Wisconsin State Senate District 2

Incumbent

Robert Cowles

About the District Census Topic | Value

|

Population | 183,553
Gender |

49.9% Male

50.1% Female

Race |

85.6% White

1.3% Black

1.6% Asian

5% Native American

0% Pacific Islander

Ethnicity | 3.8% Hispanic
Median household income | $67,171
High school graduation rate | 93.9%
College graduation rate | 26.9%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 census and 2020 ACS data

Wisconsin State Senate District 2 is represented by Robert Cowles (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Wisconsin state senators represented an average of 178,597 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 172,332 residents.

## Contents

* 1 About the office
* 1.1 Qualifications
* 1.2 Salaries
* 1.3 Vacancies
* 2 District map
* 3 Redistricting
* 3.1 2020-2022
* 4 Elections
* 4.1 2020
* 4.2 2016
* 4.3 2012
* 5 Campaign contributions
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
* 8 Footnotes

## About the office[edit]

Members of the Wisconsin State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Half of the senate is up for election every two years. Wisconsin legislators assume office the first Monday in January following the election, unless the first Monday of January falls on January 1 or 2. In those cases, legislators assume office on January 3.[1]

### Qualifications[edit]

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Section 6 of Article 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution states, "No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to represent."

### Salaries[edit]

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislators

Salary| Per diem
$55,141/year| $115/day for senators who reside outside of Dane County; Senators who live in Dane County receive $57.50/day. $153 (with overnight) or $76.50/day (no overnight) for representatives. Per diem can be claimed up to 90 days per year.

### Vacancies[edit]

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Wisconsin State Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat.[2] The governor can call for an election when allowed by law. The election cannot be held after February 1 before a spring general election, unless it is held on the same day of the election, which is the first Tuesday in April. The same requirement applies to any election preceding the fall general election (after August 1), with the exception of elections held on the first Tuesday in November.[3] Also, all vacancies must be filled quickly as long the vacancy happened before the second Tuesday in May during an election year.[4]

See sources: Wisconsin Cons. Art. IV, § 14

## District map[edit]

The map below shows this district's current boundaries, not those enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle.

## Redistricting[edit]

### 2020-2022[edit]

See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin after the 2020 census

On March 23, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to adopt Gov. Tony Evers' (D) state house and senate redistricting maps and remanded the case for further proceedings. On April 15, 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted state legislative district maps passed by the state legislature.[5][6]

The Wisconsin Supreme Court had, on March 3, 2022, approved maps that Evers submitted after he vetoed legislative district proposals from Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) on November 18, 2021.[7] The Senate had approved the maps 21-12 along party lines on October 20, 2021, with all Republicans in the chamber voting for the proposal and all Democrats voting against it. The House passed the maps on November 11, 2021, by a 60-38 party-line vote.[8][9]

How does redistricting in Wisconsin work? In Wisconsin, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Wisconsin State Legislature. These lines are subject to veto by the governor.[10]

The Wisconsin Constitution requires that state legislative districts be compact and "that they be bounded by county, precinct, town, or ward lines where possible." The state constitution further stipulates that state legislative districts should be contiguous.[10]

### Wisconsin State Senate District 2
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

### Wisconsin State Senate District 2
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

## Elections[edit]

### 2020[edit]

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2020

General election

##### General election for Wisconsin State Senate District 2

Incumbent Robert Cowles won election in the general election for Wisconsin State Senate District 2 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Robert Cowles (R)  |

98.3

| 80,602
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

1.7

| 1,366

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 81,968

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* Tony Lee (D)

Democratic primary election

#####  Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 2

Tony Lee advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 2 on August 11, 2020.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Tony Lee (Write-in)  |

54.7

| 286
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

45.3

| 237

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 523

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

#####  Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 2

Incumbent Robert Cowles advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 2 on August 11, 2020.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Robert Cowles |

99.8

| 11,224
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

0.2

| 23

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 11,247

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* William Nething (R)

### 2016[edit]

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Wisconsin State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

Incumbent Robert Cowles defeated John Powers in the Wisconsin State Senate District 2 general election.[11][12]

Wisconsin State Senate, District 2 General Election, 2016

Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes
| Republican  |  Robert Cowles Incumbent | 65.03% | 57,269
| Democratic  | John Powers | 34.97% | 30,796
Total Votes | 88,065
Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission

John Powers ran unopposed in the Wisconsin State Senate District 2 Democratic primary.[13][14]

Wisconsin State Senate, District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016

Party | Candidate
| Democratic |  John Powers (unopposed)

Incumbent Robert Cowles ran unopposed in the Wisconsin State Senate District 2 Republican primary.[13][14]

Wisconsin State Senate, District 2 Republican Primary, 2016

Party | Candidate
| Republican |  Robert Cowles Incumbent (unopposed)

### 2012[edit]

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of Wisconsin State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 14, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. Republican incumbent Robert Cowles was unchallenged in the general election. Cowles was unopposed in the Republican primary election.[15][16]

## Campaign contributions[edit]

From 2000 to 2016, candidates for Wisconsin State Senate District 2 raised a total of $240,251. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $26,695 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Wisconsin State Senate District 2

Year | Amount | Candidates | Average
2016 | $84,534 | 2 | $42,267
2012 | $112,032 | 1 | $112,032
2010 | $400 | 1 | $400
2008 | $14,234 | 1 | $14,234
2006 | $675 | 1 | $675
2004 | $6,293 | 1 | $6,293
2002 | $300 | 1 | $300
2000 | $21,783 | 1 | $21,783
Total | $240,251 | 9 | $26,695

## See also[edit]

| Suggest a link

|

* Wisconsin State Legislature
* Wisconsin State Senate
* Wisconsin House of Representatives

## External links[edit]

* Wisconsin State Legislature

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Wisconsin Statutes, "Chapter 13: Legislative Branch: 13.02 Regular sessions," accessed October 5, 2021
2. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 17.19 (1), Wisconsin Statutes)
3. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 8.50, Wisconsin Statutes)
4. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 8.50(4)-(d), Wisconsin Statutes)
5. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, Wisconsin Legislature v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, decided March 23, 2022
6. ↑ WISN, "Wisconsin Supreme Court adopts GOP-drawn legislative maps," April 15, 2022
7. ↑ WPR, "Evers vetoes Republican-drawn redistricting maps," November 18, 2021
8. ↑ WIZM News, "GOP-led Wisconsin Senate OKs their own redistricting plan," November 8, 2021
9. ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "Assembly passes Republican-drawn political maps," November 11, 2021
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 All About Redistricting, "Wisconsin," accessed May 7, 2015
11. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates on Ballot by Election - 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016," accessed November 4, 2016
12. ↑ Wisconsin Elections Commission, "2016 Fall General Election Results," accessed December 2, 2016
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidate Tracking by Office," accessed June 20, 2016
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commissions, "2016 Partisan Primary," accessed September 16, 2016
15. ↑ Wisconsin Secretary of State, "2012 General Election Candidates by Office," accessed November 23, 2013
16. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, Official 2012 primary results, accessed November 23, 2013

[show]

Current members of the Wisconsin State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Roger Roth

Minority Leader:Janet Bewley

Senators

District 1

Andre Jacque (R)

District 2

Robert Cowles (R)

District 3

Tim Carpenter (D)

District 4

Lena Taylor (D)

District 5

Dale Kooyenga (R)

District 6

LaTonya Johnson (D)

District 7

Chris Larson (D)

District 8

Alberta Darling (R)

District 9

Devin LeMahieu (R)

District 10

Rob Stafsholt (R)

District 11

Stephen Nass (R)

District 12

Mary Felzkowski (R)

District 13

John Jagler (R)

District 14

Joan Ballweg (R)

District 15

Janis Ringhand (D)

District 16

Melissa Agard (D)

District 17

Howard Marklein (R)

District 18

Dan Feyen (R)

District 19

Roger Roth (R)

District 20

Duey Stroebel (R)

District 21

Van Wanggaard (R)

District 22

Robert Wirch (D)

District 23

Kathy Bernier (R)

District 24

Patrick Testin (R)

District 25

Janet Bewley (D)

District 26

Kelda Roys (D)

District 27

Jon Erpenbach (D)

District 28

Julian Bradley (R)

District 29

Jerry Petrowski (R)

District 30

Eric Wimberger (R)

District 31

Jeff Smith (D)

District 32

Brad Pfaff (D)

District 33

Chris Kapenga (R)

Republican Party (21)

Democratic Party (12)

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