MADISON, WI – Michele Magadance Skinner is facing a lawsuit stating that as a Georgia resident she is ineligible to hold or seek elected office in Wisconsin. The suit states that she and her husband asserted their residency in Georgia in order to receive property tax credits, officially disqualifying Magadance Skinner from elected office in Wisconsin.

Read more on the lawsuit to remove Georgia resident Michele Magadance Skinner from Wisconsin’s November ballot:

WQOW: State Senate Democratic Committee files lawsuit to disqualify Republican candidate Michele Skinner from ballot

  • “The lawsuit claims Skinner’s husband claimed a 100% homestead property tax exemption on that home last year. To claim that exemption under Georgia state code, the applicant must have a permanent home in the state and must be either unmarried, widowed, divorced, or married and living with their spouse. The lawsuit argues applying for the exemption requires Skinner to therefore be a Georgia resident, and ineligible for office in Wisconsin.”
  • “The lawsuit also claims Skinner registered to vote in Georgia in November 2020 and voted in the Georgia Senate runoff election in January 2021. The SSDC claims voting in a different state forfeits Skinner’s Wisconsin residency.”

WEAU: Lawsuit challenges Republican state senate candidate’s eligibility

  • “The lawsuit states that Skinner and her husband, Robert Skinner, received a senior homestead tax exemption on a four-bedroom lake house they own in Dawson County, Georgia, in 2025. That exemption allowed them to pay no property taxes on the Georgia home.”
  • “However, Georgia’s homestead exemption application requires applicants to attest that the property is their permanent, legal residence for all purposes. It also asks where the applicant and their spouse are registered to vote and requires that both occupy the home as a homestead.”
  • “‘Michele Magadance Skinner and her husband, by their own admission, are Georgia residents,’ said SSDC Executive Director Andrew Whitley in an interview with WEAU. ‘The only way that you have a 100% homestead tax credit exemption on property taxes is if both spouses, husband and wife, reside in that home in that state. So they, ever since this law passed in Georgia that allowed homeowners to not have to pay property taxes, they have taken advantage of that law.’”

Channel 3000: State Senate Dems sue to boot GOP candidate from ballot over residency questions

  • “The complaint alleges she claimed a Wisconsin lottery tax credit on her Altoona home in 2020, but registered to vote in Georgia that same year and listed the Dawsonville home as her principal residence. She allegedly claimed a Wisconsin property credit in 2021 as well, but voted in Georgia again.”
  • “More recently, Skinner’s husband, Robert Skinner, claimed a homestead property exemption for the Georgia Home for the 2025 tax year,” the complaint alleges. ‘Robert Skinner could only do so if the Georgia Home was the principal residence for both him and his spouse.’”
  • “Skinner allegedly even used a stamp with the Georgia address on her nomination papers for this November’s election.”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Democrats sue to boot GOP Senate candidate from ballot

  • “Will Karcz, a spokesman for the State Senate Democratic Committee, accused Skinner of being a ‘Georgia resident’ who had ‘conned taxpayers’ in a statement about the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 14 in Dane County. ‘Wisconsinites are tired of corrupt politicians gaming the system and getting away with it,’ he said.”
  • “They also claimed an income-based exemption reserved for seniors 75 and older with a household income of $25,000 or less. Property tax records from Dawson County show the Skinners paid no property taxes on the Dawsonville home in 2025. Skinner is 67. Her husband is 81.”
  • “The lawsuit also argues that her signatures that she gathered for her nomination papers are invalid if she is not a Wisconsin resident. She gathered 470 of the 563 signatures, according to the lawsuit. Wisconsin state law was changed in 2025 to require that signatures be gathered by residents of the state, though that statute is being challenged in court.”

Wisconsin Examiner: Senate Dems sue to remove GOP candidate from ballot in key district

  • “In recent weeks, Skinner has come under scrutiny for claiming residence in two states, Wisconsin and Georgia, and for voting in both. The lawsuit was filed by the Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee, the campaign arm of the Senate Democratic caucus, in Dane County Circuit Court.”
  • “The suit claims Skinner received a Wisconsin Lottery tax credit in 2025, while her husband claimed a Georgia homestead property exemption for the 2025 tax year. It claims under Georgia law, the married couples cannot claim multiple exemptions even if the homes are listed under each spouse’s name.”

Fox 47: State Senate Dems sue to boot GOP candidate from ballot over residency questions

  • “‘Recently, while declaring ‘I am a Wisconsin resident,’ Skinner also admitted ‘[m]y husband is a Georgia resident.’,the complaint alleges. ‘By operation of Wisconsin law, because Skinner’s family is unquestionably a Georgia resident, so too is she’”
  • “She allegedly claimed a Wisconsin property credit in 2021 as well, but voted in Georgia again.”

WPR: Wisconsin Democrats sue to boot Republican from key state Senate race

  • “The suit claims Skinner received a Wisconsin Lottery tax credit in 2025, while her husband claimed a Georgia homestead property exemption for the 2025 tax year. It claims under Georgia law, the married couples cannot claim multiple exemptions even if the homes are listed under each spouse’s name.”

Wisconsin State Journal: Democrats sue to remove Republican Senate candidate who voted in 2 state from ballot

  • “Should the Wisconsin Elections Commission not remove her from the ballot, it would be an “incredible waste of public resources” to allow voters to cast ballots for a candidate who cannot legally occupy the seat, the lawsuit states.”
  • “The lawsuit also cites evidence that Skinner does not primarily live in Wisconsin, including a partial address stamp on one of Skinner’s nomination papers that references the municipality in Georgia where her home is located.”