45 of 115 Legislative Races Remain Uncontested:
Two Million Wisconsin Voters
Face No-Choice Elections
Madison (July 8, 2004) – Barring last-minute candidacies, nearly 2 million Wisconsin voters will have no choice in who represents them in the state Assembly or Senate because only  one candidate so far is seeking a place on the November ballot in 45 of 115 legislative races, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
People who want to seek legislative office have until Tuesday, July 13 at 5 p.m. to register and submit petitions with the required number of signatures with the State Elections Board. WDC tallied the number of registered candidates as of 9 a.m. today.
Prospective candidates for the Assembly must gather 200 signatures from people who live in the Assembly District the candidate is seeking to represent. Senate candidates must gather 400 signatures from people who live in the Senate District the candidate is running in.
WDC found that only one candidate may be on the November ballot in 39 of 99 Assembly seats and only one candidate may be on the ballot in six of 16 Senate races. In an additional four races – three for the Assembly and one for the Senate – a lone major party candidate stands to face only a third-party challenger.
In the September primary, voters may have no choice in 36 legislative races because there is only one candidate on the ballot.
The high number of uncontested races, which follows a 15-year trend, is due in part to the large campaign war chests built up by incumbents to scare off challengers going into the election year. At the beginning of 2004, legislators had a collective cash balance of $3.16 million in their campaign accounts – about 6 percent more than incumbents had going into the comparable 2000 election year.
In addition, the state’s antiquated campaign finance laws make it easy for wealthy special interests to slather incumbents and candidates in targeted open seat races with large campaign contributions in the homestretch of the race.
Other findings in WDC’s preliminary review of legislative contests show:
 Thirty-three incumbents are unopposed for reelection, including eight freshmen elected just two years ago. Until recent years, freshmen legislators frequently drew challengers because they were viewed as more vulnerable than veteran legislators. There are 19 open seats, which are races where the incumbent decided not to run, including the 63rd Assembly District in Racine where only Republican Robin Vos is registered to run. Open seats traditionally attract multiple candidates from both parties because they are seen as easier to win than challenging an incumbent.
Residents of nine Assembly Districts may not be able to choose who represents them in the Legislature because only one candidate is on the ballot so far for both the Assembly and Senate seats that represent them.
"In 1970, there were no uncontested state legislative races in Wisconsin. As recently as the mid-1980s, only about one in seven races was uncontested. Now it’s 40 percent. Unless there is a rush of candidates throwing their hats into the ring at the last minute, 2 million voters will have no real say about who represents them in the state Legislature," WDC executive director Mike McCabe said. "We have an epidemic of uncompetitive elections on our hands."
McCabe said the problem has many causes but emphasized two in particular – the overwhelming financial edge enjoyed by current office holders and partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts that makes them safe for incumbents.
"An awful lot of people who have much to offer to public service have been priced out of the political marketplace. Incumbents amass enormous campaign war chests, and it’s next to impossible for challengers to compete. Many of them give up before they start," McCabe said. "On top of the fundraising advantage, incumbents have redrawn legislative districts in a way that gives them a big leg up. Long before voters get to choose their representatives, the representatives have chosen their voters."
McCabe also pointed to the power of television, both as the driving force behind the campaign arms race and as a primary force shaping social and political values and behavior.
"TV has changed everything in politics. It has changed the way politicians communicate with voters. It has changed the way voters relate to candidates. TV has made people think of themselves less as citizens who are participants in the democratic process and more as passive spectators and as consumers who are being sold a product," he said.
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