Tuesday, November 8, 2011
9:16 PM
Billings wins 95th AD primary
With all but two precincts reporting, Democrat Jill Billings has defeated Republican David Drewes in a lopsided victory.
Billings, a vice chair of the La Crosse County Board, took just under 72 percent of the vote while Drewes, a local government watchdog, only took 27 percent of the vote.
Billings will fill the seat vacated by Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse.
Drewes, who was a long-shot to win the seat, said he didn't have the time or the money to compete with Billings. Campaign finance reports showed the Billings outraised Drewes by more than a 4-1 margin.
"That’s always the joke," Drewes said. "The Republicans are always supposed to have all the money and the Democrats are the poorer, but that was obviously not the case here."
While Drewes says he'll continue to stay involved in local government issues as a watchdog, it would be "not very likely" that he'd run for another elected office.
Billings didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.
UPDATE: The final numbers with all 19 precincts in are 5,938 votes, or 72.1 percent for Billings, to 2,247, or 27.3 percent for Drewes.
-- By Jason Smathers
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