The 2004 Wisconsin Senate election was held on Tuesday November 2, 2004, at the Fall general election in Wisconsin, alongside the election to the State Assembly and other statewide and local offices. The Sixteen even-numbered seats in Wisconsin Senate were up for election. Prior to the election 18 seats were held by Republicans and 15 were held by Democrats. The primary election was held on September 14, 2004.

This was the first state Senate elections held in these seats under the 2002 redistricting plan.

After the election, Republicans entered the 97th Wisconsin Legislature with 19 of 33 seats.

Summary SeatsParty(majority caucus shading)TotalRepublicanDemocraticLast election (2002)11617Total after last election (2002)181533Total before this election181533Up for election7916of which:Incumbent retiring314Vacated000Unopposed325This election8816Change from last election 1 1Total after this election191433Change in total 1 1 PartyCandidatesVotes%Republican13673,07253.06%Democratic11566,88944.69%Green116,8071.33%Libertarian17,2880.57%Write-in–4,3730.35%Total1,268,429100.0%

Close races Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

(gain)

Outgoing incumbent

Retiring Chuck Chvala (D–Monona), representing district 16 since 1985, retired. Mark Meyer (D–La Crosse), representing district 32 since 2000, retired.

Seeking other office

Gwen Moore (D–Milwaukee), representing district 4 since 1992, ran successfully for U.S. House in the 4th district.

Robert Welch (R–Marion), representing district 14 since 1995, ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate.

Lost renomination

Mary Panzer (R–West Bend), representing district 20 since 1993, lost renomination to Glenn Grothman (R–West Bend).

Results summary Dist.IncumbentThis raceMemberPartyFirst electedStatusCandidates02RepublicanIncumbent re-elected Robert Cowles (Rep.) 89.13% Roy Leyendecker (Rep.) 10.73%04Democratic1992Incumbent ran for U.S. HouseNew member elected. Democratic hold. Lena Taylor (Dem.) 99.16%06Democratic2003 Incumbent re-elected Spencer Coggs (Dem.) 99.15%08Republican1992Incumbent re-elected Alberta Darling (Rep.) 56.94% Jennifer Morales (Dem.) 42.96%10Republican2000Incumbent re-elected Sheila Harsdorf (Rep.) 59.21% Gary L. Bakke (Dem.) 40.73%12Democratic1992Incumbent re-elected Roger Breske (Dem.) 53.47% Tom Tiffany (Rep.) 46.49%14Republican1995 Incumbent ran for U.S. SenateNew member elected. Republican hold. Luther Olsen (Rep.) 99.35%16Democratic1984Incumbent retiredNew member elected. Democratic hold. Mark Miller (Dem.) 60.04% Eric P. Peterson (Rep.) 39.90%18Republican1987 Incumbent re-elected Carol Roessler (Rep.) 98.60%20Republican1993 Incumbent lost renominationNew member elected. Republican hold. Glenn Grothman (Rep.) 99.15%22Democratic1996Incumbent re-elected Robert Wirch (Dem.) 52.11% Reince Priebus (Rep.) 47.84%24Democratic2003 Incumbent re-elected Julie Lassa (Dem.) 67.57% Greg Swank (Rep.) 32.39%26Democratic1962 Incumbent re-elected Fred Risser (Rep.) 80.81% Tony Schultz (Grn.) 18.93%28Republican1998 Incumbent re-elected Mary Lazich (Rep.) 99.27%30Democratic2000Incumbent re-elected Dave Hansen (Dem.) 54.55% Gary Drzewiecki (Rep.) 45.35%32Democratic2000Incumbent retiredNew member elected. Republican gain. Dan Kapanke (Rep.) 52.46% Brad Pfaff (Dem.) 47.39%

Detailed results

District 2 Incumbent Republican Robert Cowles ran for re-election. He defeated Libertarian Roy Leyendecker by a wide margin.

District 4 Incumbent Democrat Gwen Moore declined to seek re-election, instead running successfully for congress. State legislator Lena Taylor defeated fellow legislator Johnnie E. Morris-Tatum with a plurality 10-point margin. Taylor was elected unopposed in the general election.

District 6 Incumbent Democrat Spencer Coggs ran for re-election unopposed.

District 8 Incumbent Republican Alberta Darling ran for re-election. She defeated Democrat Jennifer Morales by a 14-point margin.

District 10

Incumbent Republican Sheila Harsdorf ran for re-election. She defeated Democrat Gary L. Bakke by a 19-point margin.

District 12

Incumbent Democrat Roger Breske ran for re-election. He defeated Republican Tom Tiffany by a seven-point margin.

District 14 Incumbent Republican Robert Welch declined to seek re-election. Republican Luther Olsen ran unopposed in the general election.

District 16 Incumbent Democrat and former Senate majority leader Chuck Chvala declined to seek re-election in the wake of the 2002 caucus scandal. Chvala, who had previously served as Democratic caucus leader until October 2002, was implicated in the wider caucus scandal that year, which saw legislative leaders in both parties charged with misusing state funds for campaign work. After facing calls to retire or resign during the last two years of his term, Chvala announced his retirement in March 2004, with Democratic representative Mark F. Miller announcing a campaign several days afterwards. He faced fellow Democratic legislator Tom Hebl, defeating him by a 17-point margin. Miller went on to face Republican Eric Peterson, who centered his campaign around Chvala's involvement in the caucus scandal, making numerous attempts to tie Miller to Chvala's misconduct in office. Miller went on to defeat Petersonn by a 20-point margin.

District 18 Incumbent Republican Carol Roessler ran for re-election unopposed.

District 20 Incumbent Republican Mary Panzer ran for re-election. She lost renomination to state representative Glenn Grothman by a 57-point margin. The primary was described as an ideological battle between staunch conservative Speaker of the assembly John Gard and Panzer, who had frustrated Gard's push for conservative priorities such as a Taxpayer's Bill of Rights Amendment. Grothman ran for election unopposed in the general election.

District 22 Incumbent Democrat Robert Wirch ran for re-election. He defeated Republican attorney Reince Priebus by a five-point margin. At the time, the race gained attention for the high amounts of funds Priebus had amassed for the campaign.

District 24 Incumbent Democrat Julie Lassa ran for re-election. She defeated Republican Greg Swank by a wide margin.

District 26 Incumbent Democrat Fred Risser ran for re-election. He defeated Green party candidate Tony Schultz by as wide margin.

District 28 Incumbent Republican Mary Lazich ran for re-election unopposed.

District 30 Incumbent Democrat Dave Hansen ran for re-election. In the Republican primary, former State senator Gary Drzewiecki defeated businessman David Steffen in a mild upset. Hansen defeated Drzewiecki in a rematch of the 2000 election by nine points.

District 32 Incumbent Democrat Mark Meyer declined to seek re-election. business owner Dan Kapanke defeated Democrat Brad Pfaff by a five-point margin.

References