump’s loudest backers in Wisconsin.

He is a top target for Democrats. State Rep. Katrina Shankland, who has support from more than 18 labor unions and the state’s two other Democratic members of Congress, faces former small-business owner and political activist Rebecca Cooke and political newcomer Eric Wilson in the Democratic primary.

There are also Republican primaries in the heavily Democratic 2nd and 4th congressional districts and a Democratic primary in the heavily Republican 7th Congressional District.

Legislative races

This is the first election under new legislative boundary lines that were enacted after the previous maps were struck down as unconstitutional in December.

Legislative incumbents will face each other in six primaries, including four Assembly races where the new maps pitted them against each other.

The winners in Tuesday’s primaries will face off in November, when all 99 seats in the Assembly and half of the Senate are on the ballot.

Democrats are running candidates in every Senate district on the ballot for the first time in 20 years, hoping to capitalize on the new lines that are more favorable to them. They have a legitimate chance at winning majority control of the Assembly, but Republicans are confident they will hold onto the Senate.

The Legislature has been under Republican control since 2011, serving as a block on Evers’ agenda the past six years. Evers also has rejected Republican initiatives, vetoing the most bills of any governor in Wisconsin history.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who was targeted by Trump backers in two failed recall attempts, faces no primary challenger. Andrew Cegielski quit campaigning in June but his name remains as a challenger to Vos on the primary ballot.

Two Republicans, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen and Sen. Dan Knodl, face each other in a new Assembly district representing Milwaukee’s far northwestern suburbs. Brandtjen, who has attempted to overturn Trump’s loss in Wisconsin in the 2020 presidential election, supported the effort to recall Vos.

On the Senate side, Republican incumbent Dan Feyen will face former state Rep. Tim Ramthun in a primary for the seat representing far east-central Wisconsin. Ramthun, who also pushed conspiracy theories that Trump won Wisconsin, is trying to return to politics after a failed gubernatorial bid in 2020.

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Associated Press writer Todd Richmond contributed to this report.