What Went Down In Elections In Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont And Connecticut

Results are starting to trickle in for Wisconsin’s attorney general race, which I’m watching tonight. There’s no competition on the Democratic side — incumbent Josh Kaul was running unopposed — but there are three Republicans vying to take on Kaul in November. Right now, with 9 percent of the expected vote in, former state Sen. Adam Jarchow and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney are neck-and-neck, each with just under 40 percent of the vote. Attorney Karen Mueller, whose campaign focused mostly on COVID-19 conspiracy theories and was always more of a long-shot, is behind the other two, with about 22 percent of the vote.

Abortion has played a big role in this race. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, the state’s 1849 abortion ban went into effect, which made it impossible to get an abortion in the state. Kaul is challenging it in state court and has promised not to enforce it, although he doesn’t have control over state prosecutors’ ability to bring charges. Jarchow and Toney, meanwhile, both oppose abortion rights and have promised to enforce the ban if elected.

With 13 percent of the expected vote now counted in the Republican primary for Wisconsin governor, Kleefisch leads Michels by about 3 percentage points. This race is living up to the billing so far.

Democrats shouldn’t have any trouble holding the office of Connecticut secretary of state this fall, but notably, the Republican primary for that office was just won by Dominic Rapini, who has cast doubt over the 2020 election result with his repeated references to widespread voter fraud, which have not been substantiated. That means Republicans have now nominated (so far) six secretary of state candidates who have denied or questioned the legitimacy of the 2020 election: deniers in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico, and questioners in Alabama and Connecticut.