Kamala Harris won the most votes for president in Door County Tuesday, finishing ahead of Donald Trump here as Wisconsin and the country overall were still too close to call.
Harris finished with 50.6 percent (10,564 votes) to Trump’s 48.3 percent (10,098 votes) in Door County.
Harris’ margin in Door County of 466 votes was larger than the margin by which Joe Biden won the county in 2020 but narrower than that by which Trump won it in 2016. In 2020, Biden won Door County by 292 votes, or about 1.4 percent of the votes cast that year. In 2016, Trump won it by 558 votes, or about 3.2 percent of the votes cast.
Voter turnout was up slightly here compared to the 2020 and 2016 elections, with 21,050 voters casting a ballot. In the 2020 election, 20,208 Door County voters cast their ballots; in 2016, it was 17,776.
Third-party voting in Door County was down compared to both 2020 and 2016, with only 232 third-party votes for president, representing about 1.1 percent of the votes cast. In 2020, there were 321 third-party votes for president in Door County, representing about 1.6 percent of the votes cast. In 2016, there were a total of 788 third-party votes, representing about 4.5 percent of the votes cast.
Additional attention has been paid to Door County in the lead-up to the presidential election this year because it is one of a small number of counties nationwide that have accurately predicted every presidential election for the past 30 years.
The results of the presidential race in Wisconsin and nationwide were still undetermined as of Tuesday night. Wisconsin was one of four states to receive bomb threats that the FBI determined were not credible and came from email accounts with Russian domains, Wisconsin Watch reported.
And in Milwaukee, election workers started over in their count of absentee ballots, out of what a city spokesperson called “an abundance of caution,” after an observer noticed that panel doors on the city’s 13 tabulator machines weren’t properly closed, Wisconsin Watch reported. Workers had previously counted more than 30,000 absentee ballots; the city has more than 106,000 total absentee ballots.
Read more of Door County Knock’s election coverage, and see live-updating Wisconsin election results for the presidential and U.S. Senate races, below. To see the full results data from Door County, click here.
Election results
President
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump are facing off in the 2024 presidential election.
U.S. Senate
Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin won the most votes in Door County in her race against Republican challenger Eric Hovde, as the race across the state remained too close to call. Out of 20,794 voters who cast votes in that election, Baldwin won by a margin of 561 votes, 10,502 (50.5 percent) to 9,941 (47.8 percent).
In 2018, when Baldwin faced Leah Vukmir, Baldwin won the county by a larger margin of 1,947 votes, despite fewer votes being cast overall.
Independent candidates Phil Anderson and Thomas Leager won 196 and 155 votes each.
District 8 Congressional
In the District 8 Congressional elections, Democratic candidate Dr. Kristin Lyerly won the most votes in Door County, even as Republican candidate Tony Wied won the race overall.
There are two elections for Wisconsin’s District 8 seat on the ballot. One is a special election, and one is the regular election. The Associated Press called the elections for Wied at 10:54 pm. At that time, with 63 percent of votes counted, Wied led district-wide with 60.6 percent to Lyerly’s 39.4 percent.
In Door County, out of 20,547 voters who cast votes in the regular election for the seat, Lyerly won by a margin of 609 votes, 10,578 to 9,969. In the special election for the same seat, the results were similar, with Lyerly winning in Door County, 10,650 to 10,049. Slightly more voters, 152, cast votes in the special election.
The winner of the special election will fill Mike Gallagher’s vacant seat until his term ends on Jan. 3, 2025. The regular election will determine who represents the district in a new, two-year term that begins on Jan 3.
Special election
Regular election
Assembly District 1
In the state Assembly, District 1 Republican incumbent Joel Kitchens was re-elected to his sixth term, defeating Democratic challenger Renee Paplham. The Associated Press called the race at 9:20 p.m.
As of 10:43 pm, with 92 percent of the votes counted in the race overall, Kitchens was ahead of Paplham with 22,157 votes district-wide (61.8 percent) to Paplham’s 13,681 (38.2 percent).
Kitchens won in Door County by a margin of 2,747 votes, with 11,689 votes (56.7 percent) compared to Democratic candidate Renee Paplham’s 8,942 votes (43.3 percent).
“I’m obviously grateful to people in the area for re-electing me. There’s a lot I want to get done yet. It’s an honor,” Kitchens said in a phone interview after his race was called by the AP.
Referendum Question: Eligibility to Vote
Wisconsin voters also widely approved a state referendum question seeking to change constitutional language regarding age and citizenship status required to vote. The Associated Press called the race at 9:42 pm. At that time, with 53 percent of votes counted, “Yes” was ahead with about 70 percent of the vote.
Door County voters similarly approved it by a significant margin, with 13,367 (66.5 percent) voting yes to 6,725 (33.5 percent) voting no.
The question reads as follows: “Eligibility to vote. Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?”
Wisconsin’s constitution already states: “Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district.” The amendment will replace the word “every” with “only” and include a specific list of types of elections.
School Referendums
Sevastopol School District
The Sevastopol School District asked voters for more money in a non-recurring referendum for the next four years in the amounts of $4.25 million, $4.5 million, $4.75 million and $4.75 million, respectively. Voters passed the measure by a slim margin, with 1,950 votes in favor (53.9 percent) and 1,667 votes against (46.1 percent).
Washington Island School District
Washington Island School District voters passed a recurring referendum to provide $995,000 annually for operational costs. The measure passed with 440 votes in favor (70.0 percent) and 189 against (30.0 percent), out of 629 overall votes cast.
The passage of the measure will permanently increase the district’s funding limit, though Principal Tim Verboomen said that the district will never use more money than they need and “will continue to work hard every day to ensure excellence in our school’s commitment to teaching, learning, growing and succeeding.”
“Very exciting. Thank you to our community for continually supporting our school and the education of our island youth,” was Administrator Sue Cornell’s comment on the results.
County-Level Elections
Unopposed county-level elections resulted in all incumbents, all registered as Republicans, regaining their seats.
Out of 21,050 total ballots cast:
- Colleen Nordin will be district attorney for another term, with 15,752 votes.
- Jill Lau was re-elected as county clerk with 16,154 votes.
- County Treasurer Ryan Schley retained his position with 15,949 votes.
- Carey Petersilka, register of deeds, won 16,040 votes.
Previous coverage
What’s on the ballot: A look at the Door County ballot
Campaign finance: Local campaign finance sources, by the numbers
State Assembly District 1: State assembly candidates answer a gamut of questions from voters at Door County League of Women Voters forum
8th Congressional District: Fact-checking the District 8 congressional debate