5 takeaways from downballot results in Wisconsin's August primary
There were many competitive primaries in state legislative elections, particularly in the Milwaukee area, where incumbent Sylvia Ortiz-Velez lost big and Dem challenger Ben Brist won a key primary.
The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.
This column is one part of Dan Shafer’s deep-dive mega-breakdown of the election results from Wisconsin’s Aug. 11 partisan primary. Read the full column with all 12 takeaways here.
Each of these 12 takeaways are available as a standalone free version. Find each of those here.
As we always do here at The Recombobulation Area, let’s take a look downballot. There were a number of intriguing races we were watching going into Election Night. Here five results that stood out:
1. State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez lost big: The Democratic incumbent on Milwaukee’s south side saw a primary challenge from Ismael Luna after Ortiz-Velez was charged with disorderly conduct following alleged comments about shooting three of her colleagues last year. Luna won more than 70%, with Ortiz-Velez gaining fewer than 1,000 total votes.
2. Ben Brist wins in key swing district: The 61st District projects to be one of the true toss-up seats in the Assembly. Republican incumbent Bob Donovan will now take on Army veteran Ben Brist, who won a three-candidate primary with just over 44%, ahead of Lawanda Chambers and Brian Bock. Expect this to be a heavily contested race; it could determine control of the Assembly.
3. Zimmerman wins close primary in western suburbs: Need more evidence of Democrats’ growing presence in Waukesha County? Amy Zimmerman of Brookfield defeated David Sanchez of Wauwatosa in this western suburban district. The primary was decided by fewer than 300 votes, with Zimmerman winning 51.2%.
4. Chanz Green survives Duffy-endorsed challenge: Republican incumbent Chanz Green had to fend off a late endorsement of his primary challenger from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, but won nonetheless. WisPolitics reported on Green’s comments appearing to back a candidate who is not Duffy’s son-in-law in the 7th Congressional District primary, which seems to have led to the late endorsement.
5. Other Milwaukee incumbents survive primary challenges. Democratic Socialist Ryan Clancy, who represents Bay View and the East Side, saw another primary challenge, but won again. Russell Goodwin, serving on the northwest side, also saw a primary challenge — Jordan Rowan, a candidate backed by the Fair Wisconsin PAC, critical of Goodwin’s votes on trans rights. Clancy and Goodwin each received about 54% of the vote to win their respective primaries.
Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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