Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Republicans have retained control of the Wisconsin state Senate, setting the stage for the GOP to maintain complete control of state government.
Local incumbents to the state Senate and Assembly looked poised to return to their seats based on partial election results Tuesday.
Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, appeared to be fending off a challenge from Democrat John Powers in the 2nd Senate District. He was projected the winner with 73 percent of precincts reporting, with 65 percent of the vote to 35 percent for Powers.
In Shawano County, Cowles had 10,491 votes to 4,893 for Powers, with all 43 precincts reporting.
Powers is a former Wittenberg teacher who made two unsuccessful bids for the state Assembly against 6th District Rep. Gary Tauchen (R-Bonduel).
Tauchen, meanwhile, looked to be on the cusp of overcoming another challenger Tuesday, William Switalla, of Wittenberg.
With 66 percent of precincts reporting, Tauchen had 69 percent of the vote versus 31 percent for Switalla.
In Shawano County, Tauchen had 10,895 votes to Switalla’s 4,539, with all 43 precincts in.
The GOP entered Tuesday’s election with an 18-14 advantage with one open seat. Democrats needed to win six of the eight seats in play to get to a 17-member majority. Republicans needed to win only four.
In addition to Cowles, Republican incumbents Sheila Harsdorf, of River Falls, and Tom Tiffany, of Little Rice, also won, and Republican newcomer Daniel Feyen won an open seat representing the Fond du Lac area to give the GOP 17 seats.
Republicans were widely expected to maintain their majority in the Assembly as well. Republicans have controlled both legislative houses and the governor’s office since 2011. With Gov. Scott Walker not up for re-election until 2018,
Republicans will have complete control of state government for another two years.
In the 2nd Senate district, Powers faced an uphill battle.
Cowles won his Senate seat in a special election in 1987 and has been re-elected every four years since 1988.
Cowles said during the campaign he wasn’t taking anything for granted, but also said he felt something of an advantage in the race, given that he has been a known commodity in the district for so many years.
“They know me, and they know that I work hard,” he said.
Powers called Cowles an “emperor that has no clothes.”
“In this time of drastic cuts to our public schools, a state agency that gives hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to businesses that fail to create jobs, and a complete gutting of the authority of the DNR, you would hope someone with that kind of seniority would be a voice for reason,” Powers wrote. “Instead of being part of the solution, our senator is part of the problem.”
Powers also criticized the increase in tax dollars being siphoned away from public education and going to private schools.
Cowles said he is an advocate of K-12 and technical colleges, as well as the state’s university system.
Switalla is village president in Wittenberg and a supervisor on the Shawano County Board; seats he said he ran for because he didn’t like the direction things were going.
Elected in 2006, Tauchen has fended off three previous unsuccessful challenges from Democrats in a staunchly Republican district.