Lehman Takes 21st Senate District Democratic Recall Primary

Update, 9 am, May 9: Former Sen. John Lehman will proceed to the June 5 general recall election against state Sen. Van Wanggaard in the 21st Senate District.

The Racine County Election Results page shows Lehman pulled in 20,273 votes while "protest" candidate Tamra Varebrook pulled in 9,507 by the time all precincts reported.

Lehman came out the winner in Caledonia, Sturtevant, Mount Pleasant and the City of Racine.

Varebrook won Yorkville, 296 to 292, and had a strong showing in Norway and Raymond. In those communities, she trailed Lehman 667 to 615 and 388 to 355, respectively.

Update, 11:30 pm: Several communities in the 21st Senate District have fully reported and a few like Caledonia and Mount Pleasant were still trickling in a few hours after the polls closed. What was clear with the preliminary results posted on the Racine County Elections page was that former Sen. John Lehman was moving toward a win over "protest" candidate Tamra Varebrook.

In Sturtevant, Lehman took a decisive lead over Varebrook, 612 to 281. Mount Pleasant voters went for Lehman at more than a two-to-one margin; 4,024 to 1,893.

The county's elections results page listed four of eight Caledonia's locations reporting, and there, too, residents were siding with Lehman over Varebrook. Lehman had 1,865 over Varebrook's 1,194.

“We have seen throughout this campaign that Van Wanggaard and his Madison party bosses will stoop to any level to hide behind their policies of record job loss," Lehman said in a written statement. "I hope that after tonight we can finally discuss the issues that are important to the 21st Senate District instead of hiding from the voters demanding Van Wanggaard’s recall.”

Still, it's worth noting how many votes Varebrook garnered even though she wasn't really supposed to get any. Listed on the ballot by the state Republican party to help make sure there was a primary in the 21st Senate District, Varebrook wasn't otherwise supported. She did organize a fundraiser on her own and she also pulled together an ad citing all the reasons she feels Lehman is wrong for the district.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard issued a statement reiterating what he's been saying for months about the recall efforts against him; he is prepared to run on his record.

"John Lehman, one of the chief architects of the irresponsible Doyle budgets, actively worked towards bankrupting the State of Wisconsin," he wrote. "I look forward to to seeing how John will defend his record and justify his 'vision' of raising taxes on Wisconsin families and businesses."

Patch and WGTD 91.1FM are sponsoring a live candidates forum between Lehman and Wanggaard on May 24 at Mount Pleasant Village Hall.    

Update, 9:50 pm: Former Sen. John Lehman continues to lead "protest" candidate Tamra Varebrook with 13 of 71 precincts reporting in the 21st Senate District.

Norway, Raymond, Yorkville, Elmwood Park, North Bay, Rochester, Sturtevant and Union Grove all have their complete results into Racine County.

As of 9:50 pm, Lehman had 4,770 to Varebrook's 3,307.

Original Story: According to the Racine County Election Results website, 20 percent of the votes in the 21st Senate District were counted as of 9:30 pm.

A total of 4,619 votes were in, and former Sen. John Lehman was leading "protest" candidate Tamra Varebrook 1,785 to 1,294.

Stay with Patch as we update election results throughout the evening.