Incumbent Doug La Follette (D) defeated Amy Loudenbeck (R), Neil Harmon (L), and Sharyl McFarland (G) in the election for Wisconsin secretary of state on November 8, 2022.

At the time of the 2022 election, duties of the Wisconsin secretary of state included recording the official acts of the governor and the executive department, compiling and keeping laws and resolutions adopted by the legislature, having custody of the state's records, and authenticating certain documents.^[1]^[2]^[3] Wisconsin Public Radio's Shawn Johnson wrote in August 2022 that "most of the office’s responsibilities [had] been outsourced to other state agencies that answer to the governor."^[4]

The responsibilities of the office were a central issue in this race, particularly concerning election administration.^[4]^[5]^[6] As of 2022, Wisconsin was one of five states where the secretary of state had no election-related duties.^[7] The legislature transferred election administration responsibilities from the secretary of state to a nonpartisan elections board in 1974.^[8] As of 2022, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission had overseen the state's election administration since 2016.^[9]^[10] La Follette and Loudenbeck disagreed about whether the secretary of state should have a role in the state's election system.

La Follette was first elected secretary of state in 1974 and served one term before an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 1978. He was elected secretary of state a second time in 1982 and served 10 consecutive terms between 1983 and 2023. La Follette said that maintaining the state's independent election system was "[t]he critical issue in this campaign for Secretary of State."^[11] He said, "The state of Wisconsin has been a pivotal battleground in several of the past presidential elections. ... For this reason, it's more important than ever that we elect a Secretary of State that will defend our democracy over party. As America's longest-serving incumbent Secretary of State, I have the track record and deep well of experience to do it."^[12] La Follette also said he wanted the secretary of state's office to again have responsibility for business-related functions.^[13]

Loudenbeck was first elected to represent District 31 in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010. Her campaign website stated, "The Secretary of State’s office has fallen into disrepair and disfavor thanks to the neglect of Democrat Doug La Follette who has been in that office for forty-four years."^[14] Loudenbeck said, "[M]y goal would be to modernize the office, to be responsive to requests for authentication of documents, to be a billion dollar board member for the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and actively engage in the role that currently exists for the secretary of state that I see as being neglected right now."^[15] Loudenbeck said she would advocate for abolishing the Wisconsin Elections Commission and moving election administration duties such as training, guidance, voter roll maintenance, and voter outreach to the secretary of state’s office.^[14]^[4]^[15]^[16]

Changing the office's duties would require a change in state law.^[4]^[5]^[6] Heading into the 2022 election, Wisconsin had a divided government, with Republican majorities in the Senate and Assembly, and Democrat Tony Evers holding the governorship. According to the Associated Press' Todd Richmond, "Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos ... said he supports the [Wisconsin Elections Commission] and opposes giving the secretary of state election powers."^[6]

In 2018, Democrats gained a state government triplex in Wisconsin when Democratic candidates defeated Republican incumbents in the elections for governor and attorney general, and La Follette was re-elected. All three offices were up for election again in 2022.

This was one of 27 elections for secretary of state taking place in 2022. Click here for an overview of these races. All but three states have a secretary of state. Although the specific duties and powers of the office vary from state to state, secretaries of state are often responsible for the maintenance of voter rolls and for administering elections. Other common responsibilities include registering businesses, maintaining state records, and certifying official documents. At the time of the 2022 elections, there were 27 Republican secretaries of state and 20 Democratic secretaries of state.

A state government triplex refers to a situation where the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. Heading into the 2022 elections, there were 23 Republican triplexes, 18 Democratic triplexes, and nine divided governments where neither party held triplex control.

La Follette completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Incumbent Douglas J. La Follette defeated Amy Loudenbeck, Neil Harmon, and Sharyl McFarland in the general election for Wisconsin Secretary of State on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Douglas J. La Follette (D)	48.3	1,268,748
	Amy Loudenbeck (R)	48.0	1,261,306
	Neil Harmon (L)	2.1	54,413
	Sharyl McFarland (G)	1.6	41,532
	Other/Write-in votes	0.0	944

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,626,943
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Incumbent Douglas J. La Follette defeated Alexia Sabor in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Douglas J. La Follette	63.6	300,773
	Alexia Sabor	36.4	171,954

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 472,727
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Amy Loudenbeck defeated Jay Schroeder and Justin Schmidtka in the Republican primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Amy Loudenbeck	46.3	264,940
	Jay Schroeder	39.9	228,191
	Justin Schmidtka	13.8	78,846

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 571,977
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Dmitry Becker (R)

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State

Neil Harmon advanced from the Libertarian primary for Wisconsin Secretary of State on August 9, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Neil Harmon	95.8	769
	Other/Write-in votes	4.2	34

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 803
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Voting information

See also: Voting in Wisconsin

Election information in Wisconsin: Nov. 8, 2022, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 4, 2022
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 19, 2022
Online: Oct. 19, 2022

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 6, 2022
By mail: Received by Nov. 3, 2022
Online: Nov. 3, 2022

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 8, 2022
By mail: Received by Nov. 8, 2022

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Oct. 25, 2022 to Nov. 6, 2022

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Douglas J. La Follette

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: Yes

Political Office:

Wisconsin Secretary of State (Assumed office: 1983)
Wisconsin Secretary of State (1975-1979)
Wisconsin Senate District 22 (1973-1974)

Biography: La Follette received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Marietta College, a master’s degree in chemistry from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University. Before entering politics, La Follette was an assistant professor of chemistry and ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside and was involved in multiple initiatives and organizations related to the environment and renewable energy.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

La Follette said, "Almost 50 years ago we established an independent election board to supervise our election process. ... My opponent ... wishes to turn the election supervision over to the Secretary of State making it dependent on the whims of partisan politics." He said, "We need independence to protect the integrity of the votes in our state."

La Follette said, "Far-right politicians have proposed stealing power over elections in the hopes that they can use it to overturn any result they don't like. The state of Wisconsin has been a pivotal battleground in several of the past presidential elections. ... For this reason, it's more important than ever that we elect a Secretary of State that will defend our democracy over party. ... I have the track record and deep well of experience to do it."

La Follette said he wanted the secretary of state's office to again have responsibility for business-related functions. He said, "I have long maintained that we need to make Wisconsin more business friendly. An important step in that direction is to have Wisconsin's business functions handled as they are in other states."

Show sources

Sources: Doug La Follette 2022 campaign website, "Soapbox," accessed October 13, 2022; Doug La Follette 2022 campaign website, "La Follette Announces," March 17, 2022; Doug La Follette 2022 campaign website, "Issues," accessed October 13, 2022; PBS Wisconsin, "Secretary of State Doug La Follette on his 2022 campaign," August 19, 2022 ; University of Wisconsin–Madison, "The State of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book," 1973 (page 64); Wisconsin Historical Society, "La Follette, Douglas J.," accessed October 13, 2022; WUWM, "Wisconsin secretary of state: Your guide to the 2022 election & the candidates," October 10, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Wisconsin Secretary of State in 2022.

Amy Loudenbeck

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Wisconsin Assembly District 31 (Assumed office: 2011)

Biography: Loudenbeck received bachelor's degrees in international relations and political science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before she was elected to the legislature, Loudenbeck was a town supervisor in Clinton, Wisconsin. She held various leadership roles at the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce. Loudenbeck also worked as a business coach, regulatory compliance manager, and environmental project manager, and served as a volunteer firefighter.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Loudenbeck said, "The Secretary of State’s office has fallen into disrepair and disfavor thanks to the neglect of Democrat Doug La Follette who has been in that office for forty-four years." She said, "[M]y goal would be to modernize the office, to be responsive to requests for authentication of documents, to be a billion dollar board member for the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and actively engage in the role that currently exists for the secretary of state[.]"

Loudenbeck said she would advocate for abolishing the Wisconsin Elections Commission and moving election administration duties such as training, guidance, voter roll maintenance, and voter outreach to the secretary of state’s office.

Loudenbeck said, "I don’t think [La Follette] takes this role seriously. I think he’s become complacent and I think he’s become arrogant and I think we deserve a secretary of state that has respect from both sides of the aisle and I intend to do that and do that well and with a consistent work ethic and diplomacy that the job requires."

Show sources

Sources: Amy Loudenbeck 2022 campaign website, "Home," accessed October 13, 2022; PBS Wisconsin, "Rep. Amy Loudenbeck on her 2022 secretary of state campaign," August 26, 2022; Wisconsin Public Radio, "Wisconsin secretary of state primary focuses on elections, electability," August 8, 2022; Amy Loudenbeck 2022 campaign website, "Ideas," accessed October 13, 2022; LinkedIn, "Amy Loudenbeck," accessed October 13, 2022; Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, "Meet Amy," accessed October 13, 2022; Amy Loudenbeck 2022 campaign website, "Meet Amy," accessed October 13, 2022

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Wisconsin Secretary of State in 2022.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

Campaign advertisements

This section includes a selection of up to three campaign advertisements per candidate released in this race, as well as links to candidates' YouTube, Vimeo, and/or Facebook video pages. If you are aware of other links that should be included, please email us.

Doug La Follette

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Facebook

Amy Loudenbeck

December 1, 2021

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Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

Endorsements

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available. If you are aware of a website that should be included, please email us.

Amy Loudenbeck

Election spending