Jefferson County

Melissa Sargent has served as the 48th District Assembly Member for 7 years and is seeking election to the Senate. Sargent's priorities include building more affordable housing, raising the minimum wage, investing in infrastructure and public transit, and protecting natural resources. She is the author of universal background check legislation, minimum wage increase legislation, and more. Her opponent is Scott Barker, a Republican that opposes common sense gun reform laws. Sargent is the progressive choice in this race.

Fort Atkinson City Councilman and small business owner Mason Becker says that he is running to put working families ahead of partisanship and special interests. He supports Medicaid expansion, local control of natural resources, fully funding public schools while holding voucher and charter schools to the same standards as public schools, legalizing marijuana, and eliminating caps on local taxes so that communities can shift the burden away from high property taxes. He faces incumbent Cody Horlacher. According to Horlacher himself, "a vote for Cody Horlacher is a vote for conservative principles." Horlacher is an NRA supporter and has opposed common sense measures to slow the spread of coronavirus. Mason Becker is the more progressive choice in this race.

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.

Democrat Melissa Winker is running to unseat incumbent Republican Barbara Dittrich. Her top issues are affordable healthcare and expanded coverage, education, creating good jobs, gun violence prevention, and clean water. On these issues, her proposed policies are Medicaid expansion, mental health funding, preventing unfair billing practices, lowering the costs of prescription drugs, reducing student loan debt, investing in worker training, and universal background checks. Dittrich favors keeping police officers in schools and opposes reproductive freedom and fair maps. Winker is the progressive choice in this race.

Longtime educator Don Vruwink is running for re-election to his third term in the Assembly. Vruwink has been a leader in the fight for nonpartisan redistricting and an advocate for fair compensation for teachers. Vruwink supports a worker's right to join a union and collectively bargain and sees the creation of family sustaining jobs as a top priority. He is being challenged by Republican Beth Drew, whose principles include limited government and family. Drew has not released more specific policy positions. Vruwink is the more progressive choice in this race.

Gary Hebl is running for a sixth term in the Assembly. The lawyer and small business owner has advocated for nonpartisan redistricting, Medicaid expansion, common-sense gun violence prevention laws, protecting the environment, and publicly financed elections. His opponent, Terry Lyon, is anti-choice, opposes welfare, and is against gun violence prevention laws. He also called upon the state legislature to overturn Governor Evers' mask mandate. Hebl is the more progressive choice in this race.

City of Waukesha Alderman Aaron Perry believes in changing the public school funding model, nonpartisan redistricting, and gun violence prevention laws like universal background checks and red flag laws. Perry also believes that healthcare is a human right and that there need to be changes to the tax code to assist the middle class, the elderly, and entrepreneurs. He believes that state leaders have too often passed the buck on taxes to municipalities and counties. Perry was once a Republican but became a Democrat because of his distaste for what the party has become since 2016. Incumbent Republican Scott Allen is anti-choice, in favor of voucher programs, against gun violence prevention laws, and wants to reduce taxes and regulations. Allen, who is white, attempted to pass his own resolution commemorating Black History Month that cited mostly white abolitionists instead of a resolution authored by members of the legislature's Black Caucus. Perry is the more progressive choice.