With new state legislative maps getting signed into law and the end of the 2023-24 legislative floor session, lawmakers across the state are turning their eyes to the coming election season. New maps bring many changes, including possible changes to longstanding relationships you might have built with your state Senators. The WASB wants to ensure that school leaders have the resources they need to stay up to date on the changes coming to the Wisconsin State Legislature, and how your advocacy efforts could be affected.
Below we look at the districts up for reelection in Nov. 2024 and track what legislators have made announcements about whether they intend to seek reelection, retire, move to run in a different district or for another office, etc. This Fall will see the election of half (even-numbered) of the 33 state Senate districts. Senate district maps for 2022 and 2024 can be found and compared HERE.
The following details will be updated as new announcements of legislators’ future plans emerge. The below information was compiled using the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WisPolitics, the Wheeler Report and the Marquette Law Poll. If you know of a legislator who has made an announcement that we have not included, please contact David Martin.
NOTE – Predicted electoral margins were created by Marquette Law School using “top of the ticket” data from the 2022 election and is being provided for information only. The WASB is strictly nonpartisan and does not endorse candidates nor make political contributions. However, this is the type of data that legislators could be using when making decisions about their 2024 election plans and might provide some background /context to those decisions.
Districts with Incumbent Changes
Incumbent senators for each district are listed next to each district number. A general status update for the district is provided in the bullet points below. (SD=Senate District)
SD 2: Sen. Cowles
- 2024 Status — Open (Sen. Wimberger is GOP candidate)
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +30.6
- Sen Cowles has announced that he will not seek reelection to SD-2.
- Sen. Wimberger, who currently represents SD-30, announced he will move to SD-2 after SD-30 was redrawn to be fairly competitive with a slight Dem lean.
SD 4: Vacant
- 2024 Status — Open
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +69.2
- Previously held by Sen. Lena Taylor (left her post due to being appointed as a County Circuit Court Judge).
- Both Reps. Dora Drake and LaKeshia Myers have announced their intention of running for the seat.
SD 8: Sen. Knodl
- 2024 Status — Open (GOP Candidate Sen. Stroebel)
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +6
- Sen. Stroebel, who currently represents SD-20, was drawn into the new SD-8 along with Sen. Knodl. Sen. Knodl subsequently announced his plans to not seek re-election (he was elected in a special election in Apr. 2023) and let Sen. Stroebel run for the seat.
SD 14: Sen. Ballweg
- 2024 Status — Incumbent Election
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +6.7
- Sen. Ballweg was drawn into SD-13, the Senator committed to WisPolitics her intention of moving back into the boundaries of SD-14. She is currently seeking clarification on legal requirements regarding the timeline of the move.
- Sen. Marklein, who currently represents SD-17 was drawn into this district, therefore moving from an odd numbered seat to an even numbered seat. Given that he is currently elected to represent the constituents of SD 17, Wisconsin precedent allows him to continue to hold that seat (even though he no longer resides in the district), until the end of his term in 2026.
SD 16: Sen. Agard
- 2024 Status — Open
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +32.1
- Sen. Agard is running for Dane County Executive. Currently Reps. Anderson, Ratcliff, and Baldeh have announced their plans to run for the seat in the 2024 election.
SD 18: Sen. Feyen
- 2024 Status — Open
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +11.1
- Sen. Feyen was drawn into SD-20, he has announced his intention to run for SD-20 in 2024, leaving SD-18 open.
SD 20: Sen. Stroebel
- 2024 Status — Open (GOP Candidate Sen. Feyen)
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +38.8
- Sen. Stroebel was drawn in SD-8, and has announced his intention to run for that seat.
- Sen. Feyen was drawn into SD-20, he has announced his intention to run for SD-20 in 2024.
SD 28: Sen. Bradley
- 2024 Status — Open
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +28.4
- Sen. Bradley was redrawn into SD-21, currently represented by Sen. Wanggaard. He will either need to move to SD-28 by the election, or run for SD-21 in the 2026 election. It is unclear which path he will take at this time.
SD 30: Sen. Wimberger
- 2024 Status — Open
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +5.3
- Sen. Wimberger, who currently represents SD-30, announced he will move to SD-2 after SD-30 was redrawn to be fairly competitive with a slight Dem lean. This likely will set up a primary election between the two incumbent Senators.
- Sen. Jacque was redrawn into this district. He stated to WisPolitics that he is exploring a run for the newly open CD-8, currently represented by Rep. Mike Gallagher who recently announced his decision not to seek re-election.
Districts with No Incumbent Changes
All of these Senators are currently expected to seek reelection in 2024.
SD 6: Sen. L. Johnson
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +72.1
SD 10: Sen. Stafsholt
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +22.2
SD 12: Sen. Felzkowski
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +30.8
SD 22: Sen. Wirch
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +11.8
SD 24: Sen. Testin
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — REP +15
SD 26: Sen Roys
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +73.8
SD 32: Sen. Pfaff
- New Predicted Electoral Margin — DEM +8.3
