State Rep. John Spiros beat fellow Marshfield Republican Rep. Donna Rozar in a three-way GOP primary for the 86th AD.
With 97% of the vote in, Spiros was at 43.3%, while Rozar was at 31.7%, a margin of almost 1,000 votes. Trine Spindler was in third at 25%.
The primary was one of four Assembly races where Republican lawmakers were running against each other.
State Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, beat state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, in the 24th AD.
Meanwhile, in the 55th AD, Rep. Nate Gustafson, R-Fox Crossing, had 54.6% of the vote over Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, with 63% of the vote in.
And Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, had 57.5% of the vote over Rep. Peter Schmidt, R-Bonduel, in the 6th AD with 43% of the vote in. Behnke was drawn into a district with Rep. David Steffen, R-Green Bay, under the new maps, but decided to run for the 6th instead.
In all, there were 20 primaries on the ballot today that included GOP incumbents, including one race in the Senate. In that contest, state Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, easily beat former state Rep. Tim Ramthun, R-Kewaskum, with nearly 65% of the vote even though Capitol Republicans had feared Feyen was in trouble.
In the other 15 races, the GOP incumbents had secured victory or were up big in early returns.
There were also five primaries involving Dem incumbents, including the rematch in the 4th SD of Sen.-elect Dora Drake and state Rep. LaKeshia Myers. Drake had a significant lead in early returns for a full four-year term. She beat Myers in a July 2 primary on her way to winning a July 30 special election to fill the remainder of the term left when Lena Taylor resigned from the 4th SD following her appointment to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
One of the most watched primaries was in the 19th AD, where Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, was targeted after he angered some in the Dem base with his comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict and clashed with his colleagues. He won with 57% of the vote over attorney Jarrod Anderson.
And state Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, won a three-way primary with fellow Reps. Jimmy Anderson, of Fitchburg, and Samba Baldeh, of Madison, for the open 16th AD. She will be unopposed on the November ballot for the heavily Dem seat.
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