Rebecca Kleefisch

Rebecca Kleefisch

Republican Party

Prior offices

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

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Elections and appointments

Last election

August 9, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Personal

Religion

Christian

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

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Rebecca Kleefisch (Republican Party) was the Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. She assumed office on January 3, 2011. She left office in 2019.

Kleefisch (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Wisconsin. She lost in the Republican primary on August 9, 2022.

She ran on a joint ticket with the former governor, Scott Walker (R). Kleefisch was first elected in 2010.

Kleefisch and Walker won separate recall elections on June 5, 2012, that recall supporters placed on the ballot in response to Kleefisch and Walker's support for Wisconsin Act 10.

Biography

Kleefisch was born in Michigan to David and Marijo Reed. Kleefisch also grew up in Northwest Ohio before moving to Wisconsin. Rebecca's father, David, was the vice president of marketing for the Butler Corporation, which made envelopes, while her mother, Marijo, was an interior designer.

Kleefisch attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communication in 1997. After graduating from college, Rebecca began her journalism career as a reporter for WIFR-TV in Rockford, Illinois. Kleefisch continued her career as a reporter for WISN-TV in Milwaukee.

Kleefisch left WISN-TV in 2004 after giving birth to her first child. She later formed her own marketing company before briefly returning to journalism in 2009 as a correspondent for WTMJ radio in Milwaukee.

In 2010, Kleefisch announced her run for lieutenant governor.

Education

• B.A., journalism, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Political career

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin (2011-2019)

Kleefisch began serving as lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 2011. She survived a recall election on June 5, 2012. Kleefisch was the first lieutenant governor in U.S. history to face a recall.

Elections

2022

See also: Wisconsin gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Wisconsin

Incumbent Tony Evers defeated Tim Michels, Joan Ellis Beglinger (Unofficially withdrew), and Seth Haskin in the general election for Governor of Wisconsin on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Evers (D)	51.1	1,358,774
		Tim Michels (R)	47.8	1,268,535
		Joan Ellis Beglinger (Independent) (Unofficially withdrew)	1.0	27,198
		Seth Haskin (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	104
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	1,879

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,656,490
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jess Hisel (Free Party)
• Chris Donahue (Independent / L)
• Levi Borntreger (Independent)
• Ryan Patrick Sweeney (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin

Incumbent Tony Evers advanced from the Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Evers	99.8	491,656
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	975

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 492,631
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Yousef Sameer Zahran (D)
• Job Edmond Hou-Seye (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin

Tim Michels defeated Rebecca Kleefisch, Timothy Ramthun, Kevin Nicholson (Unofficially withdrew), and Adam Fischer in the Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tim Michels	47.1	326,969
		Rebecca Kleefisch	42.0	291,384
		Timothy Ramthun	6.0	41,639
		Kevin Nicholson (Unofficially withdrew)	3.6	24,884
		Adam Fischer	1.2	8,139
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	504

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 693,519
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Leonard Larson Jr. (R)
• John Macco (R)
• Robert Meyer (R)
• Jonathan Wichmann (R)
• James Kellen (R)

2018

See also: Wisconsin gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

General election for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes defeated incumbent Rebecca Kleefisch, Patrick Baird, Wil Losch, and Tiffany Anderson in the general election for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mandela Barnes (D)	49.6	1,324,307
		Rebecca Kleefisch (R)	48.5	1,295,080
		Patrick Baird (L)	0.8	20,225
		Wil Losch (Independent)	0.7	18,884
		Tiffany Anderson (G)	0.4	11,087
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	980

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,670,563
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Mandela Barnes defeated Kurt Kober in the Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Mandela Barnes	68.0	326,855
		Kurt Kober	32.0	153,994

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 480,849
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Corban Gehler (D)
• William Davis III (D)
• Robert Louis Slamka (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Incumbent Rebecca Kleefisch advanced from the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Rebecca Kleefisch	100.0	407,420

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 407,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Green primary election

Green primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Tiffany Anderson advanced from the Green primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tiffany Anderson	100.0	793

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 793
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian primary election

Libertarian primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Patrick Baird advanced from the Libertarian primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Patrick Baird	100.0	1,636

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,636
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2014

See also: Wisconsin Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

Kleefisch ran for re-election as Wisconsin lieutenant governor in 2014. Kleefisch won the Republican nomination without opposition in the primary on August 12. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Results

General election

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker/Rebecca Kleefisch Incumbent	52.3%	1,259,706
	Democrat	Mary Burke/John Lehman	46.6%	1,122,913
	Libertarian	Robert Burke/Joseph Brost	0.8%	18,720
	Independent	Dennis Fehr	0.3%	7,530
	Nonpartisan	Scattering	0.1%	1,248
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	200
Total Votes				2,410,317
Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

2012

See also: Rebecca Kleefisch recall, Wisconsin (2012)

Kleefisch defeated Mahlon Mitchell (D) in a recall election on June 5, 2012. She was unopposed in the primary on May 8.

Recall of Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Rebecca Kleefisch Incumbent	52.9%	1,301,739
	Democratic	Mahlon Mitchell	47%	1,156,520
	Scattering	-	0.1%	3,077
Total Votes				2,461,336
Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

An effort to recall Kleefisch was launched on November 15, 2011. Supporters turned in approximately 845,000 signatures on January 17, 2012, and on March 30, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board unanimously certified about 809,000 of them.

Endorsements

• Tea Party Express

2010

See also: Wisconsin lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010 and Lieutenant Governor elections, 2010

Kleefisch defeated four other candidates in the September 14 primary. She faced Tom Nelson (D) and Terry Virgil (L) in the general election on November 2, 2010. Kleefisch ran on the same ticket with Scott Walker and won the election.

Wisconsin Governor/Lt. Governor, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker/Rebecca Kleefisch	52.2%	1,128,941
	Democratic	Tom Barrett/Tom Nelson	46.5%	1,004,303
	Independent	Jim Langer/No candidate	0.5%	10,608
	Libertarian	No candidate/Terry Virgil	0.3%	6,790
	Common Sense	James James/No candidate	0.4%	8,273
	Independent	Leslie Ervin Smetak/David Myron Smetak	0%	19
	Independent	Patricia Messici/No candidate	0%	22
	Independent	Hari Trivedi/No candidate	0%	18
	-	Scattering	0.1%	1,858
Total Votes				2,160,832
Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Rebecca Kleefisch did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign contributions

2010–2014

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. See the table below for more information about the campaign donors who supported Renecca Kleefisch. Click [show] for more information.

Renecca Kleefisch Campaign Contributions
	2014 Lt. Governor of Wisconsin		2010 Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
Total raised	$33,828,934		$386,282
Total raised by opponents	$17,420,998 (D)		$6,141,017 (Dem)
Top 5 contributors	Wisconsin Republican Party	$2,322,288	Wisconsin Realtors Association	$12,939
	Granite Lists LLC	$112,821	Citizens for Kedzie	$12,500
	Operating Engineers Local 139	$43,128	Tavern League of Wisconsin	$12,500
	Right Direction Wisconsin	$43,128	Wisconsin Builders Association	$10,500
	BNSF Railway	$30,000	Judith M Couri	$10,000
Individuals	$30,258,017		$286,918
Institutions	$3,195,085 ($375,832 other)		$71,255
In-state donations	$17,605,712		$364,740
Out-of-state donations	$16,104,014 ($119,208 unknown)		$17,757

2012

Kleefisch won re-election to the position of Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin in 2012. During that election cycle, Kleefisch raised a total of $1,191,699.

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin 2012 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Rebecca Kleefisch's campaign in 2012
Friends of Scott Walker	$49,365
Wisconsin Republican Party	$26,057
Jere C. Fabick	$25,000
Daniel F. McKeithan	$12,500
Kathryn M. Burke	$10,000
Total Raised in 2012	$1,191,699
Source:Follow the Money

2016 Republican National Convention

See also: Republican National Convention, 2016

Kleefisch was an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Wisconsin. Kleefisch was one of 36 delegates from Wisconsin bound by state party rules to support Ted Cruz at the convention. Cruz suspended his campaign on May 3, 2016. At the time, he had approximately 546 bound delegates. For more on what happened to his delegates, see this page.

Delegate rules

See also: RNC delegate guidelines from Wisconsin, 2016 and Republican delegates from Wisconsin, 2016

At-large delegates from Wisconsin to the Republican National Convention were selected by a committee formed by the candidate who received a plurality of the statewide vote in the state presidential primary election and ratified by the State Executive Committee. For district-level delegates, the district chairman of each district compiled a list of delegates from which the presidential candidate who won a plurality of the vote in that district selected three delegates. Delegates from Wisconsin were bound to a candidate on all ballots at the convention unless the candidate released them or failed to receive one-third of the vote on a ballot.

Wisconsin primary results

See also: Presidential election in Wisconsin, 2016

Wisconsin Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Delegates
Ted Cruz	48.2%	531,129	36
Donald Trump	35.1%	386,290	6
John Kasich	14.1%	155,200	0
Jeb Bush	0.3%	3,156	0
Ben Carson	0.5%	5,608	0
Chris Christie	0.1%	1,310	0
Carly Fiorina	0.1%	825	0
Jim Gilmore	0%	242	0
Mike Huckabee	0.1%	1,428	0
Rand Paul	0.2%	2,491	0
Marco Rubio	1%	10,569	0
Rick Santorum	0%	510	0
Other	0.2%	2,288	0
Totals		1,101,046	42
Source: The New York Times and Wisconsin Vote

Delegate allocation

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

Wisconsin had 42 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 24 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's eight congressional districts). District delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis; the candidate who won a plurality of the vote in a congressional district received all of that district's delegates.

Of the remaining 18 delegates, 15 served at large. Wisconsin's at-large delegates were allocated on a winner-take-all basis. The candidate who won a plurality of the statewide vote received all of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Noteworthy events

Tested positive for coronavirus on September 17, 2021

See also: Politicians, candidates, and government officials diagnosed with or quarantined due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Coronavirus pandemic
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On September 17, 2021, Kleefisch tested positive for COVID-19.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
When she served in the state government, Kleefisch was married to Joel Kleefisch, who was elected as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2004. They resided in Oconomowoc.

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Barbara Lawton (D)	Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin 2011-2019	Succeeded by Mandela Barnes (D)