Wisconsin Democrats filed a lawsuit seeking to strip Republican Michele Magadance Skinner off the ballot in the state's 31st Senate District, arguing she is actually a Georgia resident who does not meet the constitutional requirements to hold office in Wisconsin. The suit, filed by the State Senate Democratic Committee, asks a judge to direct the Wisconsin Elections Commission not to certify Skinner for the November 2026 general election and to bar her from running against Democratic incumbent Jeff Smith before the commission's August 25 certification deadline.
The case, first reported by Urban Milwaukee, centers on the Wisconsin Constitution's requirement that legislators be qualified electors who have lived in the state for at least one year. Democrats claim Skinner and her husband improperly received property tax credits and exemptions in two states — Skinner took a Wisconsin lottery tax credit in 2025, while her husband, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and disabled combat veteran, claimed a Georgia homestead property exemption for the same tax year. Their Eau Claire home was listed as a primary residence in 2025, and so was their home in Dawsonville, Georgia, according to the lawsuit.
How the Vacancy Opened Up
Skinner announced her campaign for the 31st Senate District in June, stepping into a race that only became open because of an earlier Republican scandal. Sen. Jesse James, who had initially been on the ballot for the seat, announced his retirement from the Legislature on April 14 after reporting that his daughter stole around $32,000 from his campaign. Skinner faces Smith, the Democratic state senator from Brunswick, who has represented the area in the Legislature since winning election to the Senate in 2018 after four earlier years in the state Assembly, according to background compiled by CNalysis.
The 31st District's competitiveness is no accident. New legislative maps signed by Gov. Tony Evers in February 2024 redrew western Wisconsin into three competitive districts around Eau Claire County, turning what had been a safe Republican seat into a lean-Democratic swing district, per Civic Media. Wisconsin's 31st Senate District is now one of just four swing seats in the chamber heading into the November 2026 election, with Republicans clinging to an 18-15 majority in the 33-seat Senate — meaning a net shift of only two seats could flip control to Democrats.
Skinner Pushes Back on 'False Narrative'
Skinner has firmly denied wrongdoing. In an August 8 statement, she called Democrats' residency claims a false narrative and denied improperly claiming tax benefits in more than one state, accusing Smith of trying to win the election with insinuations instead of facts. She said she is a Wisconsin resident who was born and raised in Eau Claire and wants to be western Wisconsin's voice in the state Senate, while acknowledging that her marriage circumstances caused confusion about residency, since she splits her time between her home near Eau Claire and the home in Dawsonville, Georgia, that her husband maintains as a Georgia resident.
Skinner also said she asked an independent certified public accountant to review her and her husband's tax records, and that the accountant found nothing illegal in them. She currently serves on both the Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors and the Lake Altoona Rehabilitation and Protection District. Notably, the Wisconsin Elections Commission previously dismissed a complaint against Skinner, though the Democratic Senate committee's new lawsuit separately asks a judge to remove her from the Eau Claire County Board as well.
Legal Standard at the Center of the Fight
The dispute turns on competing legal definitions. Under Wisconsin Statute § 6.10, a person's legal residence is the place where their habitation is fixed with no present intent to move away and to which they intend to return whenever absent, according to the Wisconsin Legislature. Meanwhile, Georgia law treats a married couple as a single family unit legally entitled to only one primary residence homestead exemption between them across any state, per an explanation of Georgia Code § 48-5-40 from Georgia Legal Aid. The lawsuit argues that Georgia law prohibits married couples from claiming multiple homestead exemptions even when homes are listed under each spouse's name.
Wisconsin Senate Democratic Leader Dianne Hesselbein has warned that if Skinner does not withdraw from the race and repay any improperly received tax credits, Democratic leaders will pursue legal action for repayment to taxpayers, according to Wisconsin Public Radio. The State Senate Democratic Committee filed its ballot challenge suit shortly after that warning.
Money and a Second Loss on Skinner's Record
Financial disclosures have added fuel to the dispute. An analysis of Skinner's July 2026 campaign finance report found that only $500 of her $120,000 in total contributions — less than 1 percent — came from donors within the 31st Senate District, while $100,000 was transferred from the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, according to the same Urban Milwaukee reporting cited above. Smith, by contrast, raised $163,000 in the first half of 2026.
This is not Skinner's first run at state office. Before launching her Senate campaign, she was elected to the Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors in April 2024 and ran unsuccessfully for Wisconsin Assembly District 91 that November, losing to Democratic incumbent Jodi Emerson by roughly 3 percentage points, according to Ballotpedia. With the Wisconsin Elections Commission required to certify a list of candidates for local clerks ahead of the November election by August 25, a judge's ruling in the coming days could determine whether Skinner remains on the ballot at all or whether Smith heads into the fall facing no Republican opponent from her campaign.
