Aug. 13, 2026
By Erik Gunn
Redistricting that has made many Wisconsin Assembly and Senate districts more competitive, combined with an unusually large number of retirements at the end of the current legislative session, set the stage for what may be the largest number of primary contests in recent history for seats in the Legislature in both the Republican and Democratic parties.
In what might be the only genuine upset, Milwaukee state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez lost her seat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race, the ultimate outcome of the conflict between the Assembly’s Democratic caucus and Ortiz-Velez.
Other internal primary challenges of incumbents in both the Democratic and Republican caucuses fell short.
Wisconsin Senate
SD 1: Republican state Sen. Andre Jacque is retiring from the district, which includes Door and Kewaunee counties. In the four-way Republican primary race to succeed Jacque, Nic Cravillion of New Franken won with 40% of the vote, outpacing the second-place finisher by 15 percentage points. Cravillion worked as the district director for Jacque for the last five years.
No Democrats are running for the seat in the red-leaning district. Mark Becker, a small business owner and former chair of the Brown County Republican Party who parted ways with the GOP after President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, will be on the November ballot as an independent.
SD 11: With Republican incumbent Sen. Steve Nass retiring at the end of this term from the district, which is centered on Walworth County and includes portions of adjacent counties, both Democrats and Republicans held primary elections to select candidates for the open seat.
Republican Ellen Schutt, a former state representative, won the GOP nomination with 44% of the vote against 36% for Sandy Wiedmeyer, Kenosha County Republican Party chair and a Moms for Liberty Activist, and just under 20% for Nick Polce, a U.S. Army veteran.
On the Democratic side, Adam Duda got 58% of the primary vote to defeat Steve Doelder with 41% and win his party’s nomination.
Duda and Schutt will compete in the November general election in the red-leaning district.
SD 17: Boosted by support from the State Senate Democratic Committee, state Rep. Jenna Jacobson won a three-way primary handily with 57% of the vote. Childcare advocate Corrine Hendrickson finished with almost 27% and small business owner Lisa White had 16%.
Jacobson will run against Republican Howard Marklein in November, whose nomination was uncontested. Marklein won reelection with 60% of the vote in 2022, but revised maps have made the district more competitive in partisan terms.
SD 23: Republican Sen. Romaine Quinn, who currently represents SD 25, is running for reelection to the Senate under new maps in the red-leaning SD 23, where the current incumbent, Republican Sen. Jesse James, is retiring at the end of this term. Quinn did not have a primary opponent Tuesday.
In the Democratic primary to challenge Quinn in November, Jeff Foster, a former social worker and dairy farmer, won with 68% of the vote, while Richard Pulcher received 32%.
SD 25: Located in far Northwest Wisconsin, the district includes Superior as well as Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Polk, Sawyer and Washburn counties. The district was represented by former Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, a Democrat, from 2015 through 2022. Bewley decided to forgo reelection in 2022 after the maps were redrawn to the advantage of Republicans.
The district was further redrawn in the new maps adopted in 2024 by an order of the state Supreme Court. Republican Sen. Romaine Quinn currently represents the district, but the 2024 maps put his home in SD 23, and Quinn is running this year in that district instead, resulting in an open seat.
In the SD-25 Republican primary, Erik Severson, a physician and former Assembly member defeated former state Rep. Angie Sapik 54%-46% on Tuesday.
Severson will run in November against Democrat Charly Ray, who had no primary opposition.
On Wednesday, the State Senate Democratic Committee announced it was adding SD-25 to its list of Republican targets to flip in the November election.
The committee also said it was adding SD-29 to the list — currently held by Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Tomczyk. Neither Tomczyk nor the Democratic challenger, retired Dr. Gillian Battino, had a primary opponent Tuesday.
Wisconsin Assembly
AD 8: Following allegations of a violent threat and conflict with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership, state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, left the Democratic caucus last year, although she continued to generally vote with the Assembly Democrats on most bills.
Back in her Milwaukee district, Ismael Luna mounted a primary challenge and got support from unions and the Assembly Democratic leaders. Luna, a women’s homeless shelter case manager and former intern for Sen. Tammy Baldwin, won early Tuesday night with 70% of the vote.
Luna will face Republican Angel Sanchez in the November election in the deep blue district.
AD 9: Milwaukee first-term state Rep. Priscilla Prado easily survived a primary challenge from Milwaukee School Board member Mimi Reza. Prado got 70% of the vote. She will face Republican Samuel Guerro in November.
AD 12: Milwaukee, first-term state Rep. Russell Goodwin overcame a primary challenge, getting 54% of the vote to Jordan Roman’s 46%. Roman, a community consultant, was endorsed by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group FAIR Wisconsin’s PAC after Goodwin broke with Assembly Democrats to vote for a bill barring transgender girls from sports teams matching their gender identity.
Goodwin will have no Republican opposition in the November election.
AD 13: Amy Zimmerman won with 51% Tuesday against David Sanchez, who garnered just under 49% of the vote, in the Democratic primary election for the seat in the western part of Milwaukee County. The seat was vacated by Democratic state Rep. Robyn Vining, who is running for the state Senate. The AP called the race Wednesday afternoon at 1:25 p.m.
In November, Zimmerman will face Republican Mike Morgan, whose nomination was not contested.
AD 19: State Rep. Ryan Clancy got 54% of the vote in the Milwaukee County district, surviving a challenge by small business owner Bridget Maniaci, who finished with 45%. Clancy will face Republican Yasmine B. Outlaw in November.
AD 21: Daniel Bukiewicz, the mayor of Oak Creek and president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council, won the Democratic primary easily with almost 57% of the vote to 43% for David Liners. The district, which represents Oak Creek and a portion of the city of Milwaukee around the Mitchell International Airport, could help determine control of the state Assembly.
The seat is open following the retirement of Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek), who was first elected to the Assembly in 2013.
In November, Bukiewicz will face Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach, who had no primary opposition.
AD 26: John Belanger, a former Sheboygan alderman, won the Republican primary with more than 63% of the vote, far ahead of James Brotz, with 23%, and Tyler Schneekloth, with almost 14%.
Belanger, who is running for the Assembly after having lost his reelection bid to the Sheboygan city council, will challenge first-term state Rep. Joe Sheehan, a Democrat, in November.
AD 33: In the Racine County district represented by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who is retiring this year, Steve Wicklund, an electrical contractor and Union Grove village president, won the Republican primary with 54%, defeating Walworth County Board Chair Rick Stacey, who received 45%.
Maria Bisabarros, the co-owner of a meat processing company, won the Democratic primary with just under 62% of the vote against retired teacher Rick Bailey, who received 38%.
Wicklund and Bisabarros will compete in November for the seat in the Republican-leaning district.
AD 37: Beaver Dam Republican State Rep. Mark Born, the Assembly co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, easily overcame a Republican primary challenge from Steve Rydzewski, who has been organizing against data center construction in Beaver Dam. Born won more than 65% of the primary vote to Rydzewski’s 34%.
Born will face LaToya Bates, co-chair of the Dodge County Democratic Party, in November, in a rematch of the 2024 race Born won with more than 68% of the vote.
AD 50: Bill Oemichen, president of the New Glarus school board, won a three-way primary with 50% of the votes, a lead of almost 20 points over his nearest rival. Josh Mittness received 30% of the vote and Bryna Caves just under 19%, in a race that the AP called late Wednesday morning.
Oemichen will face Republican Jon Aleckson, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, in the November election for the seat, which Democratic state Rep. Jenna Jacobson gave up to run for state Senate in the 17th SD.
AD 56: Hortonville coffee shop owner Grace Abitz won with just under 59% of the vote in the Democratic primary against Shawna Riley, a forklift operator, who finished with 41%.
Abitz will run in November against Anthony Phillips, a doctor and former state Senate candidate, for the seat being vacated with the retirement of Republican Rep. Dave Murphy.
AD 57: The impending retirement of Republican state Rep. Kevin Petersen created an open seat in this central Wisconsin district. Kevin Krentz, a local dairy farmer and former president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, won the Republican four-way primary with more than 55% of the vote.
Bill Lorge, a former Assembly member seeking to return to the Capitol, finished a distant third with just under 10%.
Krentz will run against Joey Marschall, a Waushara County Democrat who had no opposition to his nomination.
AD 58: The retirement of Republican state Rep. Rick Gundrum produced an open seat in this suburban and rural district north of Milwaukee.
Bernie Newman, a landscaper and president of Common Sense Citizens of Washington County, won nearly 60% of the Republican primary vote Tuesday, while Washington County Board supervisor Chris Bossert got 40%.
Newman will face Democrat Dennis Degenhardt of West Bend, a baseball historian and retired credit union executive, in November.
AD 61: The Greendale and Hales Corners district in Milwaukee County is represented by Republican Rep. Bob Donovan, who is running for a third term in November.
Ben Brist, an army veteran endorsed by the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), pulled ahead to win with 44% in a three-way Democratic primary against yoga instructor Lawanda Chambers, who got almost 38%, and pharmacist Brian Bock, who won 18%. The AP called the race for Brist at 1:33 a.m. Wednesday morning.
AD 74: Republican state Rep. Chanz Green, first elected in 2022, easily overcame a primary challenge, winning 63% to just under 37% for Scott Harbridge, a retired law enforcement officer. The election was a rematch between the two Republicans.
In November, Green will face Democrat Paul Johnson, also a retired law enforcement officer as well as a member of the Spooner Area School Board and the Washburn County Board.
AD 76: Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford won a five-way Democratic primary with 29% of the vote, a 2-point margin over the second-place finisher, Juliana Bennet. AP called the race shortly after noon on Wednesday. The district has been represented since 2021 by Democratic state Rep. Francesca Hong, who decided to forgo reelection and run for governor.
If elected, Martinez-Rutherford would be the first openly transgender person to serve in the state Legislature. She won the endorsement of two Madison-area state lawmakers along with Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Madison Common Council President Sabrina Madison.
Martinez-Rutherford will run against Nina Chat in November, whose bid for the Republican candidate nomination was uncontested.
AD 92: Jeremiah Fredrickson, a former teacher and owner of a fish farm, won the Democratic primary against Mel Marin in the Northwest Wisconsin district represented by Republican state Rep. Clint Moses.
Fredrickson will go up against Moses in the November election.
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