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Did Janet Protasiewicz outperform Tony Evers in voting in the conservative Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties?

By Tom Kertscher
YES

In three conservative counties bordering Milwaukee, Janet Protasiewicz won a higher percentage of the vote in the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election than Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers won in his 2022 re-election.

Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington, known as the WOW counties, typically vote for conservative candidates.

Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee County judge, won the nonpartisan April 4, 2023 election for Supreme Court. Evers, a Democrat, was re-elected Nov. 8, 2022.

Here is the percentage of the total vote each candidate received, along with the number of votes, in each county:

Waukesha

Protasiewicz: 41.8% (68,257); Evers: 39.4% (88,564).

Ozaukee

Protasiewicz: 47.6% (18,528); Evers: 44.1% (23,104).

Washington

Protasiewicz: 33.6% (17,621); Evers: 30.7% (22,698).


With 10% of the votes still uncounted, The Associated Press reported that the April 4 turnout — measured by percentage of voting-age residents casting ballots — was 36%, breaking the previous record of 34% for a spring election that doesn’t coincide with a presidential primary.

November election turnouts always exceed spring turnouts.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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