1958 Wisconsin elections
 | ||
| ||
|
| ||
| Elections in Wisconsin | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Seal of Wisconsin.svg | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
The 1958 Wisconsin fall general election was held in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on November 4, 1958. All of Wisconsin's partisan executive and administrative offices were up for election as well as one of Wisconsin's U.S. Senate seats, and Wisconsin's ten seats in the United States House of Representatives. The fall election also filled the sixteen even-numbered seats in the Wisconsin Senate and all 100 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 74th Wisconsin Legislature. The 1958 Wisconsin fall primary was held on September 9, 1958.
The 1958 Wisconsin spring election was held April 1, 1958. Various nonpartisan local and judicial offices were up for election, including one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
The November partisan elections marked a massive shift in Wisconsin's politics. While, Wisconsin's state elections had long been dominated by the Republican Party. Wisconsin's November elections marked a landslide swing to the Democratic Party, which attracted comparisons to the Democratic Party's 1932 landslide in the state.
General overview
Background
Prior to 1958, the Republican Party had dominated the state's elections for nearly two decades.[1]
Analysis of the Spring elections
Logistics of the November election
1958's November elections were a national "midterm election", taking place in the middle of Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term.
Ballots included a straight ticket option covering partisan elections.[2]
Analysis of the November elections
The November elections marked a massive shift in Wisconsin's politics. While, Wisconsin's state elections had long been dominated by the Republican Party, Wisconsin's November elections marked a landslide victory for the Democratic Party.[3] Democrats flipped control of all but one state constitutional office (with the incumbent secretary of state winning re-election), and flipping control of the State Assembly (the lower house of the Legislature).[4] The results instantly drew comparisons to the Democratic Party's 1932 landslide in the state.[3]
The morning following the election, John Wyngaard of the La Crosse Tribune wrote,
An era in Wisconsin political life has ended. Rarely in the history of Wisconsin has a political party scored a triumph, and broken the power of its opposition, in the way the Democrats achieved yesterday. It was part of a national and apparently irresistible trend. Republicansof this state who had things mostly their own way for nearly a gneeration might find some solace–if they are disposed to do so today–in the realization that they made a better show in the face of the tide than their party in most of the country. They faced the blotting nervously. The depth of their trouble, however, was not recognized. Nor did the Democrats, including Gov. Elect. Gaylord Nelson, know how commanding and cheerful was their position. Or [Democrats] might have been cautious out of a respect for this state's uninterrupted record of Republican ballot box majorities over nearly two decades.
The election coincided with great results for the Democratic Party both in federal elections and in other state elections.[5] In the November 1958 elections, other states also saw Democratic gains in their elections. Similar to Wisconsin, in California the Democratic Party greatly dismantled Republican control of the state government. This included flipping the governorship in the state's gubernatorial election.[5] While Republicans did see some positive outcomes in November 1958 state elections, they were less extensive than the gains made by the Democratic party. The most prominent Republican success was the defeat of the prominent Democratic New York governor Averell Harriman by Republican challenger Nelson Rockefeller (the latter being considered to be a rising star in Republican politics) in a race deemed the "battle of the millionaires" due to the two men's wealth. The New York governor election's outcome impacted jockeying for the two major party's 1960 presidential nominations, elevating Rockefeller as a prospect for the Republican presidential nomination (potentially complicating the chances of the front-runner –Vice President Richard Nixon– by elevating a potential rival) while also all but assuring that Harriman would no longer be a prospect for the Democratic nomination. In addition to New York, Republicans also flipped governorships away from the Democrats in three other elections (Arizona, Oregon, and Rhode Island). Democrats, however, flipped more governorships away from Republicans. In addition to flipping Wisconsin and California's governorship, Democrats flipped Republican-held governorships in fourth further elections (Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and South Dakota).[5]
Federal elections
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
All 10 of Wisconsin's congressional districts were up for election in November. For the first time since 1932, Wisconsin elected an evenly-split delegation, with each party capturing of the state's seats. In Wisconsin, Democrats unseated two Republican incumbents.[6] Nationally, Democrats won their strongest seat share in the United States House of Representatives since the New Deal era.[5]
| District | Incumbent | This race | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | First elected | Results[7] | Candidates | |
| Wisconsin 1 | Vacant | Lawrence H. Smith (R) died January 22, 1958. Democratic gain. |
| ||
| Wisconsin 2 | Donald Edgar Tewes | Republican | 1956 | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain. |
|
| Wisconsin 3 | Gardner R. Withrow | Republican | 1948 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 4 | Clement Zablocki | Democratic | 1948 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 5 | Henry S. Reuss | Democratic | 1954 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 6 | William Van Pelt | Republican | 1950 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 7 | Melvin Laird | Republican | 1952 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 8 | John W. Byrnes | Republican | 1944 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 9 | Lester Johnson | Democratic | 1953 (special) | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
| Wisconsin 10 | Alvin O'Konski | Republican | 1942 | Incumbent re-elected. |
|
State executive offices
Governor
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gaylord A. Nelson | 644,296 | 53.59% | +5.48% | |
| Republican | Vernon W. Thomson (incumbent) | 556,391 | 46.28% | -5.61% | |
| [[Independent|Template:Independent/meta/shortname]] | Wayne Leverenz[lower-alpha 1] | 1,485 | 0.12% | ||
| Scattering[lower-alpha 2] | 47 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 87,905 | 7.31% | |||
| Total votes | 1,202,219 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic gain from Republican | Swing | +11.09% | |||
Lieutenant governor
Attorney general
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
Attorney General Democratic primary
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John W. Reynolds Jr. | 143,866 | 62.47 | |
| Democratic | Christ T. Seraphim | 86,431 | 37.53 | |
| Total votes | 230,297 | 100 | ||
Attorney General Republican primary
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Stewart G. Honeck (incumbent) | 219,001 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 219,001 | 100 | ||
Attorney General general election
Template:Election box swing with party link| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John W. Reynolds Jr. | 617586 | 53.67 | ||
| Republican | Stewart G. Honeck | 533131 | 46.33 | ||
| Majority | 84455 | 7.34 | |||
| Total votes | 1150717 | 100 | |||
Secretary of state
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Secretary of State Democratic primary
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jerome J. Reinke | 101,738 | 44.15 | |
| Democratic | William H. Evans | 90,053 | 39.07 | |
| Democratic | William W. Groenert | 38,672 | 16.78 | |
| Majority | 11,685 | 5.07 | ||
| Total votes | 230,463 | 100 | ||
Secretary of State Republican primary
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Robert C. Zimmerman (incumbent) | 233,133 | 100 | |
| Total votes | 233,133 | 100 | ||
Secretary of State general election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Robert C. Zimmerman (incumbent) | 604,177 | 51.60 | ||
| Democratic | Jerome J. Reinke | 566,606 | 48.40 | ||
| Majority | 37,571 | 3.21 | |||
| Total votes | 1,170,783 | 100 | |||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
Treasurer
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
State legislature
State Senate
A portion of of the seats of in the Wisconsin Senate were contested. Republicans retained their majority after the election, with 20 of the body's 33 seats. Democrats held 12 seats, while 1 seat remained vacant.[4]
State Assembly
Democrats flipped control of the State Assembly, winning 55 of 100 seats (with Republicans winning the remaining 45).[4]
State judiciary
Supreme Court
Circuit courts
County offices
Spring elections for county offices
Spring elections included some non-partisan races for county offices.
Fall elections for county offices
In the fall elections, partisan races for county office contested between the two major parties largely paralleled the national and statewide trend of strong Democratic Party gains and a decline in Republican vote totals.[3]
La Crosse county offices
In La Crosse County, all countywide offices saw Republican incumbents run un-opposed. This resulted in a re-election of all Republican incumbents. However, the incumbents saw their vote totals reduced because an increased proportion of voters in the county marked the Democratic Party straight ticket box on their ballots and undervoted in the unopposed county office races which lacked Democratic nominees (as opposed to marking their ballots to additionally endorse the unopposed Republicans in addition to the Democratic straight-ticket option).[2]
County ballot measures
Municipal offices
Mayoralties
Spring mayoral elections
A large number of incumbent mayors lost re-election during the spring election held on April 1. This included two sixth-term incumbents (Robert L. Roemer of Appleton and Frank Dumbeck of Oconomowoc).[12]
| City | County | Winning candidate | Other candidate(s) | Notes | Cite | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes | % | Name | Votes | % | ||||
| Appleton | Outagamie | Clarence A. Mitchell | 6,853 | Robert L. Roemer (incumbent) | 5,548 | Incumbent defeated. Mitchell (a city alderman) unseated Roemer (who was seeking what would have been a seventh term) | [12] | ||
| Ashland | Ashland | Harry Simon | Mark Movrich (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated | [12] | ||||
| Brodhead | Green | C. O. Synstegard (incumbent) | Frank Mauermann | Incumbent re-elected against a former mayor; re-match of the 1956 election (in which Synstegard had unseated Mauermann) | [12] | ||||
| Edgerton | Rock | Arnold Wickum | Norman Yeske (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated | [12] | ||||
| Elkhorn | Walworth | V. M. Gunyon (incumbent) | Robert Leheman | Incumbent re-elected to a third term over Robert Lehman( a lawyer) in a re-match of the 1956 election (in which he had also defeated Lehman) | [12] | ||||
| Jefferson | Jefferson | Robert C. Hearne | Carl J. Mueller (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated; Hearne (a first time candidate for office) unseated the first-term incumbent mayor | [12] | ||||
| Kenosha | Kenosha | Eugene Hammond | 12,524 | Richard Lindgre | 11,307 | first mayoral election to be held in Kenosha in 36 years (city was reverting back to a mayoral form of governance after having had 35 years of council-manager governance); was considered a close race | [12] | ||
| Ladysmith | Rusk | Charles Zimmerman | Zimmerman defeated three opponents | [12] | |||||
| Marshfield | Wood | Irvin W. Wendt | Wendt defeated two opponents | [12] | |||||
| Menasha | Winnebago | R. G. Ducharme (incumbent) | John Scanlon | Incumbent re-elected to a second term, defeating former mayor Scanlon | [12] | ||||
| Monroe | Green | Victoria Schiller | Frank Mauermann | Schiller (a member of the Green County Board) defeated the incumbent | [12] | ||||
| Neenah | Winnebago | Chester Bell | George E. Sande (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated; Bell (a retired school superintendent) defeated incumbent Sande | [12] | ||||
| Oconomowoc | Waukesha | J. Alan Humphrey | Frank Dumbeck (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated; Humphrey (a first-time candidate for office) incumbent Dumbeck (who was seeking what would have been a seventh term) | [12] | ||||
| Plymouth | Sheboygan | William P. Wagner | Earl W. Hirsch | Wagner (an auto dealer) defeated Hirsch (a canning firm field man). Incumbent mayor Howard Fischer did not run for re-election. | [12] | ||||
| St. Francis | Milwaukee | Paul H. Rainer | Paul H. Rainer (incumbent) | Incumbent defeated | [12] | ||||
| Sparta | Monroe | Joe Larson | Larson won a four-candidate race for mayor. Incumbent mayor Otis Erickson did not seek re-election | [12] | |||||
| Tomah | Monroe | Elwin McKean | Peter Favre | McKean (a retired school superintendent) defeated Favre (the incumbent city council president). Incumbent mayor Lawrence Curry did not seek re-election. | [12] | ||||
Fall mayoral elections
City councils
Spring city council elections
Green Bay: https://www.newspapers.com/image/188298467/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/188298490
Fall city council elections
Other municipal elections
Other spring municipal elections
Other fall municipal elections
Municipal ballot measures
Spring primary municipal measures
Spring general election municipal measures
Water fluoridation referendums
- Nekoosa: referendum to fluoridate the municipal water supply was approved, receiving 590 votes in favor (71.60%) and 235 votes against (28.52%)[13]
- Platteville: referendum to fluoridate the municipal water supply was defeated, receiving 607 votes in favor (40.77%) and 882 votes against (59.23%)[13]
Municipal government reform propositions
- Chilton: a proposition to make the office of city accessor an appointed (rather than elected) office was defeated, with 79 votes cast in support (21.07%) and 296 votes cast against (78.93%)[13]
- Columbus: [13]
- Edgerton: a proposition to switch from a council–manager government to a mayor-council system was defeated,[12][13] with 328 votes cast in support of a switch (27.77%) and 853 votes cast against (72.23%)[13]
- Lake Geneva: a proposition to switch from a council–manager government to a mayor-council systemwas defeated, with 698 votes cast in support a switch (41.80%) and 972 votes cast against (58.20%)[13]
- Preble: https://www.newspapers.com/image/188298467/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/188298490
- Superior: a proposition to switch from a council–manager government to a mayor-council system was approved, with 5,075 votes being cast in support (51.17%) and 4,843 votes being cast against (48.83%).[13]
Propositions to repeal dry laws
- Benton: [13]
- Green Bay: plant site https://www.newspapers.com/image/188298490
- Mineral Point: [13]
Fall primary municipal measures
Fall general election municipal measures
Notes
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wyngaard, John (November 5, 1958). "Smashing Democratic Victory Ends In Wisconsin Political Life". La Crosse Tribune. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Republicans Returned to County Posts". La Crosse Tribune. The Associated Press. November 5, 1958. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bystrom, Arthur (November 5, 1958). "Proxmire, Nelson Pace Demo Victory". La Crosse Tribune. The Associated Press. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Election Results At A Glance". La Crosse Tribune. The Associated Press. November 5, 1958. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Peacock, William T.; Bell, Jack (November 5, 1958). "Demos Sweep Control of Congress Rockefeller Win Brightest Spot In GOP Defeat". La Crosse Tribune. The Associated Press. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ "GOP, Demos Split State Congress Races". La Crosse Tribune. The Associated Press. November 5, 1958. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Abramson, Paul; Aldrich, John; Rohde, David (1995). Change and Continuity in the 1992 Elections. CQ Press. ISBN 0871878399. Search this book on
- ↑ Wisconsin Historical Society, Statement of Board of State Canvassers for State Officers - General Election - 1958
- ↑ The Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library (1960). "Vote For State Officers By Counties, Wisconsin General Election, November 4, 1958". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1960. Madison, Wisconsin. pp. 692–693. Search this book on
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Toepel, M. G.; Kuehn, Hazel L., eds. (1960). "Elections in Wisconsin". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1960 (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 651–52, 693–94. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
- ↑ "Four New Judges Get Voters' Nod". Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Associated Press. April 2, 1958. Retrieved 30 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 "Incumbents Beaten in Mayor Races". Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Associated Press. April 2, 1958. Retrieved 30 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 "Voters Decide Wide Range of Referendums". Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Associated Press. April 2, 1958. Retrieved 30 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
Template:1958 United States elections
Wisconsin Category:Wisconsin State Legislature elections Category:Local elections in Wisconsin Wisconsin
This article "1958 Wisconsin elections" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:1958 Wisconsin elections. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
.svg){kind=link}
.png){kind=link}
_(3x4).png){kind=link}