MADISON, Wis. (AP) \u2014 A surprising Democratic upset in a conservative Wisconsin Senate district where voters overwhelmingly supported President Donald Trump just 14 months ago has raised liberal hopes of more election success coming this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patty Schachtner\u2019s victory over an incumbent Republican state representative in Wisconsin\u2019s 10th Senate District follows a series of Democratic wins across the country. Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is up for re-election to a third term in November, took note, posting on Twitter minutes after Schachtner\u2019s win calling it a \u201cwake up call for Republicans in Wisconsin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor told reporters in Milwaukee on Wednesday that dissatisfaction with national politics influenced Schachtner\u2019s win, but he stopped short of blaming Trump or the GOP agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWashington and Wisconsin are two very different places,\u201d Walker said. \u201cI think people look at Washington and think there\u2019s not as much getting done as maybe some people had hoped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schachtner took 55 percent of the vote to Jarchow\u2019s 44 percent in unofficial returns. Schachtner, who entered the race in northwestern Wisconsin as the clear underdog, attributed her stunning victory over Rep. Adam Jarchow to what she called a \u201ckind campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople sent a message tonight: We don\u2019t want to be negative anymore,\u201d she said Tuesday. \u201cChange it up. … My message has always been be kind, be considerate and we need to help people when they\u2019re down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flip is particularly notable in Wisconsin, where Democratic numbers are at their lowest since 1971 in the state Senate and 1957 in the Assembly. As to whether her victory could be a harbinger of more Democratic wins, Schachtner said simply: \u201cIt certainly could be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Martha Laning was more effusive, posting on Facebook following Schachtner\u2019s win that a \u201cchange is coming!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats have already made big gains elsewhere, including picking up 15 seats in the Virginia state House in November, and in Alabama, where Doug Jones captured a U.S. Senate seat last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past two weeks, high-profile Republicans have passed up Senate races in North Dakota and Minnesota that were thought to be winnable seats. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty cited the tough outlook as one reason for skipping a run to replace former Democratic Sen. Al Franken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats still have a long way to go in Wisconsin. Even with Schachtner\u2019s win, Republicans hold an 18-14 majority in the state Senate with one open seat. Walker has refused to call a special election for that seat, currently held by a Republican, meaning it will remain unfilled all year until a replacement is selected in the fall. The November election will determine control of the state Legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The state Senate district Schachtner won has trended red for years. Mitt Romney won it by 6 points in 2012 and Trump won it by 17 points in 2016. Former Republican Rep. Sheila Harsdorf held the seat from 2001 until November when she resigned to become Walker\u2019s agriculture secretary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Democrats banked that an anti-Trump backlash could even the playing field. Republicans sensed it, too. Conservative groups Americans for Prosperity and the Republican State Leadership Committee both ran ads supporting Jarchow and Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir, who is running for U.S. Senate, traveled to the district to campaign for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schachtner, the St. Croix County medical examiner and a Somerset school board member who appeared in a 2006 episode of \u201cWife Swap,\u201d didn\u2019t appear to want to focus on what her win could mean for Democrats across Wisconsin and the country, saying \u201cright now I\u2019m just focused on District 10.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison and Ivan Moreno in Milwaukee contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The flip is particularly notable in Wisconsin, where Democratic numbers are at their lowest since 1971 in the state Senate and 1957 in the Assembly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":37941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5464],"class_list":["post-12839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"V7OZBOHXV5GP7MTSPVW35KDGOQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/management\/leadership\/2018\/01\/17\/democrats-flip-traditionally-conservative-wisconsin-district\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n