Loudenbeck concedes defeat in tight Secretary of State race following canvassing of votes

MADISON, Wis. — Incumbent Democrat Doug La Follette will remain Wisconsin’s Secretary of State after a canvass of votes cast in the Nov. 8 election confirmed his victory, according to his challenger.

Republican Amy Loudenbeck issued a statement Monday afternoon conceding the race, saying the canvass showed La Follette as the winner.

“Obviously, the general election did not turn out the way we hoped it would,” Loudenbeck said in her statement. “The feeling of disappointment is real, but so is the gratitude I have for the thousands of Wisconsinites who supported me in this campaign for Secretary of State. I have no regrets on how we ran our campaign or how hard we worked.”

The race was so close that it was considered too close to call, even with nearly all of the votes reported. Results reported by the Associated Press showed a margin of a little more than 7,500 votes in the statewide race, with more than 2.5 million ballots cast and La Follette holding a 0.3% lead.

La Follette declared victory in the race last week, although the results of the canvass had not yet been finalized.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission published the unofficial statewide canvass results on its website Monday afternoon. You can find them here and embedded below.

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Loudenbeck had campaigned on pushing for changes to “resurrect” the office that has seen most of its powers stripped away by the legislature during La Follette’s tenure, which dates back to 1983.

Republicans, including Loudenbeck, had floated the idea of putting the Secretary of State in charge of the state’s elections or break ties in votes by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Those changes are unlikely to occur now that La Follette has won the race.

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