Columbia County

Union Leader Joni Anderson is the progressive candidate for the 14th Senate District. Anderson is a strong advocate for labor and favors Medicare for All and the Green New Deal. She has also made non-partisan redistricting and voting rights central to her campaign. Her opponent is current Assembly Rep. Joan Ballweg, who has been endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin, Wisconsin Right to Life, and the NRA. Anderson is the progressive choice.

Abigail Lowery has spent her life in education and healthcare as a special ed. teacher, autism line therapist, respite care provider, group home coordinator, and special education assistant. She is advocating for Medicaid expansion, a minimum wage increase, more rural broadband investment, nonpartisan redistricting, campaign finance reform, a transition to clean energy, and fully funding public schools. She also supports the Black Lives Matter movement and increasing voting accessibility. She is challenging incumbent Republican Representative John Jagler. Lowery is the progressive choice in this race.

Izzy Hassey Nevarez is running for Assembly with an emphasis on local issues and local solutions. He believes that healthcare is a right, that tax dollars should fund public schools, and that medical and recreational marijuana should be legalized. Hassey Nevarez favors Medicaid expansion, fair maps, and a science-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Incumbent Republican Mark Born votes consistently with Republican legislative leaders, including for a health care law that created large loopholes for insurers to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. Hassey Nevarez is the progressive choice.

New London substitute teacher Deb Silvers is running as a moderate Democrat. She supports overturning Act 10, ending voucher programs, moving away from carbon-based fuel, and expanding BadgerCare. Incumbent Kevin Petersen has long been an acolyte of Scott Walker and Robin Vos in the Assembly, supporting Act 10 and eroding Wisconsin's conservation protections. Silvers is the more progressive choice.

Democrat Nate Zimdars is focused on the rural issues that most affect his constituents. As a member of a farming family, Zimdars is focused on supporting the agricultural community as it has contended with changing weather patterns, trade wars, and declining prices. He also prioritizes improving rural infrastructure by improving roads, preserving clean water, and expanding broadband access. Zimdars' third priority is ensuring that everyone has access to affordable healthcare. His opponent, Alex Dallman, is anti-choice and opposed to gun violence prevention legislation. Zimdars is the progressive choice in this race.

Nurse and Army veteran Melisa Arndt is running to unseat incumbent Republican Jon Plumer. Arndt is the Wisconsin chapter leader of Free Mom Hugs, an organization that affirms and supports LGBTQ+ children. She supports affordable healthcare, clean water, and nonpartisan redistricting. Jon Plumer's stated policy positions are ambiguous--indeed, when he first announced his run for the Assembly he forgot to mention that he was a Republican. Although Plumer fails to publicize it, he has served as a consistent conservative vote as a member of the Legisature. Arndt is the progressive choice.

Former dairy goat farmer and special education teacher Dave Considine has been serving in the Assembly since 2014. Considine has a reputation as a pragmatic and bipartisan legislator who favors common-sense, simple legislation. Considine believes in investing public money into public schools and has authored numerous bills on education, conservation, and marijuana decriminalization. Considine is the most progressive choice in this race.