Assembly District 42 chases off the GOP
The Assembly District 42 has changed and will most likely go from red to blue, chasing off an incumbent or two. Ballotpedia has the comparison maps of AD 42 if you care. Assembly District 62 includes parts of Columbia and Dane County including the Poynette, Lodi, Prairie Du Sac, Morrisonville, Deforest, Winsor, Fall River, Doylestown, Rio and the City of Columbus.
The current incumbent Jon Plumer (R-Lodi) has held the seat ever since winning a special election in 2018. He always enjoyed a GOP lean but the dynamics have changed and this district is now expected to not even be competitive for the GOP, which has sent one incumbent into retirement and another has declared he will move to a different district.
The Incumbent
The current Incumbent Jon Plumer (R) from Lodi announced he will not seek re-election in 2024.
In the June 2018 special election, Plumer beat Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd by a margin of 116 votes, or less than 2 percent.
Rep. Plumer was not the worse Republican on the issue of cannabis reform. He helped the cause by including marijuana reform on a 2019 Spring Survey which over 70% of the district supported medical marijuana. For three consecutive sessions Plumer did show up as a co-sponsor and lead on the Republican medical marijuana bill.
“He is not a fan of recreational marijuana” said Plumer in a 2020 Campaign Interview.
The mover
William Penterman won his primary by 16 votes. He is ex military police and a former staffer for a Republican elected official. Early signs shows he is playing politics with pot and giving people the run-around on the issue. He is opposed to recreational marijuana reform. In 2021-22, as well as in 23-34 he was absent from any co-sponsorship of legislation and is labeled one of the worst Assembly Reps to work with.
On Oct 12th, 2022 Penterman participated in an AAUW Candidate Forum and gave his opinions on the issue. It is best to watch this guy rather than have me translate his opposition statement.
Penterman was redistricted to and lives in the 42nd District. Even before Plumer announced he would not seek re-election, Penterman was off to a different home. Penterman said he is moving the 38th Assembly to run in the 2024 general election. The 38th Assembly is an open seat with no incumbent and a 65.7% GOP favored district.
The Democrat
The Democrat Marueen McCarville ran in 2022 against Penterman. She has been elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors since 2012. During her WI EYE Interview 14:23 she indicates her support for both medical and recreational. She seems to be more confident in medical, but would be fine with recreational marijuana if impaired driving was addressed in legislation. She again answered the question in a AAUW Candidate Forum on Oct 12th.
Stay tuned
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.
