Retiring Guy's Digest: Wisconsin 2026 elections: Democrat Roger Halls and independent Josh Kelly challenge 2-term Republican incumbent Karen Hurd in the 69th Assembly District

Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Wisconsin 2026 elections: Democrat Roger Halls and independent Josh Kelly challenge 2-term Republican incumbent Karen Hurd in the 69th Assembly District

Before redistricting, the GOP gerrymandered 69th cracked the City of Marshfield, whose nearly 19,000 residents can easily be drawn into a single district. It included the eastern half of Clark County, a chunk of northwestern of Wood County, and a chunk of southwestern Marathon County.

With Marshfield out of the mix, redistricting expanded the boundaries of the district north and west. The 69th now includes all of Clark County, a chunk of southeastern Taylor County (the 2nd Trumpiest county in the state behind Florence), a chunk of northwestern Marathon County, and a little nibble out of Chippewa County.

Maps and election results: Ballotpedia

In 2024, Republican incumbent Karen Hurd was elected to the 69th District by a nearly 48-point margin. Even with momentum on the Democrat's side, Roger Halls has too big of an order to fill. Independent candidate Josh Kelly is nothing more than a sideshow.

How conservative is the 69th? The presidential election results from Clark County (population 35,052) tell you all you need to know.

Wikipedia

Close-up of WISGOP's cracking of Marshfield:

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. [emphasis added]

Other Wisconsin 2026 election posts:

1st Assembly District. (6/11/2026)

2nd Assembly District. (6/14/2026)

3rd Assembly District. (6/15/2026)

4th Assembly District. (6/17/2026)

5th Assembly District. (6/18/2026)

6th Assembly District. (6/20/2026)

7th Assembly District. (6/21/2026)

8th Assembly District. (6/21/2026)

9th Assembly District. (6/22/2026)

10th Assembly District. (6/23/2026)

11th Assembly District. (6/23/2026)