Evers schedules special elections for seats vacated by Lena Taylor, Mike Gallagher

Gov. Tony Evers has called special election dates for two districts — a congressional seat in northeastern Wisconsin and a state Senate district in Milwaukee.

The special election for the 4th Senate District will be held July 30, and if a primary is needed, it will be held July 2. Voters in that district will be the only ones in Wisconsin going to the polls that day.

The special election for the 8th Congressional District will be held on the same dates as the Aug. 13 partisan primary and the Nov. 5 general election. That means voters in the district will vote on the same dates as everyone else, not a different day.

But the timing of the congressional special election also means candidates for the House seat will appear on the ballot twice — something that hasn't happened since 1965.

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Milwaukee Senate seat opened when Lena Taylor became a judge

The Milwaukee Senate seat was vacated when former state Sen. Lena Taylor resigned to become a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge.

Two Democrats have so far announced campaigns for her seat — state Reps. LaKeshia Myers and Dora Drake — so a primary election is likely.

Candidates must file nomination papers by June 4.

Here is a map of the 4th Senate District to figure out if the special election applies to you. The district did not change boundaries under the new maps.

More: Which Milwaukee-area voting districts are changing, and which are staying the same?

Congressional seat vacant after Gallagher's resignation

For congressional offices, state law requires a special election to be held to fill a vacancy if the seat is left empty before the second Tuesday in April in the year of a general election, which fell on April 9 this year.

Since U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher officially left Congress on April 20 — after that second Tuesday — his vacancy may be filled in the August and November primary and general elections.

That timing, however, means candidates for the 8th Congressional District will appear on the ballot for both the special and regularly scheduled elections. The Republicans in the primary race, for example, will have their names on both the special election primary ballot and "the regularly scheduled primary election ballot," according to the governor's office.

The winner of the special election race on Nov. 5 will serve until the official end of Gallagher's term on Jan. 3, 2025, the governor's office said, after which the winner of the regularly scheduled general election will serve a complete two-year term.

Under this format, it is technically possible for one candidate to win the special election and another to win the regularly scheduled general election.

On Tuesday, members of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted to rescind ballot designs they had approved earlier that morning for voters living in the 8th District, and they planned to vote soon to approve a new ballot with both the special election race and the general race listed.

Democratic commissioner Mark Thomsen pointed out the candidates running to replace Gallagher will need to submit two sets of nomination papers, one for the special election and one for the general election. Commissioners will schedule a meeting in the coming weeks to finalize the ballot in the 8th District, chairman Don Millis said.

A special election to fill a congressional vacancy held on the same day as the general election for the same seat has not happened since at least 1965, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.

There are currently three Republicans running to replace Gallagher: Former state Sen. Roger Roth, an Appleton Republican who ran for lieutenant governor in 2022; state Sen. Andre Jacque, a Republican from De Pere; and former gas station chain owner Tony Wied, who entered the race with the backing of former President Donald Trump. OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly is the only Democrat in the race.

Candidates must submit nomination papers by June 1.

Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed.

Here is a map of the congressional districts to figure out which district you're in. The 8th Congressional District includes areas like Green Bay, Appleton and Marinette.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Special elections set for seats vacated by Lena Taylor, Mike Gallagher