In 4th Assembly District primary, 2 Democrats seek a chance to challenge a Republican seat

This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab , a consortium of six news outlets covering northeastern Wisconsin.

A returning candidate and local community organizer squares off against a political newcomer and environmentalist for the unlikely chance to flip a safe Republican seat in the rural Green Bay 4th Assembly District Democratic primary on Aug. 13.

Two years ago, Jane Benson challenged state Rep. Elijah Behnke, R-Oconto, for his seat in what was the largely rural and heavily Republican-leaning 89th Assembly District. Benson lost that election by more than 8,000 votes, but she credits her campaign for boosting Democratic voter turnout to help Gov. Tony Evers win reelection.

Now, after being redrawn into the 4th Assembly District, the Suamico resident and League of Women Voters organizer is running for office once again. This time, she faces a primary challenger from political newcomer Alexia Unertl, a working parent and environmentalist who also resides in Suamico.

For both candidates, the challenge of running as a Democrat in a largely conservative district is obvious. Past voting patterns suggest the district skews Republican 62% to 36%. But the recent redistricting has given Democrats across the state more hope that they can compete in legislative races in November.

“The new 4th District is still very Republican, I know that,” Benson said in an interview with Wisconsin Watch. “But I also know there is a lot of repressed desire among Democrats to step up and participate. There is a new energy unleashed from the voting maps having been redrawn, and we can use that energy to bring people out to vote.”

The 4th Assembly District covers a largely rural region that lies northwest of Green Bay, encompassing Suamico and spreading north toward Oconto. Incumbent David Steffen, R-Howard, has represented the district for nearly a decade and now seeks reelection, facing a primary challenge from Darwin Behnke, the father of Elijah Behnke. The newly drawn borders have made the district more rural compared to its previous region of southwestern Green Bay and Ashwaubenon.

Steffen, Benson said, is out of his element. “He's lost the more urban area of Ashwaubenon, and now he's more in the rural area of Oconto County… that will be unfamiliar to him,” Benson said.

Key to both Benson and Unertl’s campaigns is a set of policy positions that they say will be extremely important for rural voters. Both Democrats align on these issues, including shared concerns about pollution in the district’s many waterways, a commitment to accepting federal Medicaid funding to expand BadgerCare and plans to expand broadband internet access throughout the state.

“Just those few things would make a huge difference in the lives of Wisconsinites,” Unertl said in an interview with Wisconsin Watch. “I don't see why we couldn’t make that happen.”

Unertl, who currently serves as vice chair for Brown County’s Conservation Congress, also cited concerns surrounding PFAS contamination in private wells and homes.

“This contamination can happen without us really knowing, and there isn’t a lot of testing that happens to private wells,” Unertl said. “The Department of Natural Resources should be able to address that directly. One of my goals would be to establish an emergency response for (water contamination).”

Benson, who is a board member at the Clean Water Action Council of Northeast Wisconsin, said she is frustrated with Republican proposals for PFAS contamination cleanup.

“Businesses are not being held accountable for contamination, and no one has to declare the results of the testing that’s done,” Benson said in reference to SB312, a Republican-led bill vetoed by Evers during the 2023-24 legislative session. SB312 included provisions to shield polluters from accountability for PFAS cleanup as well as a clause to prohibit the DNR from disclosing PFAS testing results without notifying landowners at least 72 hours beforehand.

Benson also echoed frustrations with recent efforts to restrict abortion access in the state, citing Republican-led efforts to enforce an 1849 abortion law as a total ban on abortion and to prosecute health care providers involved in the process of an abortion.

“When I think of how Republicans treat pregnant people in Wisconsin, the word abandonment comes to mind,” Benson said. “It’s unhinged, and it needs to stop.”

“The state has no business getting between a woman and her doctor,” Unertl said. “If a woman needs an abortion, she should be able to receive it from a qualified professional.”

Both candidates said that they would support taking federal Medicaid funding to expand access in Wisconsin. Unertl also argued in favor of increasing state funding for rural hospitals and health care providers.

“Right now, there’s such a risk of these facilities not getting the funding that they need and not being able to provide care to their communities,” Unertl said.

While Benson and Unertl share many policy positions and goals, they differ in their backgrounds.

“I have been deeply involved in issues like clean water and fair voting maps, and I have a lot to offer,” Benson said. She brands herself as an activist, and she emphasizes her past political experience as a candidate and as an organizer.

“There is a woman running against me, and she is a newcomer,” Benson said about Unertl. “She seems to be running kind of unaffiliated and doing her own thing. She doesn’t have experience with elected office.”

Unertl, who filed her candidacy and is running as a Democrat, does not shy away from being called a newcomer. Her experience working in supply chain and being a parent, she said, has prepared and led to her decision to run for public office.

“This is my first time running for anything … I don’t have that kind of party mentality,” Unertl said. “(I can) talk to everyone and understand where they are coming from without having these allegiances.”

Overall, Unertl is glad to have more options on the ballot and to have a primary election for Democrats.

“Having more options for people to choose from is always a good thing.” Unertl said. “It’s up to the people to decide who they think would represent them better.”

This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab , a consortium of six news outlets .

This story is part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab's fifth series, covering issues important to voters in the region. The lab is a local news collaboration in northeastern Wisconsin made up of six news organizations: the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Appleton Post-Crescent, FoxValley365, The Press Times, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Journalism Department is an educational partner. Microsoft is providing financial support to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region to fund the initiative. The mission of the lab is to “collaborate to identify and fill information gaps to help residents explore ways to improve their communities and lives — and strengthen democracy.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: In 4th Assembly District primary, 2 Democrats seek a chance to challenge a Republican seat