Fact vs. Fiction: The Claim of a Dozen Close-Call Races in Wisconsin

Claim:

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming claimed during Vice President Kamala Harris’ March 6 visit that “We’ve had 12 elections in 24 years in Wisconsin that have been decided by less than 30,000 votes.”

Reasoning:

PolitiFact Wisconsin confirmed the results from the races with the Wisconsin Elections Commission election results archive and added the vote margin. The races in the last 24 years include:

2000 presidential – George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 5,708 votes.
2004 presidential – George W. Bush defeated John Kerry by 11,384 votes.
2006 attorney general – J.B. Van Hollen defeated Kathleen Falk by 8,859 votes.
2008 Wisconsin Supreme Court – Michael J. Gableman defeated Louis Butler by 22,303 votes.
2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court – David Prosser Jr. defeated JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,004 votes.
2016 presidential – Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 22,784 votes.
2018 gubernatorial – Tony Evers defeated Scott Walker by 29,227 votes.
2018 attorney general race – Josh Kaul defeated Brad Schimel by 17,190 votes.
2019 Wisconsin Supreme Court – Brian Hagedorn defeated Lisa Neubauer by 5,981 votes.
2020 presidential – Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by 20,608 votes.
2022 U.S. Senate – Ron Johnson defeated Mandela Barnes by 26,718 votes.
2022 secretary of state – Doug La Follette defeated Amy Loudenbeck by 7,442 votes.

Each of these races was decided by less than 30,000 votes. Only two presidential contests in the last 24 years did not have close calls: 2008 and 2012.

Fact or Fiction?

Fact. Wisconsin Elections Commission data confirms that 12 elections in the past 24 years in Wisconsin have been decided by less than 30,000 votes.