2006 Wisconsin Senate election

2006 Wisconsin State Senate election

← 2004 7 November 2006 2008  →
17 of 33 seats in the Wisconsin Senate 17 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Judy Robson Dale Schultz Party Democratic Republican Leader since 3 January 2005 3 January 2005 Leader's seat 15th – Beloit 17th – Richland Center Last election 8 seats, TBD% 8 seats, TBD% Seats before 14 19 Seats won 10 7 Seats after 18 15 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 512,068 507,659 Percentage 49.68% 49.25%
President before election Alan Lasee Republican Elected President Fred Risser Democratic

The 2006 Wisconsin Senate election was held on Tuesday 7 November 2006 to determing which party would control the Wisconsin Senate for the following two years in the 98th Wisconsin Legislature. The seventeen odd-numbered districts of the 33 seat Wisconsin Senate were up for election. Prior to the election 19 seats were held by Republicans and 14 were held by Democrats. This election saw Democrats regaining control of the Wisconsin Senate after having lost control of the chamber following the 2002 election. ^[1]

The primary was held on 12 September 2006.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Rothenberg [2]	Lean R	4 November 2006

Summary

Seats		Party (majority caucus shading)		Total
		Democratic	Republican
Last election (2004)		8	8	16
Total after last election (2004)		14	19	33
Total before this election		14	19	33
Up for election		6	11	17
of which:	Incumbent retiring	0	1	1
	Vacated	0	0	0
	Unopposed	2	2	4
This election		10	7	17
Change from last election		4	4
Total after this election		18	15	33
Change in total		4	4

Popular vote

Democratic			49.68%
Republican			49.25%
Independent			0.07%

Senate seats won

Democratic			54.55%
Republican			45.45%

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

• State Senate district 23, 1.75% (gain)
• State Senate district 31, 3.25% (gain)
• State Senate district 5, 3.52% (gain)
• State Senate district 21, 6.13% (gain)
• State Senate district 17, 8.41%

Outgoing incumbents

Retired

• Cathy Stepp, (R–Sturtevant), representing district 21 since 2002, declined to seek re-election. ^[3]

Candidates and results

Dist.	Incumbent				This race [4]
	Member	Party	First elected	Status	General
01	Alan Lasee	Republican	1977 (special)	Incumbent re-elected	Y Alan Lasee (Rep.) 55.12% Charlie Most (Dem.) 39.72% Jill Bussiere (Grn.) 5.07%
03	Tim Carpenter	Democratic	2002	Incumbent re-elected	Y Tim Carpenter (Dem.) 98.51%
05	Thomas Reynolds	Republican	2002	New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Jim Sullivan (Dem.) 51.68% Thomas G. Reynolds (Rep.) 48.16%
07	Jeffrey Plale	Democratic	2003 (special)	Incumbent re-elected	Y Jeffrey Plale (Dem.) 62.61% Dimity Grabowski (Rep.) 31.84% Claude VanderVeen (Grn.) 5.38%
09	Joe Leibham	Republican	2002	Incumbent re-elected	Y Joe Leibham (Rep.) 59.36% Jamie John Aulik (Dem.) 40.60%
11	Neal Kedzie	Republican	2002	Incumbent re-elected	Y Neal Kedzie (Rep.) 67.40% L.D. Rockwell (Dem.) 32.54%
13	Scott L. Fitzgerald	Republican	1994	Incumbent re-elected	Y Scott L. Fitzgerald (Rep.) 96.87%
15	Judy Robson	Democratic	1998	Incumbent re-elected	Y Judy Robson (Dem.) 68.18% Gregory Addie (Rep.) 31.66%
17	Dale Schultz	Republican	1990	Incumbent re-elected	Y Dale Schultz (Rep.) 54.19% John J. Simonson (Dem.) 45.78%
19	Michael Ellis	Republican	1982	Incumbent re-elected	Y Michael Ellis (Rep.) 98.66%
21	Cathy Stepp	Republican	2002	New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y John Lehman (Dem.) 53.03% William L. McReynolds (Rep.) 46.90%
23	David Zien	Republican	1992	New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Pat Kreitlow (Dem.) 50.84% David Zien (Rep.) 49.09%
25	Bob Jauch	Democratic	1986	Incumbent re-elected	Y Robert Jauch (Dem.) 62.24% Shirley J. Riedmann (Rep.) 37.70%
27	Jon Erpenbach	Democratic	1998	Incumbent re-elected	Y Jon Erpenbach (Dem.) 99.32%
29	Russ Decker	Democratic	1990	Incumbent re-elected	Y Russ Decker (Dem.) 62.24% Jimmy Boy Edming (Rep.) 32.28%
31	Ron Brown	Republican	2002	New member elected. Democratic gain.	Y Kathleen Vinehout (Dem.) 51.58% Ron Brown (Rep.) 48.33%
33	Theodore Kanavas	Republican	2001 (special)	Incumbent re-elected	Y Theodore Kanavas (Rep.) 67.29% Andrew Stiffler (Dem.) 32.66%

See also

• 2006 Wisconsin elections
  • 2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election
  • 2006 Wisconsin State Assembly election
  • 2006 United States Senate election in Wisconsin
  • 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin

References

1. "Wisconsin State Senate election results: 1992-2024". ballotpedia.org. 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2025.
2. Jacobson, Louis (4 November 2006). "State Legislature Ratings". www.insideelections.com. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
3. Gutsche Jr., Robert (4 October 2005). "Stepp won't seek re-election". Racine Journal Times . Retrieved 12 November 2025.
4. "District vote for state senators". search.library.wisc.edu. 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2025.