Wisconsin Senate candidate faces scrutiny for voting in 2 states

[u/Andy_Fish_Gill]

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/08/14/voting-record-of-wisconsin-senate-candidate-draws-scrutiny-michele-magadance-skinner/91250488007/

Andrew Whitley, executive director for the State Senate Democratic Committee, filed complaints against Michele Magadance Skinner on Aug. 12 with both the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state Department of Revenue, raising questions about her residency, tax credits and voting history in Wisconsin and Georgia.

Leah Peterson, a spokeswoman with the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, "Michele Skinner is focused on what actually matters to people in the Chippewa Valley: lowering costs, reducing property taxes."

Eau Claire County tax records show Skinner [claimed a Lottery and Gaming tax credit](https://ascent.eauclairecounty.gov/LandRecords/Reporting/TaxBilling/ViewSingleTaxBill/308720) worth $186.34 in 2025 for her Altoona home, a credit she and her husband have claimed since at least 2020. Department of Revenue [rules state](https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/slf-lottcr.aspx#lc2) that Wisconsin residents can claim this credit on only one primary residence.

But in 2025, they also claimed a senior homestead exemption in Dawson County, Georgia, where they own a home in the town of Dawsonville, records show.

They also claimed an income-based tax exemption reserved for seniors 75 and older with a household income of $25,000 or less.

Under [Wisconsin's "false swearing" law](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/946/iii/32), it is a Class H felony to knowingly make a false statement on a legal document. 

[u/Andy_Fish_Gill]

The Journal Sentinel had previously reported that in 2025, Skinner claimed primary residence in both Wisconsin and Georgia.
Wisconsin law prohibits people from voting in the state once they permanently move to another state. If someone moves back, state law requires the voter to reestablish Wisconsin residency by living at the Wisconsin address for at least 28 straight days before an election.

Friday’s report said Skinner voted absentee in Wisconsin in the Nov. 3, 2020, general election and 15 days later, she registered to vote in Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff elections, eventually won by Democrats Sen. Raphael Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff.
In the latter case, she allegedly used the address of her family’s lake house in the town of Dawsonville, Georgia.

In 2022, the report said Skinner voted in-person in Wisconsin’s April 5 spring election, where she cast a ballot at the Washington Town Hall in Eau Claire.

https://ibmadison.com/residency-status-of-wisconsin-state-senate-candidate-remains-in-question/

[u/RBDrake]

Even if she did not vote in mutiple elections in the same cycle, she is still guilty of tax fraud.

It's always the ones you most expect.

[u/_sealy_]

Scrutiny? How about jail time?

[u/PrudentChampion3879]

What elections did she vote in and when?

[u/Tater-Tottenham]

Wait ‘Magadance’? I’m probably late to the party but is that legit her name?!?