by Garrett FriskIn 2023, Wisconsin was the site of a hotly-contested Supreme Court race which culminated in the victory of liberal justice Janet Protasiewicz, flipping the court to a 4-3 liberal majority. The new court is expected to rule on numerous issues, including abortion rights. One issue that it is almost certain to tackle is the question of the state's electoral maps. Wisconsin is notoriously gerrymandered, and prominent liberal attorney Jeffrey Mandell pledged to file a lawsuit challenging the state's legislative and congressional maps the day after Protasiewicz is defeated. That challenge is likely to succeed; during her campaign, Protasiewicz called Wisconsin's maps "rigged" and "unfair." Thus, it is highly likely that Wisconsin's congressional map will be redrawn before 2024—but that hasn't stopped three ambitious candidates from throwing their hats in the ring. In the 5th congressional district, Democrat Chris Leon is challenging incumbent Republican Scott Fitzgerald. Leon is a political organizer and works as a supply chain specialist. Fitzgerald was re-elected with 64.4% of the vote in 2022. Leon's campaign website can be found here. In the 6th district, incumbent Republican Glenn Grothman is facing a primary challenge from businessman Jack Brudvig, whose website can be found here. Grothman was re-elected unopposed in 2022. Finally, in the 7th district, Democrat Kyle Kilbourn is in the running against incumbent Republican Tom Tiffany. Tiffany was re-elected with 61.9% of the vote in 2022 and has expressed interest in running for U.S. Senate in 2024. Kilbourn works as a design strategist; his campaign website can be found here. by Garrett FriskThe 2024 U.S. Senate map is brutal for Democrats. Even if they hold the presidency, they can only afford a net loss of 1 seat in the Senate; but not only do they essentially have no offensive targets, they will have to expend considerable effort playing defense. There are three Democratic Senators up for re-election in states that Donald Trump carried in 2020 by 8.03%, 16.37%, and 38.9%, respectively. These extremely vulnerable incumbents will pull resources away from other at-risk Democrats, including Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin. Many Democrats are confident that Baldwin can survive given her impressive double-digit win in 2018, but Republicans are likely to target her, especially after Republican Senator Ron Johnson's successful re-election bid in 2022. Media sources have produced long lists of Republicans who could mount a campaign, but there is already a conservative candidate running against Baldwin, and he isn't a Republican. Phil Anderson is a realtor and Army veteran who previously served as chair of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party. He has waged a series of unsuccessful campaigns for public office as the Libertarian nominee, starting with a 2014 bid for the Wisconsin State Assembly where he polled 18.4% of the vote in a two-way race with Democratic incumbent Robb Kahl. He then ran for U.S. Senate in 2016, which was also his most successful campaign in terms of raw votes; he polled over 87,000 votes, roughly 3% of the total. In 2018, Anderson was the Libertarian nominee for Governor of Wisconsin, and in 2020, Anderson and his son Samuel won the Republican nominations for two State Assembly districts, describing themselves as "libertarians running under the Republican banner." Both men were running in overwhelmingly liberal districts and lost badly. Phil Anderson sat out 2022, but has returned to mount a second bid for U.S. Senate, now back to running as a Libertarian. His campaign website can be found here. |
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