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.
In case you missed it, the Wisconsin Politics Group Chat was streaming live last night as the election results came in. For any initial reactions and reports from the evening, you can revisit the broadcast here:
It was a remarkable night for Democrats around the country, and in Wisconsin. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley won the race for governor, defeating Congressman Tom Tiffany by a more than eight-point margin.
This is the largest margin of victory for a gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin in 20 years, and the largest statewide victory margin in a fall election in Wisconsin since Tammy Baldwin’s re-election in 2018.
He took the stage to deliver his victory speech in downtown Milwaukee with the same music that World Series MVP William Contreras used when he walked to the plate, following a speech from Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin’s next Lieutenant Governor.
Along with Crowley’s overwhelming victory, Democrats flipped the State Senate and State Assembly and will control the Wisconsin State Legislature for the first time since the 2009-10 session. This will give Democrats trifecta control — the Senate, the Assembly, and the governorship — of state government.
In the Senate, Robyn Vining (SD5), Trevor Jung (SD21) and Jenna Jacobson (SD17) each flipped seats, with Vining and Jung each winning open races and Jacobson unseating Republican incumbent Howard Marklein.
With those three victories, Democrats will have an 18-15 majority in the Senate beginning in 2027. Dianne Hesselbein of Middleton will become the next Senate Majority Leader.
In the Assembly, Democrats flipped a whopping eight seats. In our legislative election preview, there were eight races we identified as the most likely potential pickups, and Democrats swept them all. Winners include: Dan Bukeiwicz (AD21), Kevin Knoke (AD30), Ben Gruber (AD51), Becky Nichols (AD53), Ben Brist (AD61), John Kroll (AD85), Brandy Tollefson (AD88), and Jeremiah Fredrickson (AD92).
With those eight victories, Democrats will have a 53-46 majority in the Assembly next year. Greta Neubauer of Racine will become the next Assembly Speaker.
Along with wins for governor and in the legislature, Democrats won every race for state constitutional offices on the ballot, with Josh Kaul winning re-election to a third term as Attorney General; JoCasta Zamarripa, a former state representative and current Milwaukee alderperson, winning the race for Secretary of State; and Yee Leng Xiong unseating Republican incumbent John Lieber in the race for State Treasurer.
Democrats also won the two competitive congressional races. In the 3rd District, Rebecca Cooke defeated Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden by a more than six-point margin, and in the 1st District, Mitchell Berman defeated Republican incumbent Bryan Steil by a four-point margin. Wisconsin’s congressional delegation will consist of four Republicans and four Democrats.
We will have more coverage of the 2026 election in the coming days, including our usual “10 takeaways” deep dive of the results. Stay tuned for more, and be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.
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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I hope we'll get a lot more attention to the Berman-Steil race. CD1 is Paul Ryan's district. Granted it was redrawn after Ryan left, but it still favored Republicans. As a Janesville resident, I'm beyond thrilled for this win.