1950 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

The 1950 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1950.

Incumbent Republican Governor Oscar Rennebohm did not seek a third term.

Republican nominee Walter J. Kohler Jr. defeated Democratic nominee Carl W. Thompson with 53.21% of the vote.

Primary election

Primary elections were held on September 19, 1950.

Democratic party

Candidates

• Charles P. Greene, former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly^[1]
• Carl W. Thompson, Democratic candidate for Governor in 1948

Results

Republican party

Candidates

• Walter J. Kohler Jr., businessman
• Leonard Schmitt, lawyer^[2]

Results

Socialist party

Candidates

• William O. Hart, candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1948

Results

People's Progressive party

Candidates

• M. Michael Essin, candidate for Attorney General in 1948

Results

General election

Candidates

Major party candidates

• Carl W. Thompson, Democratic
• Walter J. Kohler Jr., Republican

Other candidates

• M. Michael Essin, People's Progressive
• William O. Hart, Socialist

Results by county

Thompson was the first Democrat since George W. Peck in 1890 to win Eau Claire County.

County	Walter J. Kohler Jr. Republican		Carl W. Thompson Democratic		M. Michael Essin Progressive		William O. Hart Socialist		Scattering Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,498		54.37%		1,249		45.34%	5	0.18%		3		0.11%		0		0.00%		249		9.04%		2,755
	Ashland		3,334		50.65%		3,163		48.06%	78	1.19%		7		0.11%		0		0.00%		171		2.60%		6,582
	Barron		5,104		54.79%		4,151		44.56%	37	0.40%		22		0.24%		1		0.01%		953		10.23%		9,315
	Bayfield		2,346		52.80%		2,023		45.53%	57	1.28%		17		0.38%		0		0.00%		323		7.27%		4,443
	Brown		18,364		56.09%		14,346		43.81%	20	0.06%		12		0.04%		1		0.00%		4,018		12.27%		32,743
	Buffalo		2,238		51.88%		2,068		47.94%	5	0.12%		3		0.07%		0		0.00%		170		3.94%		4,314
	Burnett		1,546		48.45%		1,633		51.18%	11	0.34%		1		0.03%		0		0.00%		-87		-2.73%		3,191
	Calumet		4,404		67.84%		2,077		31.99%	4	0.06%		7		0.11%		0		0.00%		2,327		35.84%		6,492
	Chippewa		6,601		52.90%		5,849		46.87%	25	0.20%		3		0.02%		0		0.00%		752		6.03%		12,478
	Clark		6,223		60.71%		3,949		38.53%	68	0.66%		10		0.10%		0		0.00%		2,274		22.19%		10,250
	Columbia		6,483		55.11%		5,266		44.76%	9	0.08%		5		0.04%		1		0.01%		1,217		10.35%		11,764
	Crawford		3,858		54.00%		3,283		45.95%	2	0.03%		1		0.01%		0		0.00%		575		8.05%		7,144
	Dane		22,637		39.60%		34,237		59.89%	210	0.37%		80		0.14%		2		0.00%		-11,600		-20.29%		57,166
	Dodge		11,736		63.27%		6,774		36.52%	27	0.15%		12		0.06%		0		0.00%		4,962		26.75%		18,549
	Door		4,442		69.02%		1,986		30.86%	5	0.08%		3		0.05%		0		0.00%		2,456		38.16%		6,436
	Douglas		6,579		41.00%		9,368		58.38%	69	0.43%		30		0.19%		0		0.00%		-2,789		-17.38%		16,046
	Dunn		4,116		55.01%		3,354		44.83%	5	0.07%		7		0.09%		0		0.00%		762		10.18%		7,482
	Eau Claire		7,569		48.26%		8,034		51.22%	64	0.41%		16		0.10%		2		0.01%		-465		-2.96%		15,685
	Florence		643		53.27%		554		45.90%	9	0.75%		1		0.08%		0		0.00%		89		7.37%		1,207
	Fond du Lac		14,939		68.67%		6,716		30.87%	83	0.38%		17		0.08%		1		0.00%		8,223		37.80%		21,756
	Forest		1,374		43.23%		1,787		56.23%	12	0.38%		5		0.16%		0		0.00%		-413		-13.00%		3,178
	Grant		8,165		63.15%		4,746		36.71%	12	0.09%		7		0.05%		0		0.00%		3,419		26.44%		12,930
	Green		4,850		61.71%		3,002		38.20%	7	0.09%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		1,848		23.51%		7,859
	Green Lake		4,158		70.05%		1,766		29.75%	9	0.15%		3		0.05%		0		0.00%		2,392		40.30%		5,936
	Iowa		3,756		55.17%		3,044		44.71%	7	0.10%		1		0.01%		0		0.00%		712		10.46%		6,808
	Iron		1,514		40.97%		2,125		57.51%	47	1.27%		9		0.24%		0		0.00%		-611		-16.54%		3,695
	Jackson		2,474		46.77%		2,802		52.97%	7	0.13%		7		0.13%		0		0.00%		-328		-6.20%		5,290
	Jefferson		8,541		59.16%		5,876		40.70%	15	0.10%		5		0.03%		0		0.00%		2,665		18.46%		14,437
	Juneau		3,522		59.57%		2,383		40.31%	6	0.10%		1		0.02%		0		0.00%		1,139		19.27%		5,912
	Kenosha		13,021		44.06%		16,376		55.41%	76	0.26%		80		0.27%		0		0.00%		-3,355		-11.35%		29,553
	Kewaunee		3,743		62.08%		2,280		37.82%	3	0.05%		3		0.05%		0		0.00%		1,463		24.27%		6,029
	La Crosse		9,887		48.94%		10,168		50.33%	126	0.62%		22		0.11%		0		0.00%		-281		-1.39%		20,203
	Lafayette		3,417		50.10%		3,399		49.84%	3	0.04%		1		0.01%		0		0.00%		18		0.26%		6,820
	Langlade		3,605		56.07%		2,783		43.28%	34	0.53%		8		0.12%		0		0.00%		822		12.78%		6,430
	Lincoln		4,259		59.78%		2,827		39.68%	21	0.29%		13		0.18%		5		0.07%		1,432		20.10%		7,125
	Manitowoc		11,977		51.65%		11,159		48.12%	23	0.10%		27		0.12%		3		0.01%		818		3.53%		23,189
	Marathon		11,936		51.34%		11,220		48.26%	39	0.17%		50		0.22%		3		0.01%		716		3.08%		23,248
	Marinette		6,047		51.32%		5,706		48.43%	17	0.14%		12		0.10%		1		0.01%		341		2.89%		11,783
	Marquette		2,078		68.36%		955		31.41%	4	0.13%		3		0.10%		0		0.00%		1,123		36.94%		3,040
	Milwaukee		132,224		45.34%		155,804		53.42%	1,338	0.46%		2,257		0.77%		20		0.01%		-23,580		-8.09%		291,643
	Monroe		4,789		57.28%		3,550		42.46%	11	0.13%		10		0.12%		0		0.00%		1,239		14.82%		8,360
	Oconto		5,357		59.51%		3,614		40.15%	22	0.24%		7		0.08%		2		0.02%		1,743		19.36%		9,002
	Oneida		3,652		53.94%		3,090		45.64%	12	0.18%		16		0.24%		0		0.00%		562		8.30%		6,770
	Outagamie		17,103		67.44%		8,194		32.31%	43	0.17%		19		0.07%		0		0.00%		8,909		35.13%		25,359
	Ozaukee		5,576		60.68%		3,585		39.01%	17	0.19%		11		0.12%		0		0.00%		1,991		21.67%		9,189
	Pepin		1,269		57.19%		941		42.41%	7	0.32%		2		0.09%		0		0.00%		328		14.78%		2,219
	Pierce		4,050		62.66%		2,402		37.17%	4	0.06%		5		0.08%		2		0.03%		1,648		25.50%		6,463
	Polk		3,575		51.15%		3,385		48.43%	14	0.20%		15		0.21%		0		0.00%		190		2.72%		6,989
	Portage		5,619		44.97%		6,837		54.72%	20	0.16%		16		0.13%		2		0.02%		-1,218		-9.75%		12,494
	Price		3,030		55.10%		2,390		43.46%	59	1.07%		20		0.36%		0		0.00%		640		11.64%		5,499
	Racine		21,256		52.06%		19,441		47.61%	93	0.23%		41		0.10%		0		0.00%		1,815		4.45%		40,831
	Richland		4,273		65.73%		2,222		34.18%	5	0.08%		1		0.02%		0		0.00%		2,051		31.55%		6,501
	Rock		17,706		58.38%		12,565		41.43%	39	0.13%		18		0.06%		0		0.00%		5,141		16.95%		30,328
	Rusk		2,705		52.42%		2,416		46.82%	24	0.47%		14		0.27%		1		0.02%		289		5.60%		5,160
	Sauk		7,267		57.00%		5,395		42.31%	17	0.13%		68		0.53%		3		0.02%		1,872		14.68%		12,750
	Sawyer		2,209		61.36%		1,379		38.31%	4	0.11%		8		0.22%		0		0.00%		830		23.06%		3,600
	Shawano		6,598		70.18%		2,780		29.57%	15	0.16%		8		0.09%		1		0.01%		3,818		40.61%		9,402
	Sheboygan		16,552		60.13%		10,628		38.61%	223	0.81%		124		0.45%		0		0.00%		5,924		21.52%		27,527
	St. Croix		4,172		51.23%		3,941		48.40%	9	0.11%		16		0.20%		5		0.06%		231		2.84%		8,143
	Taylor		3,407		55.48%		2,681		43.66%	27	0.44%		26		0.42%		0		0.00%		726		11.82%		6,141
	Trempealeau		3,337		50.75%		3,231		49.14%	7	0.11%		0		0.00%		0		0.00%		106		1.61%		6,575
	Vernon		4,053		51.72%		3,778		48.21%	4	0.05%		1		0.01%		1		0.01%		275		3.51%		7,837
	Vilas		2,792		64.33%		1,503		34.63%	31	0.71%		14		0.32%		0		0.00%		1,289		29.70%		4,340
	Walworth		12,733		70.92%		5,189		28.90%	18	0.10%		14		0.08%		0		0.00%		7,544		42.02%		17,954
	Washburn		1,968		47.26%		2,181		52.38%	12	0.29%		3		0.07%		0		0.00%		-213		-5.12%		4,164
	Washington		7,514		65.78%		3,878		33.95%	20	0.18%		11		0.10%		0		0.00%		3,636		31.83%		11,423
	Waukesha		18,762		61.80%		11,493		37.85%	48	0.16%		58		0.19%		0		0.00%		7,269		23.94%		30,361
	Waupaca		8,732		74.43%		2,977		25.38%	10	0.09%		10		0.09%		3		0.03%		5,755		49.05%		11,732
	Waushara		3,260		74.04%		1,126		25.57%	14	0.32%		3		0.07%		0		0.00%		2,134		48.47%		4,403
	Winnebago		18,226		62.13%		10,804		36.83%	257	0.88%		46		0.16%		0		0.00%		7,422		25.30%		29,333
	Wood		8,899		54.29%		7,435		45.35%	50	0.31%		8		0.05%		1		0.01%		1,464		8.93%		16,393
Total	605,649	53.21%	525,319	46.16%	3,735	0.33%	3,384	0.30%	61	0.01%	80,330	7.06%	1,138,148

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Sheboygan

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Burnett
• Eau Claire
• Jackson
• La Crosse
• Washburn

Bibliography

• Book: Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997 . Washington, D.C. . Congressional Quarterly Inc. . 1998 . 1-56802-396-0 . .
• Book: Toepel . M. G. . Kuehn . Hazel L. . 1952 . The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1952 . State of Wisconsin . .

Notes and References

1. Book: Ohm . Howard F. . Kuehn . Hazel L. . 1946 . The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1946 . State of Wisconsin . 53 .
2. News: . Leonard Schmitt, 88; Challenged McCarthy . New York Times . New York, NY . 14 April 1991 . 30 . 28 November 2020 .