Now that the Legislature has adjourned their legislative session, the 2024 election cycle is in full campaign mode. Wisconsin’s state legislative and congressional district maps were finalized earlier this spring, which will create several very competitive races for control of the Wisconsin legislature. This, coupled with Milwaukee hosting the Republican National Convention in July and Wisconsin’s status as a key battleground state in the Presidential election and control of the U.S. Senate, will make for a very interesting 2024 election year. 

State Legislative Elections

Both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature currently have large Republican majorities (Assembly – 64-35; Senate 22 to 10 with 1 vacancy in a heavily Democratic district in Milwaukee). All 99 Assembly seats are up for election.  In the Senate, 16 of 33 seats are up – eight of these seats feature GOP incumbents and four of them are open seats. 

The current political wisdom is that Assembly Republicans are in position to maintain control following the 2024 election due to the number of Republican seats that are viewed as safe or strong for the GOP, in addition to the high number of GOP incumbents.  However, due to 2024 redistricting, the number of highly competitive seats has increased under the new district maps.  As such, it is possible that Assembly Republicans may lose a small number of seats, but not enough to lose the majority. 

Likewise, it is expected Senate Republicans will also maintain control of that body in 2024.  However, the GOP may also lose seats in this chamber due to the increase of competitive seats because of 2024 redistricting.  To take control of this chamber, 13 Democratic candidates would have to win Senate seats in November, which is unlikely.

To read the more detailed memo regarding the 2024 election, please click here.