David Crowley promised Act 10 repeal, a BadgerCare option and universal pre-K in his first 30 days. A shrinking budget balance, a lost federal Medicaid bonus and a one-vote Senate cushion stand in the way.
David Crowley will be Wisconsin's first Black governor, with 18-15 and 53-46 majorities behind him. Bargaining rights, BadgerCare and school money top a long Democratic list, while two new constitutional amendments narrow the field.
Crowley carried Brown County, reportedly the first Democrat to do so since 1982, while Brandy Tollefson flipped the 88th and Green Bay's $158 million referendum passed. Gillett, Pulaski and Seymour voters said no.
Absentee Requests Trail 2022 by 12% in Northeast Wisconsin and 17% Statewide
State data show 67,378 fewer mail absentee requests than at this point in 2022. Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago counties are down about 10% to 12%, while Madison is down 28.5%.
Wisconsin voters had requested 333,402 absentee ballots as of Oct. 6, four weeks before the Nov. 3 election, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission data. That's 67,378 fewer, or 16.8% below, the 400,780 requests on file at the same point before the 2022 midterm.1,2
Northeast Wisconsin's drop is smaller than the state's. Brown County had 16,760 requests, down 11.9% from 19,020 in 2022. Outagamie County fell 10.1%, to 10,944, and Winnebago County fell 10.9%, to 10,364.1,2 Fox Watershed compared the commission's county and municipal files dated Oct. 6, 2026, with its files dated Oct. 10, 2022, which put both snapshots 28 or 29 days before Election Day.
Madison and Milwaukee Lead the Decline
The steepest declines are in the state's two largest Democratic strongholds. Dane County requests fell 23.1%, and the city of Madison fell 28.5%, from 32,465 to 23,198. Milwaukee County dropped 20.9%, and the city of Milwaukee 22.9%.1,2 Waukesha County, the largest of the Republican-leaning suburban counties west and north of Milwaukee, is down 13.6%.1,2
Other counts vary slightly by which day's file is used. WisPolitics, working from the Oct. 5 data, put the statewide decline near 18% and Madison's at 29.3%.3 Dairyland Sentinel, also using Oct. 5, reported 17.8% statewide and 14.7% in Waukesha County.4
Within the region, the picture is uneven. Green Bay's requests fell 12.5%, from 7,219 to 6,315, and De Pere's fell 14.7%. Appleton is down 10.8%, Neenah 25.2% and the city of Manitowoc 21.4%. Oshkosh is the exception, with 4,303 requests, 41 more than in 2022.1,2 At the county level, Door fell 25.7% and Kewaunee 21.2%, while Calumet slipped only 3.1%. Across 11 counties (Brown, Calumet, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Sheboygan and Winnebago), requests totaled 57,927, down 12% from 65,863.1,2
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What the Numbers Can't Show
The commission has no party data on who requested ballots, because Wisconsin doesn't register voters by party.1 Its report also warns that more than 1,000 of the state's roughly 1,850 clerks rely on a county or neighboring clerk to enter data, so counts can lag behind actual requests.1 A request also isn't a vote, and in-person absentee voting can't start until Oct. 20.5
The parties read the data differently. Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Anika Rickard told WisPolitics the figures point to weak Democratic enthusiasm in Madison and Milwaukee. Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Rachel La Due called it a return to pre-pandemic habits, saying absentee voting fell 23% from 2020 to 2024, and said Democratic voters are returning their ballots at higher rates.3 Paulina Gutiérrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, told WisPolitics her office has seen more voters cancel absentee requests, which suggests they plan to vote in person.3
Months of Warnings About the Mail
Voters have spent much of the year hearing that mailed ballots carry risk. After the April 7 spring election, about two-thirds of Wisconsin clerks reported mail delivery problems, and the commission changed its advice for mailing back a ballot from seven days before Election Day to 10.6,7 Wisconsin counts a mailed ballot only if it reaches the clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day, unlike states that accept ballots postmarked by Election Day.6
Milwaukee rejected 336 ballots that arrived after the April election, and Fond du Lac more than 100, according to a lawsuit the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed in Dane County Circuit Court in July.8,9 The suit, brought by Law Forward and the Fair Elections Center, asks the court to let voters whose mailed ballots haven't arrived cast a provisional ballot at their polling place. The case remains open.8,9 A commission survey of 747 clerks after the Aug. 11 primary found 9% received more late ballots than in April, 48% about the same number and 37% fewer.10
Deadlines
Online and mail registration closes Oct. 14. After that, voters can register in person at their clerk's office through Oct. 30 or at the polls on Election Day.5 Most voters must request a mailed ballot by 5 p.m. Oct. 29. In-person absentee voting can begin Oct. 20 and must end by Sunday, Nov. 1, with days and hours set by each municipality. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 3.5
David Crowley promised Act 10 repeal, a BadgerCare option and universal pre-K in his first 30 days. A shrinking budget balance, a lost federal Medicaid bonus and a one-vote Senate cushion stand in the way.
David Crowley will be Wisconsin's first Black governor, with 18-15 and 53-46 majorities behind him. Bargaining rights, BadgerCare and school money top a long Democratic list, while two new constitutional amendments narrow the field.
Crowley carried Brown County, reportedly the first Democrat to do so since 1982, while Brandy Tollefson flipped the 88th and Green Bay's $158 million referendum passed. Gillett, Pulaski and Seymour voters said no.
More than a dozen area districts are asking voters Tuesday to exceed state revenue limits or borrow. Three of them lost in April and came back with smaller requests, and Green Bay's $158 million ask is the largest in the state.
