News and Events

By Maria Woldt for WCO

Early November saw some exciting and important races for the nation and Wisconsin. In general, WCO doesn’t endorse candidates, but we do advocate for favorable agriculture policy and work across party lines with like-minded legislators.

As we all know by now, President Donald Trump was re-elected as the 47th president of the United States. He won Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes, receiving 49.7% of the state’s vote. Despite Trump’s victory, Senate Democrat Tammy Baldwin won re-election because she outperformed the Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harris across most of Wisconsin, especially in rural areas.

Baldwin has supported agriculture-friendly legislation across several administrations and experts expect that trend to continue.

On the state side, the Democrats gained three seats in the state Senate due to recently redrawn district maps – including those of GOP state Sens. Joan Ballweg and Duey Stroebel.

Ballweg’s loss is especially troubling for the agriculture community as she chaired the Senate Ag Committee and was a long-time supporter of policy that was favorable to farmers and related businesses.

In local elections, Wisconsin voters passed 78 percent of the school district referendum funding requests accounting for $3.4 billion for infrastructure, staff salary increases, and programming.

The 2025-2026 state legislative session begins on January 6, 2025, with the inauguration. WCO will continue to monitor relevant policy and other legislative engagement opportunities on behalf of members.