These are the results in the top five most expensive Wisconsin State Senate elections


General elections for 17 of 32 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate took place on Nov. 8, 2022. Of the 17 districts up for election in 2022, 14 had a general election with more than one candidate.

Across all contested general elections, candidates raised $5.4 million. Incumbents raised an average of $313,063 per candidate and challengers raised an average of $155,132 per candidate.

Five general elections with the most fundraising

The table below details the five general elections with the most fundraising in the State Senate. Winning candidates’ names are in bold.

District Money Raised Officeholder Candidates
District 31 $1,283,606 Jeff Smith (D) Jeff Smith and David Estenson
District 19 $883,486 Roger Roth (R) Rachael Cabral-Guevara and Kristin Alfheim
District 25 $747,897 Janet Bewley (D) Romaine Quinn and Kelly Westlund
District 5 $574,942 Dale Kooyenga (R) Rob Hutton and Jessica Katzenmeyer
District 17 $568,318 Howard Marklein (R) Howard Marklein and Pat Skogen

The officeholders above are listed for the current districts they hold. However, this is a redistricting year, so candidates have been identified below as incumbents even if they are running in a different district than they currently hold.

#1 District 31 – $1,283,606

Incumbent Jeff Smith raised $915,423 and David Estenson raised $368,184.

Jeff Smith won with 50 percent of the vote and David Estenson received 50 percent of the vote.

#2 District 19 – $883,486

Rachael Cabral-Guevara raised $651,677 and Kristin Alfheim raised $231,809.

Rachael Cabral-Guevara won with 54 percent of the vote and Kristin Alfheim received 46 percent of the vote.

#3 District 25 – $747,897

Romaine Quinn raised $451,253 and Kelly Westlund raised $296,644.

Romaine Quinn won with 57 percent of the vote and Kelly Westlund received 43 percent of the vote.

#4 District 5 – $574,942

Rob Hutton raised $465,599 and Jessica Katzenmeyer raised $109,343.

Rob Hutton won with 53 percent of the vote and Jessica Katzenmeyer received 47 percent of the vote.

#5 District 17 – $568,318

Incumbent Howard Marklein raised $534,256 and Pat Skogen raised $34,062.

Howard Marklein won with 60 percent of the vote and Pat Skogen received 40 percent of the vote.

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Wisconsin PACs submitted to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission. Political expenditures that are not controlled by candidates or their campaigns, known as satellite spending, are not included in candidate totals. Federal PACs are not required to report to state agencies. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines.

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.