Republican Amy Loudenbeck today conceded to Dem Doug La Follette after the final county canvasses found the longtime secretary of state beating his GOP challenger by 7,442 votes.
That’s a margin of 0.28 percent of all votes cast in the race, just outside the margin of 0.25 percent needed for a candidate to request a recount without having to pay for it.
“I have no regrets on how we ran our campaign or how hard we worked,” said Loudenbeck, a state rep from Clinton.
La Follette, who has held the office for all but four years since 1975, declared victory late last week when all but three of the county canvasses were in. La Follette said today he did so knowing that the last results weren’t going to change his margin significantly. La Follette said he respects and appreciates Loudenbeck’s decision not to pay for an expensive recount.
He also vowed to continue pushing GOP lawmakers to approve additional resources for his office.
The agency now has one full-time employee in addition to La Follette. His budget seeks the addition of a second full-time staffer and as well as a new deputy treasurer.
“I hope Joint Finance will see their way clear not to look at Doug La Follette, but to look at the services needed for the people of Wisconsin,” he said.
Their race was the closest of the statewide contests. Dem Mandela Barnes lost to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, by 1.007 percent in their race.
Under state law, the second-place candidate must be within 1 percent of the winner to request a recount. If the margin is greater than 0.25 percent, the candidate requesting a recount must cover the costs.
In 2020, the Trump campaign paid nearly $2.5 million just for recounts of heavily Dem Dane and Milwaukee counties.
Loudenbeck had until Friday to request a recount. The Elections Commission will meet after that window closes to certify the results.
