Update: Ellen Schutt beats Brienne Brown in Wisconsin Assembly District 31

With 44% of precincts reporting late Tuesday, Schutt led Brown 60% to 39%. By 8:45 a.m. Wednesday, with 69% of votes counted, Schutt's lead was 59% to 40% for Brown. 

“I feel good,” Schutt told The Gazette late Tuesday. “Right now, I just want to continue to thank my supporters and my family and friends. I want to wait until all the votes are in until I make a full statement.”

“I am grateful to the voters of the 31st Assembly District for putting their trust in me to be their next state representative," Schutt added

Wednesday. "I look forward to being a voice for our area in Madison and working to restore the economy, improve education, and keep our communities safe.”

In the end, with 99% of votes counted, Schutt took 59.2% to 40.8% for Brown. 

Brown conceded the loss Wednesday, saying she “went into the race knowing it was heavily gerrymandered in Republican favor."

"One of the reasons I said 'yes' to this campaign was to mobilize people to vote up-ticket to make sure Gov. Evers got back in place and to get a lot of votes for people higher-up on the ticket. I did my job – we still have Gov. Evers and prevented a Republican supermajority – so I am pretty happy about that.”

Asked if voters can expect to see her on the ballot again, Brown responded, that she is “already on Whitewater city council, so I suspect yes.'

"We had a great campaign. Many people volunteered for it who had never done anything for democracy before, and through this process they came to understand democracy lot more fully, and now some want to run for something in the future themselves, or want to help me run again," Brown continued.

"We did a great job creating a coalition of people not taking democracy for granted anymore. I believe I have a lot of great ideas suited for being in positions of leadership and community organizing."