May 8, 2023 | MacIver News Service
Wisconsin Republicans just handed Gov. Evers three more county district attorney offices for him to fill with Democrat appointees.
On Monday, Gov. Evers announced he is accepting applications for Grant, Oneida, and Vernon County district attorney. All three counties had elected Republicans in 2020. All three of those DAs resigned after winning their circuit court judge elections last month. This is part of a large and troubling trend.
In the 2020 general election, Wisconsin voters elected 41 Republican DAs and 23 Democrat DAs. Since then, 13 Republican DAs have stepped down (mostly for career reasons). The governor gets to fill those vacancies. And so, now there are only 30 Republican DAs. After Evers makes his appointments, there will likely be 37 Democrat DAs.
District Attorney races heavily favor incumbents, who usually run unopposed. Only 4 Democrat DAs have stepped down since Evers became governor.