The 2000 Wisconsin Fall General Election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

on November 7, 2000. One of Wisconsin's

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

seats was up for election, as well as Wisconsin's nine seats in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, the sixteen even-numbered seats in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, and all 99 seats in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

. Voters also chose eleven electors to represent them in the Electoral College, which then participated in selecting the president of the United States. The 2000 Fall Partisan Primary was held on September 12, 2000. In the Fall general election, the Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

, narrowly won Wisconsin's eleven electoral votes, defeating Texas Governor

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

by a mere 5,708 votes. All nine of Wisconsin's incumbent members of Congress were reelected. Democrats gained one seat in the Wisconsin Senate; Republicans gained one seat in the Wisconsin Assembly. The 2000 Wisconsin Spring Election was held April 4, 2000. This election featured a contested election for

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

and the Presidential preference primary for both major political parties, as well as various nonpartisan local and judicial offices. The 2000 Wisconsin Spring Primary was held on February 15, 2000.

Wisconsin Republicans Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

celebrated the results of the April election with the victory of their preferred candidate in the

election. The Presidential preference primary was not seriously contested on either the Democratic or

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

side, as most candidates had already dropped out before Wisconsin's vote.

Federal offices

U.S. President

Incumbent Democratic President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

was term-limited and was not a candidate for reelection. In Wisconsin, voters chose Clinton's vice president,

, over Texas Governor

. Vice President Gore received Wisconsin's eleven electoral votes, but did not win the national electoral vote.

Results

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 2000

U.S. Senate

Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Herb Kohl Herbert H. Kohl (born February 7, 1935) is an American businessman and politician. Alongside his brother and father, the Kohl family created the Kohl's department stores chain, of which Kohl went on to be president and CEO. Kohl also served as a ...

was reelected to a third six-year term, defeating Republican John Gillespie. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 2000

U.S. House

State offices

Legislature

State Senate

The 16 even-numbered seats in the Wisconsin State Senate were up for election in 2000. Each party controlled 8 seats up for election in 2000, with Democrats holding a 1-seat majority in the full Senate, 17–16. Republicans picked up one Democrat-held seat in the 2000 general election, but Democrats picked up two previously Republican-held seats, for a net result of the Democratic Party gaining 1 seat and increasing their majority to 18–15.

=Summary

=Candidates

State Assembly

All 99 seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly were up for election in 2000. Republicans gained 1 seat in the 2000 general election, increasing their majority to 56–43.

=Summary

Judiciary

State Supreme Court

Incumbent

Justice Diane S. Sykes defeated Milwaukee municipal court judge Louis B. Butler in the April general election. Justice Sykes had been appointed to the court in 1999 by Governor

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

, to replace Justice Donald W. Steinmetz, who had retired. Justice Steinmetz's term was already set to expire in 2000, thus no special election needed to be scheduled. , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 4, 2000

State Court of Appeals

Three seats of the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

were up for election in 2000. None of the elections was contested. * In District I, Judge Ralph Adam Fine was elected to his third six-year term. * In District II, Judge Richard S. Brown was elected to his fourth six-year term. * In District IV, Judge Margaret J. Vergeront was elected to her second six-year term.

State Circuit Courts

Forty nine of the state's 241 circuit court seats were up for election in 2000. One of those seats—in Waupaca County—was newly created by the 1999 budget act passed by the Wisconsin Legislature. Eight of the seats were contested. Only one incumbent judge was defeated seeking re-election, Michael G. Grzeca—an appointee of Governor

in the Brown County Circuit.

Local

Milwaukee

* Incumbent Mayor

John Norquist John Olof Norquist (born October 22, 1949, in Princeton, New Jersey) is an American politician who was the 37th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as mayor from 1988 until he left office in 2004 to lead the Congress for the New Urbanism. P ...

was reelected to a fourth four-year term, defeating businessman George Watts.

Monroe County

Ed Thompson Edward Thompson or variants may refer to: Politicians * Edward Thompson (of Sheriff Hutton) (c. 1639–1701), English landowner and politician * Edward Thompson (1697–1742), British MP and Lord of the Admiralty * Edward Thompson (FDNY Commissi ...

, brother of incumbent Governor

, was elected Mayor of

Tomah, Wisconsin Tomah is a city in Monroe County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,570 as of the 2020 census. The city is surrounded by the Town of Tomah and the Town of La Grange. History Tomah was founded by Robert E. Gillett in 1855 and incor ...

, defeating incumbent Bud Johnson.

References

{{2000 United States elections

Wisconsin State Legislature elections