Democrat JoCasta Zamarripa has defeated Republican Jay Schroeder in the race for Wisconsin Secretary of State. The Associated Press called the race for Zamarripa late Tuesday night.
Zamarripa also beat Green Party candidate Pete Karas. She replaces Sarah Godlewski, who moves up to lieutenant governor after winning on the ticket with David Crowley.
Zamarripa led most of the night. With 57 percent of the vote counted, she was ahead 52 percent to 44 percent, and Schroeder never closed the gap.
Schroeder ran on making the office matter again and putting it back to work for Wisconsin taxpayers instead of serving as a stepping stone for Democratic politicians. Tuesday night it went to the Democrats anyway.
His loss was one piece of a statewide sweep. Democrats won the governor’s race, Josh Kaul held the attorney general’s office over Eric Toney, and Democrats flipped both chambers of the Legislature.
The office is small. The pattern Tuesday night was not. Wisconsin Republicans will have to rebuild from the bottom of the ballot up, and races like this one are where that work starts.
