Wisconsin Democrats plan to spend $7 million on TV ads in five state Senate races they believe are key to regaining control of Congress.
The state Senate Democratic Committee announced Wednesday that the takeover would include races in Milwaukee’s northern suburbs, rural areas north of Madison, the Fox Cities, Green Bay and La Crosse.
Republicans currently hold a 22-10 majority in the 33-member Senate, but Democrats are hoping new district boundaries signed by Gov. Tony Evers in February will chip away at the Republican advantage. I hope you find it helpful.
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The Senate gained 16 seats in November, eight of which are currently held by Republicans and four remaining vacant. Four Democrats are not running for re-election this cycle. That means Democrats need to win 13 seats in November to gain a majority. In a sign of how the new map has energized the party, Democrats fielded candidates in every Senate race for the first time in more than 20 years.
Democrats plan to run ads in the 8th Senate District, which includes Milwaukee’s conservative-leaning northern suburbs. The new map pulls Republican Sen. Dewey Strobel away from his old district and moves him into eighth place, where he will face Democrat Jody Habush Shinikin.
Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin. (Education Images/Universal Images Group, Getty Images)
Advertisements are also being posted in the redrawn 14th District, which covers parts of Columbia, Marquette, Green Lake and Waupaca counties. There, Democrat Sarah Kieski is running against Republican incumbent Joan Ballweg.
The commission will also target District 18, which currently runs from Appleton south to Oshkosh along the west shore of Lake Winnebago. The seat is open, and Democrats Kristin Alfheim and Joseph Carmen and Republicans Anthony Phillips and Bron Yang are all running.
Advertisements are also planned for District 30. The district covers the west shore of Green Bay Bay from north of the city of Green Bay to Marinette. Seats are open. Democrat Jamie Wall and Republican Jim Rafter are running.
The final district in which the committee will buy ads is the 32nd Congressional District in western Wisconsin, where Republican Stacey Cline is seeking to unseat Democratic incumbent Brad Pfaff.
Andrew Whitley, executive director of the state Senate Democratic Committee, said the committee selected these districts because President Joe Biden and Gov. Tony Evers ran them in 2020 and 2022, respectively. He said the victory suggests that Democratic candidates have a good chance of succeeding in these districts. He said the ads will be tailored to issues in each district and will begin airing after the Wisconsin primary on Aug. 13.
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A spokesperson for Senate Republican Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu did not immediately respond to an email.
