Turnout in the village of Ephraim reached 89% in 2020. Photo by Myles Dannhausen Jr.
If history repeats and Door County voters have called the presidential election as they have seven times straight since 1996, Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States.
That’s of course not official – there was a long way to go when Door County’s results came in just before 10 pm, and it could be days before we’ll know if local voters retained their bellwether status. But voters on the peninsula selected Harris with 10,564 votes to Donald Trump’s 10,098 votes.
While local voters put the Democrat in the country’s top seat, closer to home, they wanted a Republican back in the Assembly. Incumbent Joel Kitchens, a Republican from Sturgeon Bay, received 11,689 votes in Door County versus 8,942 votes for the Democratic challenger, Renee Paplham. The district also includes a small portion of Brown County, and all of Kewaunee County, where Kitchens had a solid lead as of the time of this report – 5,184 votes to Paplham’s 2,601 votes, with four districts still remaining to report, including the City of Kewaunee.
For what has been predicted to be a closer-than-usual race for incumbent U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat challenged by Republican Eric Hovde, the local vote was 10,502 for Baldwin, 9,941 for Hovde.
The race for the seat for Wisconsin’s 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, vacated by Mike Gallagher in April, pitted Democrat Kristen Lyerly against Republican Tony Wied. Door County voters went for Lyerly for both the special and regular term elections, with a vote of 10,578 for Lyerly in the regular term, and 9,969 votes for Wied. In the special election that lasts until the regular term begins in January, the vote was 10,650 for Lyerly, 10,049 for Wied.
Referendum Results
All county voters were asked to decide if they wanted to change the Wisconsin Constitution to allow “only” U.S. Citizens to vote, versus “every” U.S. Citizen as the language currently states. The Door County vote went for changing the language, with a vote of 13,367 ‘yes’ to 6,725 ‘no.’
In the Town of Sturgeon Bay, voters were asked to allow the positions of clerk and treasurer to be appointed rather than elected, and voters said ‘yes,’ with a vote of 310 to 233 for the clerk position, and 297 to 239 for treasurer.
Sevastopol School District voters allowed another operating referendum through, with a vote of 1,950 for it, and 1,667 against. Similarly, voters supported the Washington Island School District’s request for a recurring operating referendum, with a vote of 440 to 189.
Door County 2024 Election Results
Kamala D. Harris / Tim Walz (Democratic): 10,564
Donald J. Trump / JD Vance (Republican): 10,098
Randall Terry / Stephen Broden (Constitution): 24
Chase Russell Oliver / Mike ter Maat (Libertarian): 51
Jill Stein / Rudolph Ware (Wisconsin Green): 40
Claudia De La Cruz / Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation): 8
Cornel West / Melina Abdullah (Justice for All): 10
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. / Nicole Shanahan (We The People): 99
U.S. Senate
Tammy Baldwin (Democratic): 10,578
Eric Hovde (Republican): 9,969
Phil Anderson (Disrupt the Corruption): 196
Thomas Leager (America First): 155
8th Congressional District
Kristin Lyerly (Democratic): 10,650
Tony Wied (Republican): 10,049
State Assembly District 1
Renee Paplham (Democratic): 8,942
Joel Kitchens (Republican): 11,689
Referendums
State Constitution
A referendum to amend the Wisconsin Constitution dealing with voter eligibility. The question asks voters if the language should provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older be allowed to vote. The language currently reads that every United States citizen age 18 or older is allowed to vote. The official ballot question is phrased as follows: “Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 or article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?”
YES: 13,367
NO: 6,725
Sevastopol School District
The Sevastopol School District is asking voters to allow the district to exceed its revenue limit for non-recurring expenses that include educational programs and operational and maintenance expenses. The official ballot question is phrased as follows: “Shall the School District of Sevastopol, Door County, Wisconsin be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $4,250,000 for the 2025-2026 school year, by $4,500,000 for the 2026-2027 school year, by $4,750,000 for the 2027-2028 school year and by $4,750,000 for the 2028-2029 school year, for non-recurring purposes consisting of maintaining educational programs and paying operation and maintenance expenses?
YES: 1950
NO: 1667
Washington Island School District
The Washington Island School District is asking voters to allow the district to exceed revenue limits for recurring operating expenses. The official ballot question is phrased as follows: “Now, therefore, be it resolved by the School Board of the Washington Island School District that it shall include revenue in its budget for the 2025-2026 school year and thereafter a sum not to exceed $995,000.00 per school year in excess of the revenue limits set forth in Wis. Stat 121.91 for the purpose of meeting operational expenses.”
YES: 440
NO: 189
Town of Sturgeon Bay
Question 1:
YES: 310
NO: 333
Question 2
YES: 297
NO: 239
