Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Wisconsin

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Wisconsin performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Wisconsin Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Wisconsin had Democratic governors in office for eight years while there were Republican governors in office for 14 years, including the last three. Wisconsin was under Republican trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Wisconsin Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Wisconsin State Senate for 11 years while the Republicans were the majority for 11 years. The final three years of the study depicted a shift in the Wisconsin senate with all three years being Republican trifectas.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Wisconsin House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Wisconsin State House of Representatives for 5 years while the Republicans were the majority for 17 years. The final three years of the study depicted a shift in the Wisconsin House with all three years being Republican trifectas.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Senate and the Wisconsin House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were nine partisan control changes in Wisconsin during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Wisconsin higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Wisconsin’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 16.24, which puts it at 13 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Wisconsin had the highest ranking were 1992, 1995, and 1998, in which it ranked 7th.
• The year that Wisconsin had the lowest ranking was 2007, in which it ranked 30th.
• The index type that Wisconsin had the highest ranking in was Unfunded Pension Liabilities Per Capita, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Wisconsin had the lowest ranking in was Forbes’ Best States and S&P Credit Rating, in which it ranked 44th.

Wisconsin SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18	16	21
America's Health Rankings	6	12	17	10	9	11	9	10	11	16	14	17	11	15	11	11	17	12	18	12	16
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	29	26	27	27	22	29	22	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	26	29	33	43	42	41	24	20
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	33	37	26	29	25	17
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	39	44	43	48	43	40	42
Govt. Employment Share Population	16	16	16	19	18	18	19	19	20	21	21	20	22	21	20	19	21	18	19	19	19
Graduation Rate	8	7	10	9	10	9	9	8	8	9	9	7	5	3	3	4	2	1	2	1	1
Personal Income Per Capita	23	22	22	23	24	23	19	19	20	19	19	20	22	22	23	26	28	25	26	27	26
Poverty Rate	13	22	7	5	7	1	4	13	18	8	6	14	32	15	17	26	10	11	5	18	N/A
Real GDP per capita	27	23	24	26	25	25	27	25	25	24	27	25	27	27	27	29	30	29	29	29	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	36	36	36	40	41	43	24	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	23	25	24	24	25	28	28	29	34	31	32	30	32	30	33	30	32	30	34	33	N/A
State & local tax burden	48	49	48	49	49	48	48	47	49	46	46	45	46	45	44	45	46	47	46	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	41
Unemployment Rate	9	7	7	6	5	10	10	11	17	22	22	23	24	23	31	36	19	30	24	19	19
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	2	2	1	N/A
Voter Turnout	3	26	26	14	14	11	11	3	3	17	17	2	2	6	6	2	2	7	7	2	2
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	28	26	22	22	20

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Wisconsin state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the course of the study, Wisconsin experienced both Democratic and Republican trifectas as well as divided governments. The state's SQLI rankings were higher earlier in the study, with its highest ranking, finishing 7th, occurring in 1992, 1995 and 1998 during both Republican trifectas and a divided government. Its lowest ranking, finishing 30th, occurred in 2007 during a divided government. The state's rankings began to improve during the most recent years of the study, finishing 13th in 2012 during a Republican trifecta.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 21.00
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: 10.00
• SQLI average with divided government: 17.27

Chart displaying the partisanship of the Wisconsin government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin State Senate
• Wisconsin House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs