This story was produced as part of theNEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of six news outlets covering northeastern Wisconsin.
The fall elections will feature a heavily contested Republican primary in the 8th Congressional District as well as state legislative races with some candidates looking to represent new districts.
As the deadline to file nomination papers passed on Monday, the November partisan elections took shape.
In the U.S. House race in northeastern Wisconsin, three Republicans are vying to get on the ballot to replace former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay, who resigned in April.
The change in the legislative maps that Gov. Tony Evers signed into law in February has changed some state Senate and Assembly district boundaries, but not the congressional districts.
In addition to presidential, U.S. Senate and House races, all Wisconsin Assembly seats are up for election as well as the even-numbered districts in the state Senate. Some county offices — district attorney, clerk, register of deeds, treasurer — are part of the November partisan elections.
Here is the list of candidates for greater Green Bay. The list will be updated as the Wisconsin Elections Commission verifies valid nomination signatures. The deadline to file nomination papers was 5 p.m. Monday. (i) denotes incumbent.
U.S. HOUSE
8th Congressional District
This race will be on the ballot twice. Once for a special election to fill out Gallagher's term, ending on Jan. 3; the second for a full two-year term ending Jan. 3, 2027.
- Democrat: Kristin Lyerly, Ledgeview
- Republican: Andre Jacque, De Pere; Roger Roth, Appleton; Tony Wied, De Pere
A Republican primary between Jacque, Roth and Wied will be held Aug. 13. The top vote-getter will be on the ballot for the November general election.
WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE
SenateDistrict 2
The 2nd Senate District's boundaries covers Little Chute and a portion of Kaukauna along its southern border and stretches north covering Clintonville, Suamico and Shawano.
- Democrat: Kelly Peterson, Lawrence
- Republican: Eric Wimberger, Green Bay
Wimberger is currently the incumbent in District 30, but is switching to District 2, where the current incumbent, Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Allouez, is retiring.
District 30
The district covers Green Bay and some of its suburbs.
- Democrat: Jamie Wall, Green Bay
- Republican: Jim Rafter, Allouez
The new maps placed three senators — Wimberger, Cowles and Jacque — into District 30. Jacque is running for the 8th Congressional District seat and represents the 1st Senate District, which isn't up for election this year. Cowles is retiring, and Wimberger is running for the 2nd Senate District.
AssemblyDistrict 1
The 1st Assembly District covers Door and Kewaunee counties and a small portion of northeastern Brown County.
Democrat: Renee Paplham, town of Carlton
Republican: Joel Kitchens (i), Sturgeon Bay; Milt Swagel, West Kewaunee
Swagel and Kitchens will meet in a primary on Aug. 13.
Editors note: This story was updated to show Swagel is running as a Republican and will face Kitchens in a primary.
Assembly District 2
The 2nd Assembly District includes Kimberly, parts of Kaukauna, Wrightstown, Ledgeview, Denmark, Two Creeks and Francis Creek.
- Democrat: Alice Saunders, Kimberly
- Republican: Shae Sortwell (i), Two Rivers
Assembly District 4
The 4th Assembly District resembles the old 89th Assembly District, for the most part.
- Democrat: Alexia Unertl, Suamico; Jane Benson, Suamico
- Republican: David Steffen, Howard; Darwin Behnke, Oconto
Unertl and Benson will meet in a Democratic primary on Aug. 13; Steffen and Behnke will also have a primary.
Behnke's son, Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, represented the 89th Assembly District, but was drawn into District 4 with the new maps. However, he plans to run for the 6th Assembly District and move into that district if he wins.
District 5
The 5th Assembly District map now includes Seymour.
- Democrat: Greg Sampson, Little Chute
- Republican: Joy Goeben (i), Hobart
District 6
The 6th Assembly covers municipalities on the western edge of Oconto County and areas in Brown, Menominee, Shawano, Outagamie and Waupaca counties.
- Democrat: Shirley Hinze, Shawano
- Republican: Peter Schmidt (i), Bonduel; Elijah Behnke (i), Oconto
Schmidt and Elijah Behnke will face off in a primary on Aug. 13. Both are incumbents but under the new legislative map, Behnke was drawn out of his current area, District 89.
District 88
The 88th Assembly District includes Green Bay suburbs, losing the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay but gaining De Pere.
- Democrat: Christy Welch, De Pere
- Republican: Benjamin Franklin, De Pere; Phil Collins, De Pere
Potential primary between Franklin and Collins on Aug. 13.
Incumbent Rep. John Macco, R-Ledgeview, represented the 88th but was drawn out of his district under the new maps and will retire from the Assembly at the end of his term.
District 89
The 89th Assembly District includes Ashwaubenon and west Green Bay.
- Democrat: Ryan Spaude, Ashwaubenon
- Republican: Patrick Buckley, Green Bay
Under the new maps, the District 89 legislator, incumbent Rep. Elijah Behnke, was drawn into District 4, but is running for reelection in the 6th District.
District 90
The 90th Assembly District now includes UW-Green Bay.
- Democrat: Amaad Rivera Wagner, Green Bay
- Republican: Jessica Henderson, Green Bay
Incumbent, Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay, is not running for reelection.
COUNTY PARTISAN OFFICES
The following Brown County offices are partisan and part of the November election cycle:
District attorney
Republican: David Lasee (i), De Pere
County clerk
Republican: Patrick Moynihan Jr. (i), Ashwaubenon
Register of deeds
Republican: Cheryl Berken (i), Green Bay
Treasurer
- Democrat: Dana Vaughan, Green Bay
- Republican: Ray Suennen, Howard
Former Treasurer Paul Zeller resigned in December.
Peter Frank is editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. He can be reached at pfrank@gannett.com
This story is part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab's fifth series, covering issues important to voters in the region. The lab is a local news collaboration in northeastern Wisconsin made up of six news organizations: the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Appleton Post-Crescent, FoxValley365, The Press Times, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Journalism Department is an educational partner. Microsoft is providing financial support to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to fund the initiative. The mission of the lab is to “collaborate to identify and fill information gaps to help residents explore ways to improve their communities and lives — and strengthen democracy.”
