Andre Jacque, Jon Plumer Win GOP Special Election Primaries

The candidates are set for the June special legislative elections that Gov. Scott Walker didn’t want to call.

In Tuesday’s special Republican primary for the state 1st Senate District in northeast Wisconsin, state Rep. Andre Jacque, R-DePere, edged DePere business executive Alex Renard by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent according to results from county clerks in the district.

Jacque will face Sturgeon Bay Democrat Caleb Frostman in the June 12 special election.

In the four-way Republican primary for the state 42nd Assembly District in south central Wisconsin, Lodi town board member and karate studio owner Jon Plumer won with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Plumer will face Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd of Lodi next month.

Both districts were vacated in December when former state Sen. Frank Lasee, R-DePere, and former state Rep. Keith Ripp, R-Lodi, resigned to take jobs in the Walker administration.

Walker resisted calling special elections for the seats, arguing they would be a waste of a money with the general election coming up in November.

He relented after Dane County Judge Josann Reynolds ordered him to call the elections, a ruling that was upheld by two additional judges.

The winner of the June 12 election will have to run again in the November general election to hold the seat. Renard could also run against Jacque again in the August 14 primary if he chooses.

Jacque won his primary Tuesday by dominating in Brown and Manitowoc Counties. Renard carried Calumet, Door, Kewaunee and Outagamie Counties, but came up 330 votes short.

Wisconsin’s last special elections in January saw Democrats win a surprise victory in the state 10th Senate District when Sen. Patty Schachtner, D-Somerset, defeated state Rep. Adam Jarchow, R-Balsam Lake.