Craig Wins Assembly 83 Race in Heavier Than Expected Turnout

Republican Dave Craig of Big Bend emerged as the winner in Tuesday's special election to fill a vacant Assembly seat.

"The take-away I have from this outcome is that the voters spoke in November, and they are speaking again now," Craig said. "The spending spree in Madison has to stop and has to stop now.   I intend  to work with the Governor to see that that's done."

"I enjoyed meeting everyone throughout this campaign," Brownlow stated. "I believe I wanted what most people did, and that was to balance the budget and to make government more efficient."

Craig beat Democrat Jim Brownlow of Muskego to succeed Scott L. Gunderson as representative of Assembly district 83.The district includes Muskego, Big Bend, Vernon, Mukwonago, East Troy, and Waterford.

Overall vote totals based on unofficial results are: Craig-8,313 and Brownlow-2,895. Muskego's totals came in (with 26 percent turnout) at 3,074 for Craig, 1,122 for Brownlow.

Gunderson, a Republican from Waterford, held the seat since 1994. He resigned shortly after being re-elected in November to take a position with the Walker Administration in the state Department of Natural Resources.

In Muskego, the largest municipality in the district, Craig received 3,074 votes to Brownlow’s 1,122. There were four write-ins.

The Assembly race was the only contest on the Muskego ballot, and with the unusual date for an election, voter turnout was expected to be very low. However, Muskego City Hall—the only polling place for today’s election—was packed for most of the evening, with voters waiting in line at least an hour.

Some 30-40 voters were still waiting in line after polls closed at 8:00 this evening.

Sharon Mueller, the city’s Clerk-Treasurer, said, “This was so unexpected. We didn’t think we would see such a high turnout.”

The long wait and cramped space frustrated a number of voters. “This was disorganized,” voter Steve Whittow said, talking about the decision to have all voting take place at City Hall. He noted that his wife arrived to vote around 5:30, only to leave the line a short time later after realizing how long of a wait there was.

But city Deputy Clerk Jill Blenski noted, “The problem is accessibility. We’d have to find an available place that could accommodate everyone.”