ACLU of Wisconsin Candidate Questionnaires
Thank you to the ACLU of Wisconsin for helping educate voters. From my quick review, it looks like only on Republican even responded to the ACLU Legislative Candidate Questionnaire and that was Republican Scott Johnson from Jefferson. In 2022 Johnson narrowly defeated Jefferson mayor Dale Oppermann in a Republican primary. During the general election, Johnson faced incumbent Democratic Don Vruwink. This proved to be the narrowest Assembly vote count in 2022 with Johnson prevailing by just 247 votes (0.91%). In 2024 Johnson is now on the move because of the new maps and he is now running in a very likely Democrat district.
It was note worthy that Democratic Senator Bob Wirch did not respond to the ACLU. His name always stands out as probably the least supportive Democrat Senator when it comes to “recreational” marijuana legalization. Wirch is not the enemy, so do not think that, in fact, he is one of the most supportive Senators of medical marijuana for Wisconsin. I appreciate his work and he is running unopposed; meaning he will be one of the Senators in play for the 2025-26 legislative session.
There are 99 state Assembly seats and 16 state Senate seats on the ballot this November. The ACLU of Wisconsin sent a questionnaire to all candidates to gauge their positions on access to contraception and IVF, classroom censorship, marijuana legalization, and more.
Click the arrow to see where local candidates land on civil rights and liberties issues, and cast an informed vote:
Thanks again to the ACLU for including marijuana legalization as one of the questions they asked candidates. I started my candidate coverage very early this year due to the large number of new names among the candidates. Publications like what the ACLU produce greatly help in documenting candidates stance on cannabis reform.
Election coverage by JaySelthofner.com is your go-to place for everything cannabis and candidate related in Wisconsin. An ongoing database has been created for the Wisconsin State Senate, State Assembly, US Senate and Congressional Representatives and candidates for public office. Contained in the database is a variety of information about elected officials and candidates; including voting records, co-sponsorship history, candidate statements, quotes, and notes from field activists.
Over the past few election cycles I have tried very hard to contact and actually get a stance on cannabis reform from many of our Republican candidates. In 2020, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) published the Executive Summary: Wisconsin Candidate Scorecard and Voter Guide I produced. During the 2022 election cycle, my 2022 State Assembly Candidate Analysis and 2022 State Senate Candidate Analysis was often used by centers of influence.
After the 2022 election I published an article entitled All eyes on these Republicans in 2023 which not only did I point out the Democrat statistics for ‘friendly’ Republicans to use in their battle against their own leadership on this issue, but I also listed many of the ‘friendly’ Republicans in this fight. The reality was that only two Democratic candidates were “medical only” at that time and they were not elected. So 100% of the Democrat State Assembly Representatives elected and serving Wisconsin for the 2023-24 legislative session support ending the prohibition of cannabis.
For the the 2022 Republican State Assembly candidate field only 14% were vocal on supporting legalization of adult use marijuana. There were too many Republican candidates that did not make any public comments on the issue, respond to questionnaires or that participated in a Wisconsin EYE Candidate Interview. Just four years ago in 2020, there were only a few Republicans without a stance on marijuana reform. The trend seems to be shut up as direct by leadership. None the less, the GOP candidates did elect a few new names to their rooster, including some very vocal Republican cannabis candidates.
One of the most vocal supporters was Republican Assembly Rep Clint Moses, who ironically did not even hold a public hearing on his own medical marijuana bill. Robin Vos sent the bill to the Assembly Committee Health, Aging and Long-Term Care, which Moses is the Chair of.
For more information on the Republican medical cannabis bill, I authored two additional articles entitled Republican Marijuana Bill Needs Amending and I completed a co-sponsorship and committee assignment analysis in an article labeled 2024 Analysis of GOP Medical Cannabis Bill.
WHAT NOW?
My emphasis on the 2024 Election Coverage has featured the most Competitive Senate and Assembly District races in the upcoming November 5th General Elections.

Stay tuned and get active!
I will provide you additional 2024 Wisconsin State Election coverage throughout the campaign season. This next election is extremely important for marijuana reform and I will continue to bring you information as more candidates make their political moves.
In the event that we end up with divided government in the 2024-25 legislation session, the official formation of The Wisconsin Cannabis Caucus would be a must first step towards reform. The official establishment of this Caucus will represent the growing, bipartisan support in Wisconsin.
Although session as ended we still urge you to contact your elected officials. The top four action alerts are still functionable on The Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Action Network for you immediate use.
Sources: CNanalysis, WisPolitics, Davesredistircing, PeoplesMaps, ACLU of WI