Turnout in Wisconsin primary was about 18% - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

LA CROSSE, Wisconsin (WXOW) - Fewer than one in five eligible voters in Wisconsin voted in the recent primary election. Local results were about the same.

The state Government Accountability Board had predicted turnout of 20%. The actual turnout was about 18%.

Numbers posted on the La Crosse County Clerk's website for the election show turnout in the county was 17.6%.  

The main contested race was the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, won by Tommy Thompson. About 582,000 votes were cast in that four-way race.

Democratic candidate Tammy Baldwin ran unopposed. She got about 186,000 votes.

Turnout had been high in recent elections. Nearly 58% of voting-age adults turned out for the historic recall election in June.

However, the recalls, along with all the campaigning that preceded them, may have led to voter fatigue. The voters who cast ballots in the Aug. 14 primary represented 18% of the state's 4.35 million eligible voters.