Retiring Guy's Digest: Wisconsin 2026 elections: Republican Bruce Stabenow challenges 4-term Democratic incumbent Jodi Emerson in 91st Assembly District

Monday, September 28, 2026

Wisconsin 2026 elections: Republican Bruce Stabenow challenges 4-term Democratic incumbent Jodi Emerson in 91st Assembly District

Before redistricting, the GOP gerrymandered 91st Assembly District provided yet another example of packing an urban area of the state, i.e., drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. [See election graph below.]

The City of Eau Claire has a population of 72,500. The average population of an Assembly district is between 59,000 and 60,000

Redistricting created a much more competitive district that includes that east side of the City of Eau Claire, eastern Eau Claire County, and the southeast corner of Chippewa County.

Maps and election results: Ballotpedia

As they do in the 90th Assembly District in Green Bay, the 91st election results in 2018, 2020, and 2022 illustrate the goal of "packing". Redistricting created a much more competitive district. In 2024, Democratic incumbent Jodi Emerson won by 3,2 percentage points compared to an average of 28 points in her previous three elections

The numbers from the August primary elections indicate that Emerson is likely to win a 5th term by a healthier margin. Running unopposed, she received 8,628 votes out of 8,865 cast in her primary, Her GOP challenger Bruce Stabenow, also running unopposed, received just 3,308 votes out of 3,316 cast in his primary. (Bruce has no photos on his campaign website, Had to scrounge for the one I found.)

The new map of the 31st State Senate District also restores the connection between the "community of interest" of Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

The Redistricting Data Hub website defines a "community of interest" as: ...a group of people with shared concerns, interests, and characteristics. Every COI is unique; they might be formed around neighborhoods or the physical landscape, cultures, values, and many other things. Because of these shared interests and concerns, a common redistricting criteria is that COIs be considered during the process.

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)