Michels is the GOP nominee for governor and Denita Ball will be Milwaukee's first female sheriff

Tim Michels defeats Rebecca Kleefisch and advances to Wisconsin governor's race against Democrat Tony Evers

• Tim Michels emerged from a primary Tuesday with the Republican nomination for governor, defeating Scott Walker's lieutenant governor in a three-month sprint of a campaign during which the pipeline construction executive spent $10 million of his own money and earned the backing of former President Donald Trump. Michels defeated his opponents a day after federal agents raided Trump's Florida resort — an investigation Michels called on his supporters to use as a reason to get to the polls.

• Michels received about 47% of the vote, beating former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and state Rep. Tim Ramthun to face Gov. Tony Evers in November. Michels and Kleefisch were locked in an effectively tied race in the final weeks of their campaigns, with the latest poll showing them within less than one percentage point of each other. Michels now faces Evers — a general election race that will draw tens of millions of spending on behalf of both candidates.

• Despite Kleefisch's more than 12-year political history and endorsements from key groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Tavern League of Wisconsin and law enforcement advocates, prominent Republicans like former Vice President Mike Pence and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Kleefisch had a hard time connecting with anti-establishment Republicans that have secured the party's base. She also didn’t secure her party’s endorsement in May, receiving 55% of delegates' votes at the party convention, just shy of the 60% threshold required under party rules to receive an endorsement.

Denita Ball was elected Milwaukee County's next sheriff, the first woman to take the top spot at the agency

• With 56% of the vote, Ball beat out Inspector Brian Barkow and Capt. Thomas Beal. All three rain as Democrats. With no Republicans on the ballot Tuesday night's primary determines the election.

• Her win comes less than a week after the current administration under Sheriff Earnell Lucas and Ball received a no-confidence vote from the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff's Association.

• Ball, a retired deputy inspector with the Milwaukee Police Department, had been appointed by Lucas as chief deputy in 2018 and was also a finalist for Milwaukee police chief in 2007, is the highest-ranking woman in the history of the sheriff's department.

More key results:

• Mandela Barnes won the Wisconsin Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and will face Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in November. Most of Barnes' top opponents dropped out in recent weeks but remained on the ballot.

• Assembly Speaker Robin Vos won a close race after Trump and Michael Gableman, who Vos appointed to investigate the 2020 election, endorsed his opponent. In his remarks last night Vos called Gableman an embarrassment to Wisconsin and said his caucus will be meeting soon to determine if the probe, which has found no signs of fraud, would continue.

A site on Milwaukee's northwest side would replace Lincoln Hills under a plan from Gov. Tony Evers

• Evers said it would be located at 7930 W. Clinton Ave., a light industrial area in a district without a Common Council representative. Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office as part of a plea deal related to misconduct in office last month. "The city of Milwaukee recognizes the incredible importance of not allowing delays in this project and the end goal of bringing kids closer to home," Common Council President José Pérez said in a news release.

• Lawmakers have long struggled to close the problem-plagued youth prison, located on a joint campus 30 miles north of Wausau. It houses young people with the highest needs who have committed serious crimes or are repeat offenders. "Today's important announcement means we are one major step closer to getting kids out of these facilities, and we are incredibly grateful that the city of Milwaukee recognizes the importance of moving forward to do just that," Evers said in a statement.

• The Common Council is expected to vote on the proposed site at a special meeting Friday. The site, which would be run by the state, must have the city's support to move forward under a state law that approved $42 million for the new facility.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michels wins GOP nom, Denita Ball is Milwaukee's first female sheriff