Retiring Guy's Digest: Wisconsin 2026 elections: Republican Cedric Schnitzler and Independent Paul Weber challenge 8-term incumbent Democrat Jill Billings in 95th Assembly District

Before redistricting, the 95th Assembly District packed most of the City of LaCrosse into a single district.

Redistricting created an oddly shaped distance The current population of La Crosse County is 121,388 -- enough to fill 2 Assembly district with about 2,000 of its resident remaining. The district now includes about two-thirds of the City of LaCrosse, a sideways T-shaped portion of La Crosse County, and a southwest chunk of Monroe County.

Maps and election results: Ballotpedia

Redistricting created a much more competitive district, which, of course, is the goal of implementing fair maps. Democrat incumbent Jill Billings won re-election in 2024 by just 4 percentage points. In previous elections, she won by more than 30 points.

The August primaries offer a snapshot of Democratic enthusiasm leading up to the 2026 general election. GOP challenger Cedric Schnitzler received just 3,015 votes out of 3,023 cast running unopposed in the GOP primary while Billings received more than twice his tally - 6,826 votes out of 6,828 cast.

As for independent candidate Paul Weber, he was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault in July of this year.

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)