AD 43: Scott Johnson (R) vs Brienne Brown (D)

The 43rd Assembly District of Wisconsin is located in southern Wisconsin, the district comprises northeast Rock County and parts of northwest Walworth County and southern Jefferson County. It includes the cities of Whitewater, Edgerton, and Milton, and part of the city of Janesville. The district also contains the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater campus.

District performance predicted at 55.8% Democratic the WisPolitics article and 54.8% Democrat on the DavesRedistricting information was one thing to make this district appear on the competitive race list. The Projects.cnaAnalysis show this district as very likely Dem with a 14.5% margin.

*Update after primary, the stats move this race out of the competitive category and into the very likely Democrat category with a +16. To bad for Republican Scott Johnson, well too bad he did not do more last session on the issue because it looks like he will be out of Madison come 2025. As one of the few Republicans openly supporting legalization of marijuana, we will be missed.

Scott Johnson (R – Jefferson)

*Johnson won the Republican primary in August with 79% of the vote.

The new maps paired Republican Incumbents Scott Johnson and Cindy Duchow in what would be the new Assembly District 97. The 97th district heavily favors the GOP with probably over 70% of the vote going to the that Republican Candidate. Johnson lives very close to the boundaries of district 43, 46 and 38. Well, maybe I should say used to live because it seems he is on the move.

Representative Scott Johnson, Republican, announced he is running for the 43rd Wisconsin State Assembly District. This is an open district resulting from the 2024 redistricting that was recently signed into law by Governor Evers. Scott is currently the State Representative of the 33rd district which includes the north and east side of Janesville, the cities of Milton, Fort Atkinson and Jefferson. The new 43rd district includes the Milton area that Scott currently represents and now includes Edgerton, Whitewater, and a larger portion of the north and east side of Janesville.

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%).

According to his Wikipedia page Johnson owns and operates his own farm, and has worked for many years as a farm consultant, including employment by the large agro-chemical company Monsanto. He also worked as a school bus driver in the Jefferson school district for more than 20 years.

Johnson on marijuana

During his WI EYE Interview 14:23 as a 2022 candidate Johnson indicates yes to medical marijuana and recreational down the road, marijuana is a drug, like alcohol and tobacco and formal recognition of it and regulation of marijuana would be beneficial to the public.

Listed as one of the few Republican candidates supporting the legalization of marijuana during the 2022 election cycle led to Johnson being named as one of the Republicans to keep your eye on in 2023.

During the 2022-23 legislative session, Rep. Johnson was absent from co-sponsoring any cannabis reform legislation.

In August, 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 recently published the responses. Scott Johnson was one of the few, maybe the only Republican to respond to the ACLU candidate questionnaire.

We are not surprised that Scott Johnson answered YES to the ACLU question: Do you support the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana for recreational use by adults 21 and over in Wisconsin?

I really wish Scott would have done more last session, but marijuana reform in general seemed to be squashed from the top by GOP leadership.

Rep. Scott Johnson does still have a Campaign Facebook Page and Campaign Website published.

VS

Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater)

alderperson, editor, scientist, grant writer, small business owner, mom

I spoke with her during the 2022 election cycle and she is a “Regulate and Legalize” type of candidate and would support the Wisconsin Cannabis Caucus idea.

Brienne Brown received an A+ rating from NORML for her support of legalization during the 2022 campaign season and also responded YES to the ACLU marijuana legalization question.

Follow her Campaign Facebook Page and visit her website for more information.

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 (Very Likely Dem +16) WisPolitics /2024 Assembly Races (55% Dem), Davesredistircing, PeoplesMaps