Wisconsin voters approved two of the three constitutional amendments on the ballot on Tuesday. 

Over the last eight years, the Republican-controlled Legislature has frequently used the state’s constitutional amendment process to circumvent the veto pen of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Tuesday’s results give the Republicans a nine for 15 record in those efforts. 

Under state law, a proposal to amend the state Constitution must be passed in two consecutive legislative terms and then approved by the voters. 

Anti-equity 

Voters approved an amendment that will prohibit state and local governments from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any groups based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration. 

Of the three amendments on the ballot, this one passed the most easily, with voters approving the measure with 57% of the vote, as of 12:30 a.m.

The amendment is the product of Republican antagonism against diversity, equity and inclusion policies in recent years. GOP lawmakers have pointed to money spent by county governments on diversity programs as an expense that the amendment will put a stop to. 

Republicans have said government spending decisions should be based on merit instead of membership of a specific group. 

Opponents of the amendment argued that the state and federal constitutions already prohibit discrimination. They’ve also pointed to popular programs across state and local government that could now be considered illegal — including women’s health initiatives and childcare programs such as Head Start — and made the case that the government should be allowed to address disparities such as the high rate of Black maternal mortality in Wisconsin. 

Places of worship 

With a 52% margin, Wisconsin voters narrowly rejected a proposed amendment that would have prohibited the government from shutting down places of worship during a state of emergency. 

The proposal was introduced by Republican lawmakers angry that government orders during the COVID-19 pandemic closed churches across the state. Those closures sparked widespread protests from conservatives in the state. 

Opponents of the amendment had argued the state needs tools to protect public health in the event of an emergency. 

Partial veto 

Voters narrowly approved a constitutional amendment that will limit the governor’s partial veto authority, preventing its use to introduce new taxes or fees. The measure passed with 51% of the vote. 

The amendment was proposed after Gov. Tony Evers used his veto pen to change the 2023-25 biennial budget to allow schools to raise revenue limits by $325 per pupil per year for the next 400 years. Republicans across the state have frequently complained about the “400-year tax,” including Tom Tiffany, who made repealing the veto a major part of his run for governor. 

Governors of both parties have used the partial veto to extend provisions for hundreds of years. Republican Gov. Scott Walker used the power to extend a one-year moratorium on school referendum requests for energy efficiency projects, transforming it into a 1,000-year moratorium.

The partial veto authority of Wisconsin’s governor has been rolled back several times through the courts and the constitutional amendment process during the state’s history. Opponents of the amendment compared it to previous actions by Republican lawmakers to limit the authority of the governor after Evers, a Democrat, took office. 

Democrat Rebecca Cooke has defeated Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, notching a win in one of the Democratic party’s highest priority House districts. 

AP called the race at 11:48 p.m. with 90% of the vote counted. Cooke led Van Orden 52.4% to 45.8%.

Cooke, who lost in the Democratic primary for the seat in 2022 and narrowly lost to Van Orden in 2024, ran as a moderate — staking out a number of positions counter to progressive priorities — but benefited from the support of U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders as well as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 

Cooke’s seven point victory, at the time the race was called shortly before midnight, was driven by winning large margins in the district’s bigger cities of Eau Claire and La Crosse while keeping Van Orden’s margins small enough in the rest of the largely rural district. 

Cooke won by more than 20 points in both Eau Claire and La Crosse counties while keeping it close enough in the more rural counties — which had driven Trump’s wins in the state after the district voted for former President Barack Obama twice. Under a map in which Van Orden had to run up the score among rural voters, as of 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening, he was leading only a single county, Adams, by more than 20 points.

A former political consultant, Cooke has also previously run a non-profit, owned a small business and worked as a waitress. During the campaign, Van Orden had attempted to raise questions about Cooke’s authenticity while tying her to left-wing ideas, frequently referring to her as “commie Cooke.” 

But Van Orden, whose aggressive temperament and frequent scandals had made him a divisive figure among voters in the district, ran on embracing the first two years of President Donald Trump’s second term. He appeared at campaign events with more than a dozen high ranking Trump administration officials while defending his support of Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran, which voters in the district had blamed for increasing costs. 

The district has been hit hard by several of the Trump administration’s most unpopular policies. Hospitals have closed; farmers have struggled to keep up with rising diesel prices and the burden of tariffs and last winter Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities extended into western Wisconsin as far as Eau Claire.

At the only debate of the campaign in October, Cooke argued that she was the only candidate of the two who would actually put “America first.” 

Cooke’s win brings Democratic control back to the district, which voted for Trump three times but was represented by former Democratic Rep. Ron Kind from 1997 to 2023.