Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, declared victory Tuesday night after he faced an onslaught of late spending in his heavily GOP seat.
With all but two precincts in, Vos was at 58.8 percent compared to 41.2 percent for Dem Joel Jacobsen, a former Burlington alderman.
Vos thanked voters for their support and “ignoring the million dollar smear campaign” waged against him.
“I’m honored to be the voice for my friends and neighbors once again in the state Assembly,” said Vos, who was first elected to the Assembly in 2004. “I promise to continue to deliver on a strong conservative agenda that focuses on limited government, lower taxes, better health care and excellent schools.”
Vos easily dispatched Jacobsen by 22 points two years ago. But with the state Dem Party flush with cash, Assembly Dems took a late run at the seat. Through late last week, Jacobsen had a significant spending advantage, according to a WisPolitics.com check of independent expenditure reports, candidate spending and media buys tracked by Advertising Analytics. Jacobsen and his allies had dropped at least $716,000 on the race, while Vos and his backers had spent $131,000.
Last-minute spending in the race may push the total past $1 million, an unheard of sum for a safe seat in the Wisconsin Assembly.
