Wisconsin GOP Senate Primary Results 2018: Vukmir Wins

State Sen. Leah Vukmir was declared the winner Tuesday night in the GOP U.S. Senate primary against Marine veteran and businessman Kevin Nicholson in unofficial returns. With all the precincts reporting, Vukmir had captured 49 percent of the vote. Nicholson had 42.9 percent.

Nicholson conceded the race and said he would support Vukmir during her general election campaign against Baldwin.

Vukmir and Nicholson were considered the frontrunners to be the Republican challenger to incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the November election. Vukmir can expect a lot of help in the race to defeat Baldwin, who did not have an opponent in the Democratic primary.

In 2016, President Trump won Wisconsin by less than a percentage point and candidates in the GOP race were seeking votes from his base of supporters. Both Nicholson, a former Democrat, and Vukmir, who describes herself as a lifelong Republican, were competing for the title of Biggest Trump Supporter. The Marquette University Law School Poll released in July showed the race as too close to call. Other candidates in the race are Griffin Jones, Charles Barman and George Lucia. Lucia was receiving about 4.2 percent of the vote. Barman and Jones were getting about 2 percent each.

Nicholson attacked Vukmir in TV ads for not initially supporting Trump in the 2016 campaign. Vukmir supported Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and then Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before finally endorsing Trump. She called the ads "desperate tactics."

Wisconsin is considered one of the Senate races to watch in the fall, and is named among the several Senate seats to switch parties in 2018, according to CNN Politics.

Political observers said either of the GOP frontrunners would be a formidable foe for Baldwin because of the support the candidate will receive from national sources. By January, conservative groups had already spent at least $3.1 million against the Democratic senator, which was more than what all the other Democratic Senate incumbents on the ballot this year had faced combined, according to the Huffington Post.

The Washington Post adds that Baldwin is running against one of the best-mobilized state parties in all of politics, which will be trying to get Walker reelected to a third term.

Baldwin issued a statement Tuesday night: “Wisconsinites want someone who will be in their corner and stand up to powerful special interests in Washington, not a bought-and-paid-for senator. Leah Vukmir has a long record of putting her corporate special interest backers ahead of hardworking Wisconsin families, making the choice clear this November.”

Polls show Baldwin leading Vukmir by up to 10 points. And though Vukmir embraced Trump in the GOP primary, that could prove problematic in the November general election as Trump has poor approval ratings in the state.

Related Reading
Win free Patch.com gear from us! Here's How
Stay up-to-date with with Patch! Sign up for Newsletters and E-Mail Alerts

Image via Shutterstock