by Benjamin Yount
Wisconsin’s current secretary of state is declaring victory in his reelection bid.
Democrat Doug La Folette on Thursday declared victory.
“This is a victory for the people of Wisconsin, who chose to keep the supervision of elections out of the hands of corrupting partisan influences,” La Follette said in a statement.
Nothing is official, the race is still too close to call. Unofficial results have La Follette up by about 7,000 votes on Republican Amy Loundenbeck.
“My team and I will continue to await the final results of the canvass,” Loudenbeck said in her own statement yesterday.
Wisconsin’s Elections Commission has until December 1st to certify the November vote.
La Follette said he’s seen enough unofficial results to feel confident in declaring victory.
He is already talking about moving forward.
“I am excited to move forward working with Gov Evers and the Republicans in the State Legislature to secure the resources and staff the office requires to provide the services that we are obligated to the people of Wisconsin,” La Follette said. “We need to move this office out of the basement and let it work for the people.”
Wisconsin’s Secretary of State doesn’t have much to do. In fact lawmakers stripped LaFollette’s office of most of its power years ago.
There was talk of giving the Secretary of State’s office the power to oversee elections in the state, as opposed to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. It’s unlikely that that would happen if La Follete hangs on to his office.
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Benjamin Yount is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Doug La Follette” by Doug La Follette. Background Photo “Wisconsin State Capitol” by Vijay Kumar Koulampet. CC BY-SA 3.0.
