*Lawton was first elected Lieutentant Governor in 2002.

*Lieutenant Governor Lawton first ran for state office in 1996 when she unsuccessfully challenged the Republican incumbent in the 30th Senate District. In 1998 she ran for lieutenant governor as part of Ed Garvey’s Democratic gubernatorial campaign.

*Lawton was a late entry in the 2002 Democratic primary declaring her candidacy on June 2, 2002 after two earlier registered hopefuls had pulled out leaving only one Democratic Lt. Governor candidate, Kevin Shibilski, then the incumbent senator from the 24th Senate District. Although he had better financial backing and an earlier start, she outpolled him winning 54.1% of the vote.

*Although Lawton raised nearly $207,000 more than she spent on her own campaign, she transferred $190,000 to the committee of her running mate, Jim Doyle, before the election. Conversely, the incumbent lieutenant governor, Republican Margaret Farrow, transferred $331,250 to the campaign committee of her running mate, then-governor Scott McCallum.

*Human Rights League ($9), Northern WI Building Trades Local 1050 ($13) and Planned Parentood Advocates of Wisconsin ($1,351) made independent expenditures favoring Lawton. Her opponent in the Democratic primary was the recipient of independent expenditures by the Wisconsin SEIU Joint Council #4 ($607). Although she had no primary opposition and never directly opposed Barbara Lawton in the general election, the Republican incumbent received independent backing from the Milwaukee Police Association ($428).