Dem
47
GOP
53
The big news out of Wisconsin yesterday was the landslide victory of Wisconsin-Supreme-Court-Justice-elect Chris Taylor. But there was some other news we didn't get to on account of the temporary cease fire (in Iran, not in Wisconsin). There were two other significant results in the Badger State. Where else, outside of Wisconsin, would minor elections in Wisconsin in April be big news... outside of Electoral-Vote.com?
Waukesha (Pop. 71,000) is a Republican-leaning suburb 10 miles west of Milwaukee. Tuesday it held a so-called nonpartisan election for mayor. It was won by actual-Democrat Alicia Halvensleben, president of the city's Common Council. She defeated "Republican" Scott Allen, a state assemblyman. Her margin was 51.2% to 48.7%. That is significant because the city is the county seat of conservative Waukesha, which Trump won by 20 points in 2024. He won the city of Waukesha by 6 points.
The election shows that Democrats are making inroads on Republican turf in a key swing state, where there is an open-seat race for governor. The combination of gains in Republican suburbs and more Democratic enthusiasm in urban centers could prove critical in the race for governor. It could also be important in two competitive House districts, WI-01 (R+2) and WI-03 (R+3), that Democrats could flip.
The other interesting Wisconsin election was also in a Milwaukee suburb, the city of Port Washington, 27 miles north of Milwaukee on Lake Michigan. It is not very big (Pop. 12,350), but a measure that passed there by a margin of 2-to-1 could have nationwide implications. The measure didn't block the ongoing construction of a data center supported by Donald Trump and the tech industry, but it did require future projects to get voter approval before the city can offer lucrative tax incentives.
The organizer of the initiative, Christine Le Jeune, said people are concerned about transparency, noise pollution, freshwater usage and increased energy costs. Local businesses also supported the measure. So did mayor Ted Neitzke.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. We are going to see similar (and stronger) measures in other places this year and years beyond. People don't like AI, don't like data centers and are very sensitive to potential increased electricity and water costs, no matter what nice stories companies dream up. In Monterey Park, CA, voters will decide in June whether to ban all data centers within the city. In Augusta Township, MI, voters could decide to override a local ordinance that cleared the way for a new data center. In Janesville, about 60 miles southwest of Port Washington, voters will decide on whether to redevelop an old General Motors plant into an AI factory. (V)