Wisconsin 2026 elections: Who will run in the 23rd State Senate district now that incumbent Republican Jesse James has announced his retirement?

 

Maps and election results:  Ballotpedia

Headline:  Wisconsin Public Radio, 4/14/2026

Rick Kremer reports:

James was elected to the 23rd Senate District in 2022. Before that he served one term representing the 68th Assembly District. He was drawn into Smith’s 31st Senate District under new maps signed in 2024 after the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority struck down Republican-drawn state legislative districts as unconstitutional.  [emphasis added]

The 31st Senate District is considered one of four swing seats up for election this year. Holding it is a priority for Democrats hoping to reverse Republicans current 18-15 Senate majority. For Republicans, defeating Smith would have girded their odds of keeping control past the midterm elections.

James ran unopposed in 2022.

Related reading:

Wisconsin Applied Population Lab, 6/18/2018

Malia Jones explains:

Two core concepts of gerrymandering were central to the arguments presented to the high court: cracking and packing. A third process, known as stacking, also crops up in gerrymandered political maps, but was not the focus of Gill v. Whitford.\ 

Cracking and packing both refer to specific ways of drawing legislative boundaries with the outcomes of elections in mind. These two processes operate in tension with one another, but both can be implemented by a party in power seeking to maximize its electoral chances through gerrymandering. 

Packing refers to the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party. 

Cracking involves drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive.

Related posts:

58th Assembly District.  (4/12/2026)

59th Assembly District.  (4/10/2026)

60th Assembly District.  (4/10/2026)

93rd Assembly District.  (4/11/2026) 

17th Senate District.  (4/14/2026)