Based on political climate, district makeup and money, GOP candidates face an uphill climb against several La Crosse-area Democrats in the state Assembly, according to one expert.

By Annie Pulley, THE BADGER PROJECT

Three Democratic incumbents representing the La Crosse area are winning the money game in the fight to defend their seats in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Election Day is Nov. 3, but early voting has already begun.

In the most competitive race, both political parties are using a loophole in campaign finance law to contribute well over $200,000 to their respective candidates, leading to a blast of ads in the little race.

The job pays about $64,000 a year plus a per diem, with some legislators claiming as much as $22,000 in 2025.

In the other Assembly races, which aren’t as cash-flooded and include a district that’s been represented by Democrats since about 1975, the parties’ contributions have been much lower.

State Democrats hope to win the 99-seat Assembly, where Republicans hold a 54-45 majority, for the first time since 2010. They would need a net gain of five seats to do so.

This election cycle is the second time incumbents in the state Assembly are facing new district maps, which the Republican-controlled Legislature approved and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed into law in early 2024. Previously, the maps had been drawn by Republicans, heavily favoring them and allowing the party to hold the state Legislature in one of the swingiest states for the past 16 years.

Assembly District 94

In the race for the 94th, which includes parts of La Crosse and Trempealeau counties, Democratic incumbent state Rep. Steve Doyle has raised about $180,000 more than his Republican challenger Keith Purnell.

That edge is mostly thanks to the state Democratic Party, which has contributed about $270,000 to Doyle so far this year, according to campaign finance reports from the Wisconsin Ethics Commission. He’s also raised about $180,000 from individual donors and political action committees, including one for Northwestern Mutual and the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association, which represents unionized plumbers and steamfitters. 

The six-figure contributions from the parties are particularly significant in this race because individual donors and political action committees can only give a maximum of $1,000 per election cycle to state Assembly candidates.

But under current Wisconsin law, political parties can accept donations without limit, and can also donate to candidates without limit.

The state GOP’s trio of conservative megadonors are Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, co-founders of ULINE packing supplies, and Diane Hendricks, co-founder of ABC Supply Co., a building supplies company, have given the state GOP a whopping $73 million so far this year alone.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is also backed by billionaire megadonors, though to a much lesser extent this year. Their top givers are LinkedIn co-founder and investor Reid Hoffman; Richard Uihlein’s left-leaning cousin Lynde Uihlein; Lynn Schusterman, the billionaire widow of Charles Schusterman; Sarah O’Neill, the daughter-in-law of the now-deceased billionaire investor Charlie Munger; and Michael Bloomberg. That quintet has given the party about $23 million this year.

Candidates can continue raising funds through the election.

In Doyle’s last election in 2024, he beat his Republican opponent by less than one percentage point, which was a mere 217 votes. That year, Doyle raised about $1.6 million.

In arguing for another term, Doyle touts his bipartisan record and highlights 11 key issues, which include his support for implementing moratoriums on building data centers, lowering utility costs and providing more state funding for municipal services and public schools, according to his campaign website.

Doyle, 68, was elected in 2011. 

The state GOP is fighting to flip the district and has contributed about $175,000 to Purnell’s campaign so far. He’s raised another $63,000 from people and political action committees.

Purnell spent 30 years in the U.S. Army; his final military position was as a senior instructor for the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp program at UW-La Crosse, according to his campaign website. After retiring, Purnell says he worked as a plant manager, an accountant, and he supported military programming at UW-La Crosse and Viterbo University, a private Catholic university.

Purnell says he is focused on lowering people’s tax bills, removing violent criminals from the streets and eliminating fraud and waste from government services, according to his campaign website.

Assembly District 95

A rematch of the 2024 contest, state Rep. and Democratic incumbent Jill Billings, is facing off against Republican Cedric Schnitzler for control of the district.

In their 2024 race, Billings beat Schnitzler by about four points, or about 1,200 votes.

Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at UW-La Crosse, said the Democrats in both the 94th and 95th are favored to win. 

“Both Doyle and Billings won in 2024, the first election under the new district lines, in a political climate that was less favorable to Democrats than this one appears to be,” Chergosky wrote in an email to The Badger Project. “Given that, Billings and Doyle are favorites, even if they are still under pressure to run strong campaigns this cycle.”

Billings, 64, has represented the district since she won a special election there in 2011.

This district, controlled by Democrats for decades, includes the northern part of the city of La Crosse as well as Sparta and Norwalk.

Billings has raised about $110,000 so far this year, and Schnitzler has raised about $45,000. Billings has received about $45,000 from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin alone, and Schnitzler has received about $20,000 from the state GOP.

Billings, leaning on her work in the state Legislature, says she supports tax credits to offset the cost of child care, capping the costs of vital medications and expanding Medicaid in Wisconsin. She also emphasizes greater state support for public schools as well as housing and healthcare affordability on her campaign website. 

Schnitzler’s platform includes removing property taxes for retirees, and he says healthcare reform may require “cutting out the middleman,” according to his campaign website. He says the “bureaucratic governmental strangulation of the education system” from the state needs to end.

Paul Weber is also on the ballot as an Independent. In July, the La Crosse County District Attorney charged him with multiple felonies, including first-degree sexual assault with a dangerous weapon and false imprisonment. His next court date is Oct. 29. 

Weber has not filed campaign finance reports with the Wisconsin Elections Commission since 2021.

Assembly District 96

In the race for control of Assembly District 96, which includes parts of Vernon and La Crosse counties, State Rep. and Democratic incumbent Tara Johnson has so far outraised Jim Green, the Republican challenger, 10 to 1.

Johnson, 64, has reported raising about $108,000. Of that total, Johnson gave herself about $20,000, and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin gave her about $17,000.

“I am very grateful to the generous folks who have stepped up to support our campaign,” Johnson wrote in a statement to The Badger Project. “More than 300 donors, more than 70% of them from right here in the Driftless Region. It means a great deal to me to have that kind of support here at home.”

Green has reported raising about $15,000, with about $10,000 of that coming from the state Republican Party. He did not respond to an emailed request for comment. 

In 2024, Johnson flipped the seat, beating a Republican incumbent who had represented the district since 2019.

Before the district got more competitive maps, in 2022, the Republican incumbent beat his Democratic opponent by about 17 points.

Johnson says she is prioritizing housing and healthcare affordability in the Assembly. Her platform also includes fully funding public education, according to her campaign website.

Green doesn’t have a campaign website. On his Facebook page, followed by 133 people, he posts regularly about his campaign events and his opposition to socialism.

This story was funded by a grant from the La Crosse Area Community Foundation.

The Badger Project is an independent news nonprofit in Wisconsin.