Kyle Kilbourn and Elsa Duranceau will face off in the Aug. 13 partisan primary to represent the Democratic Party in the November general election for Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.
The winner of the primary will face Republican Tom Tiffany, who has held Wisconsin's 7th Congressional seat since 2020. Prior to Tiffany, Republican Sean Duffy was elected to five terms since 2011 before resigning in 2019 citing family health issues.
Congressional district lines were redrawn in 2021 following a process that takes place following each decennial census in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these maps in March 2022 and they will likely remain in place through 2030.
Members of the U.S. Congress serve two-year terms.
To learn more about registering to vote and to find your polling place, visit the My Vote Wisconsin website.
The USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin asked each of the candidates to address important issues in the district and why they are running for the position.
Kyle Kilbourn
Residence: Town of Woodboro in Oneida County
Age: 46
Occupation and education: I am a product designer, innovator and former professor. I’ve worked in the health care, retail and design industries. I have a Ph.D. in product design and innovation from the University of Southern Denmark, master’s degree in IT product design and a bachelor's degree in life sciences and rhetoric from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. I come from a working-class background and am the first in my family with undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Relevant experience: I have a history of governing, not politics − student and neighborhood boards, and recently in a tourism project to make Oneida County an accessible and inviting place for tourists and residents. Whether it was conducting research about aging in place for seniors or understanding convenience station users, I listen to find underlying values. I have collaborated with C-suite executives, patients, health care workers, delivery drivers and many others to develop market-facing solutions. In Congress, I will listen to constituents to develop better solutions and laws.
Campaign website/Facebook page: www.kylekilbourn.com/meet-kyle and Kyle Kilbourn for Congress - WI-07 on Facebook
Elsa Duranceau
Residence: Merrill
Age: 42
Occupation and education: Economic development director, Child Care Coalition of Wisconsin-president, University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate
Relevant experience: As an economic development director I work with communities to develop strategies that promote growth and sustainability by helping to facilitate public-private partnerships, write for grants and engage the public. Many development plans are recipients of federal funding, which is allocated by Congress. I am familiar with a wide range of programs and the limitations that affect our rural communities from being recipients. Additionally, my work with workforce development and the child care industry have given me the experience to truly understand the needs of Wisconsin’s 7 th Congressional District and the knowledge to effectively advocate for effective program policies.
Campaign website/Facebook page: www.elsa4congress.org and Elsa For Congress WI CD7 on Facebook
Why are you running for office?
Kilbourn: My parents struggled to make ends meet throughout my childhood but wanted a better life for me and my brother. I was able to make good on those dreams through opportunities in pursuit of the American dream. I’m running today because those opportunities to get ahead are becoming harder and harder for most Americans. We need a representative looking out for working Wisconsinites, not campaign donors.
Duranceau: I am running for Congress to continue my work with public programs and policies. Rural Wisconsin often loses out on federal dollars due to antiquated thresholds and data-based requirements. Additionally, I watched our current representative vote against funding that would support the child care industry and decided we need someone who cares and understands the needs of our working families. I will passionately advocate for funding opportunities and changes to current programs that best serve the people of Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District and will author/co-author policies that protect our constitutional rights.
What makes you the better candidate in this race?
Kilbourn: I have dedicated myself to creating a campaign that listens and responds to the needs of the district. Since my launch in April 2023, I have traveled over 6,000 miles across the district and worked nonstop to create the campaign infrastructure from building relationships to digital communications. All of this to be ready to challenge the incumbent in the general election in November. No other candidate has dedicated themselves to creating a strong and united coalition over this period.
Duranceau: 1) I’m from Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District, the fifth generation Duranceau born and raised in Merrill. 2) I’m an Air Force veteran. 3) I’m a graduate of UW-Madison. 4) I have experience working with federal programs that originate from Congress. 5) Most of my work has been throughout much of the 7 th Congressional District to include: workforce development, broadband expansion, housing, small business development, child care and family law as it pertains to child support. 6) I have experience working with local governments, community leaders and anchor institutions to identify community needs and develop project strategies.
What is the most pressing issue facing Wisconsin, and how would you address it?
Kilbourn: Reproductive justice and protecting democracy are the most pressing issues facing Wisconsin today. If we address this, we can grow our economy and create good jobs while transitioning to protect the environment. Our district can lead the emerging care economy, with traditions of caring for our neighbors, animals and land. By strengthening our tourism, farming, and forests with industries that build on these traditions, we can enhance rather than degrade the place we call home. This starts by electing leaders who will commit to good governance for all.
Duranceau: The most pressing issue facing Wisconsin and the U.S. is the development of artificial intelligence and our right to privacy. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was not just about abortion. The argument that you and I have the right to privacy that is implicit in the due process of the 14 th Amendment is up for reconsideration. Without having explicit federal protections of privacy, AI developers have little regulations on how and what they can do with our data, including ownership of our images, likeness and voices. I call to codify our right to privacy to include our right to private ownership of our bodies.
What are residents telling you are their most important issues, and how would you address them?
Kilbourn: I hear concerns on how residents can take care of themselves as health care becomes less accessible, their kids as child care becomes out of reach, how residents can afford to purchase a home, and how residents can protect their drinking water from contaminates. Each of these issues show fundamental problems with how we approach rural communities in this country. We need funding and a representative willing to strengthen our communities' access to resources. Our schools, hospitals, post offices, nursing homes and housing stock are suffering without adequate representation. We need a representative who cares about the place we all call home.
Duranceau: Child care. The cost of living increase has strained households as well as child care providers. They are not able to charge for the true cost of care because it is more than what average families can afford. High operating costs mean low employee wages and no benefits. Workers are leaving the industry. Two parent families are choosing to have one parent leave the workforce or people are choosing to wait to have children or not have them at all. The federal government needs to subsidize the child care industry. If we can subsidize big oil, we can subsidize the child care industry.
Residents of central Wisconsin are seeing increasing costs in necessary and everyday expenses such as housing, child care, groceries, health care and transportation. If elected, what will you do to help residents who are struggling to make ends meet?
Kilbourn: We can bring the power of the federal government to address these challenges. On issues like health care and child care, we are assuming these are viable for-profit business models. Unfortunately, as they are setup today, rural areas like ours are not viable, so providers cut their losses and pull out. We need to redo the funding mechanisms so they are affordable and viable delivery models for rural areas. Other issues require strengthening the social contract for workers so that they get a greater share of the pie, while addressing the monopoly power of ever larger corporations.
Duranceau: Housing: I support President Biden’s rent increase cap. I also call for public-private partnerships in order to meet new construction needs. In the past, housing was a responsibility of employers. Rural Wisconsin is very familiar with this due to their numerous mill towns. Families: I fiercely support an increase of the child tax credit, similar to what families received during the COVID-19 pandemic. Child care: Subsidize the child care industry. Groceries and food security: Increase funding for SNAP and push for universal free school lunches. I support increasing the tax rate for the ultra-rich to pay for these programs.
As costs have increased for individuals, so have the costs for our local units of government. Our local schools and technical colleges, municipalities and counties are limited in how much local tax levies can be raised. These limits were set decades ago and adjustments to them are rare and inadequate for matching increases in cost of living and inflation. If elected, what would you do in Congress to reduce the burden on local residents who have to consider levy limit referendums for school districts, public safety workers or large transportation projects so frequently in elections?
Kilbourn: Too often residents are making the choice between the common good in their communities or making sure they can get food on the table. These are not good choices and stem from how we let billionaires off the hook of their fair share of societal investments. We need a federal rural strategy and investments in our communities to: educate our children, have a functioning postal system, address our health care needs, build roads, and nurture new businesses. It is not only for our district, but for the health of the nation that rural areas thrive and deliver critical supplies and services.
Duranceau: I support increasing taxes for the ultra-rich as well as legalizing marijuana. The revenue from both would provide the means to increase funding for education and infrastructure bills. There is also potential to extend the HUBZone program to more rural communities, which provides opportunities for small businesses to have priority consideration for federal contracts. The HUBZone program fuels small business growth in historically underutilized business zones with a goal of awarding at least 3% of federal contract dollars to HUBZone-certified companies each year. Exploring these types of programs for solutions is my priority.
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK - Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@gannett.com .
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Meet the Democratic candidates running for Wisconsin's 7th Congressional seat
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