Retiring Guy's Digest: Wisconsin 2026 elections: Republican Michael Ayala challenges freshman incumbent Democrat Christian Phelps in 93rd Assembly District

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Wisconsin 2026 elections: Republican Michael Ayala challenges freshman incumbent Democrat Christian Phelps in 93rd Assembly District

Before redistricting, the 93rd Assembly District included an area that sprawled across southern Pierce County, all of tiny Pepin County, southern Dunn County, and the majority of a cracked Eau Claire County that packed the City of Eau Claire.

Redistricting created a compact district that includes western Eau Claire County including the western half of the City of Eau Claire, east-central Dunn County, and the northern tier of Trempealeau County.

Maps and election results: Ballotpedia

The Wisconsin GOP targeted Eau Claire County and the City of Eau Claire with their gerrymandered maps. But with a fair map in place, Christian Phelps was able to flip the 93rd from red to blue, winning the seat by 5.5 percentage points after Republican Warren Petryk, who announced his retirement in May 2024, won by an average of 20 points in the past 3 elections.

GOP challenger Michael Ayala has his work cut out for him. Running unopposed in the August primary, he received 3,126 out of 3,136 cast. On the other hand, Democratic incumbent Christian Phelps received 8,825 votes out of 8,862 cast -- almost 3 times as much votes as his fall opponent in the November general election.

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)