1954 Wisconsin gubernatorial election explained

The 1954 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1954.

Incumbent Republican Governor Walter J. Kohler Jr. defeated Democratic nominee William Proxmire in a rematch of the 1952 election with 51.45% of the vote.

Primary election

Primary elections were held on September 14, 1954.^[1]

Democratic party

Candidates

• James E. Doyle, former chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party^[2]
• William Proxmire, Democratic nominee for governor in 1952

Results

Republican party

Candidates

• Walter J. Kohler Jr., incumbent governor

Results

General election

Candidates

• William Proxmire, Democratic
• Walter J. Kohler Jr., Republican
• Arthur Wepfer, Socialist Labor

Results by county

Proxmire was the first Democrat since George W. Peck in 1904 to win Florence County. By voting for Proxmire, Rusk County backed the losing candidate for the first time since its establishment in 1901.

County	Walter J. Kohler Jr. Republican		William Proxmire Democratic		Arthur Wepfer Socialist Labor		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		1,440		51.01%		1,380		48.88%		3		0.11%		60		2.13%		2,823
	Ashland		2,730		44.40%		3,414		55.52%		5		0.08%		-684		-11.12%		6,149
	Barron		5,874		52.81%		5,245		47.15%		4		0.04%		629		5.65%		11,123
	Bayfield		1,978		45.82%		2,327		53.90%		0		0.00%		-349		-8.08%		4,317
	Brown		18,832		54.00%		16,009		45.91%		32		0.09%		2,823		8.09%		34,874
	Buffalo		2,290		54.32%		1,926		45.68%		0		0.00%		364		8.63%		4,216
	Burnett		1,602		50.60%		1,559		49.24%		3		0.09%		43		1.36%		3,166
	Calumet		4,244		65.47%		2,235		34.48%		2		0.03%		2,009		30.99%		6,482
	Chippewa		6,212		49.01%		6,452		50.90%		11		0.09%		-240		-1.89%		12,675
	Clark		5,593		52.10%		5,142		47.90%		0		0.00%		451		4.20%		10,735
	Columbia		6,431		59.35%		4,390		40.51%		15		0.14%		2,041		18.84%		10,836
	Crawford		3,388		56.83%		2,569		43.09%		5		0.08%		819		13.74%		5,962
	Dane		25,220		42.78%		33,634		57.05%		98		0.17%		-8,414		-14.27%		58,955
	Dodge		11,429		61.42%		7,168		38.52%		11		0.06%		4,261		22.90%		18,608
	Door		4,399		64.28%		2,444		35.72%		0		0.00%		1,955		28.57%		6,843
	Douglas		6,393		37.48%		10,655		62.47%		9		0.05%		-4,262		-24.99%		17,057
	Dunn		4,367		54.17%		3,692		45.80%		1		0.01%		675		8.37%		8,062
	Eau Claire		8,228		47.36%		9,111		52.44%		34		0.20%		-883		-5.08%		17,374
	Florence		741		48.15%		786		51.07%		12		0.78%		-45		-2.92%		1,539
	Fond du Lac		14,436		63.08%		8,423		36.80%		27		0.12%		6,013		26.27%		22,886
	Forest		1,320		39.04%		2,055		60.78%		6		0.18%		-735		-21.74%		3,381
	Grant		8,545		70.27%		3,595		29.56%		20		0.16%		4,950		40.70%		12,161
	Green		4,986		65.25%		2,648		34.66%		7		0.09%		2,338		30.60%		7,641
	Green Lake		3,838		72.57%		1,443		27.28%		8		0.15%		2,395		45.28%		5,289
	Iowa		3,233		56.41%		2,493		43.50%		5		0.09%		740		12.91%		5,731
	Iron		1,258		33.74%		2,464		66.08%		7		0.19%		-1,206		-32.34%		3,729
	Jackson		2,552		45.27%		3,077		54.59%		8		0.14%		-525		-9.31%		5,637
	Jefferson		8,503		56.37%		6,573		43.58%		8		0.05%		1,930		12.80%		15,084
	Juneau		3,466		60.66%		2,231		39.04%		17		0.30%		1,235		21.61%		5,714
	Kenosha		12,759		41.29%		18,120		58.64%		21		0.07%		-5,361		-17.35%		30,900
	Kewaunee		3,558		54.35%		2,982		45.55%		6		0.09%		576		8.80%		6,546
	La Crosse		12,023		53.24%		10,497		46.48%		64		0.28%		1,526		6.76%		22,584
	Lafayette		2,976		58.57%		2,104		41.41%		1		0.02%		872		17.16%		5,081
	Langlade		3,460		48.62%		3,649		51.28%		7		0.10%		-189		-2.66%		7,116
	Lincoln		4,166		56.99%		3,141		42.97%		3		0.04%		1,025		14.02%		7,310
	Manitowoc		11,118		48.96%		11,557		50.89%		35		0.15%		-439		-1.93%		22,710
	Marathon		11,771		44.75%		14,488		55.08%		45		0.17%		-2,717		-10.33%		26,304
	Marinette		5,671		51.27%		5,387		48.70%		4		0.04%		284		2.57%		11,062
	Marquette		2,225		67.61%		1,062		32.27%		4		0.12%		1,163		35.34%		3,291
	Milwaukee		129,318		44.16%		162,858		55.62%		631		0.22%		-33,540		-11.45%		292,815
	Monroe		4,603		56.58%		3,530		43.39%		3		0.04%		1,073		13.19%		8,136
	Oconto		4,606		54.91%		3,776		45.01%		7		0.08%		830		9.89%		8,389
	Oneida		3,766		53.52%		3,266		46.42%		4		0.06%		500		7.11%		7,036
	Outagamie		16,565		65.12%		8,826		34.70%		45		0.18%		7,739		30.43%		25,436
	Ozaukee		5,557		58.50%		3,930		41.37%		12		0.13%		1,627		17.13%		9,499
	Pepin		1,141		57.66%		835		42.19%		2		0.10%		306		15.46%		1,979
	Pierce		4,363		60.61%		2,827		39.27%		9		0.13%		1,536		21.34%		7,199
	Polk		3,901		51.84%		3,616		48.05%		8		0.11%		285		3.79%		7,525
	Portage		5,168		40.42%		7,605		59.48%		11		0.09%		-2,437		-19.06%		12,785
	Price		2,692		47.12%		3,002		52.55%		19		0.33%		-310		-5.43%		5,713
	Racine		19,158		45.80%		22,634		54.11%		34		0.08%		-3,476		-8.31%		41,826
	Richland		3,949		60.20%		2,603		39.68%		6		0.09%		1,346		20.52%		6,560
	Rock		16,633		58.27%		11,852		41.52%		60		0.21%		4,781		16.75%		28,545
	Rusk		2,447		49.86%		2,448		49.88%		11		0.22%		-1		-0.02%		4,908
	Sauk		7,065		59.40%		4,816		40.49%		12		0.10%		2,249		18.91%		11,893
	Sawyer		2,078		59.05%		1,439		40.89%		2		0.06%		639		18.16%		3,519
	Shawano		6,566		64.32%		3,634		35.60%		8		0.08%		2,932		28.72%		10,208
	Sheboygan		18,512		55.28%		14,821		44.26%		153		0.46%		3,691		11.02%		33,486
	St. Croix		4,700		53.10%		4,148		46.86%		4		0.05%		552		6.24%		8,852
	Taylor		2,399		46.83%		2,713		52.96%		11		0.21%		-314		-6.13%		5,123
	Trempealeau		3,680		47.30%		4,095		52.63%		5		0.06%		-415		-5.33%		7,780
	Vernon		4,099		48.57%		4,337		51.39%		3		0.04%		-238		-2.82%		8,439
	Vilas		2,564		63.70%		1,457		36.20%		4		0.10%		1,107		27.50%		4,025
	Walworth		9,622		68.86%		4,339		31.05%		13		0.09%		5,283		37.81%		13,974
	Washburn		1,948		52.39%		1,768		47.55%		2		0.05%		180		4.84%		3,718
	Washington		6,924		64.54%		3,804		35.46%		0		0.00%		3,120		29.08%		10,728
	Waukesha		20,358		57.53%		15,001		42.39%		26		0.07%		5,357		15.14%		35,386
	Waupaca		8,185		71.44%		3,266		28.51%		5		0.04%		4,919		42.93%		11,457
	Waushara		3,386		72.03%		1,305		27.76%		10		0.21%		2,081		44.27%		4,701
	Winnebago		18,428		62.21%		11,170		37.71%		26		0.09%		7,258		24.50%		29,624
	Wood		8,522		55.16%		6,899		44.66%		28		0.18%		1,623		10.51%		15,449
Total	596,158	51.45%	560,747	48.40%	1,722	0.15%	35,411	3.06%	1,158,666

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Ashland
• Bayfield
• Chippewa
• Dane
• Douglas
• Eau Claire
• Florence
• Forest
• Jackson
• Kenosha
• Langlade
• Manitowoc
• Marathon
• Portage
• Price
• Racine
• Rusk
• Taylor
• Trempealeau
• Vernon

Bibliography

• Book: Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997 . Washington, D.C. . Congressional Quarterly Inc. . 1998 . 1-56802-396-0 . .
• Book: Toepel . M. J. . Kuehn . Hazel L. . 1956 . The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1956 . State of Wisconsin . .

Notes and References

1. Book: . Voting Information . https://books.google.com/books?id=P4Hfc5MP_QQC&lpg=RA1-PP3&pg=RA1-PA99 . Washington, D.C. . Prepared by Office of Armed Forces Information & Education, Department of Defense . Table IV. 1954 Elections . 99–101 . April 1954 . 8 November 2020 .
2. News: . Doyle funeral Saturday . Wausau Daily Herald . Wausau, Wisconsin . 2 April 1987 . 20 . 8 November 2020 .