Senate 16: Agard (D) leaves and Ratcliff (D) enters

The 16th Senate District is located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises much of eastern Dane County, western Jefferson County, and part of southwest Dodge County. It includes the cities of Fitchburg, Fort Atkinson, Lake Mills, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, and Waterloo, and the villages of Cottage Grove, Deerfield, and Marshall, and parts of the city of Madison and the village of McFarland. It also contains Lake Kegonsa State Park and most of Lake Koshkonong.

Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison) had won the seat in 2020. Agard was drawn into another district under the new maps and also announced she is leaving the Senate and running for Dane County Executive which opened up this deep blue seat. Agard was been a long time leader cannabis reform and a leading author on adult use cannabis legislation.

On Aug 13th the Dane County voters selected Senator Agard and County Board Supervisor Dana Pellebon to a November runoff election which will elect the next county executive. The winner of that Nov. 5 election will serve the remainder of former County Executive Joe Parisi’s four-year term ending in April. In the spring of 2025, another election in will decide the next four-year term for that seat.

Melissa Ratcliff

This open seat did not attract any Republican to run and the race came down to a primary battle between Assembly Representatives Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg), Samba Baldeh (D-Madison), Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove). All three of these candidates have either authored or co-sponsored legislation in the past.

Melissa Ratcliff won the primary election on August 13th with 52% of the vote and faces no Republican challenger in November taking this senate seat.

Ratcliff was elected to three terms to the Cottage Grove Village Board (2018-2022) and three terms to the Dane County Board (2018-2024). She was elected in a competitive five-way primary to the State Assembly in 2022.

Who will lead next?

There are already rumors on who lead next session on this issue. In the Democratic Senate world, being the lead on marijuana reform will certainly guarantee some main stream media time with statewide coverage. One would think being green helps with receiving donations as a candidate as well. Even though the election in November has not taken place, like this race, there where a few other uncontested races for the Democrats because no Republican dare run in these areas.

Kelda Roys (D-Madison) takes the 26th Senate District, Bob Wirch (D-Somers) takes the 22nd Senate District, LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) takes the 6th Senate District and Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee) takes the 4th Senate District. All of these candidates have served in the past, with Bob Wirch being the only one that has not co-sponsored adult use cannabis legalization legislation.

Ten out of eleven sitting Democratic Senators co-sponsored Agard’s bill in the 2023-24 session. The 2024 Election will only see 1/2 of the Senators up for election and that means a few of them are even up for election and for sure we will be dealing with them in 2025. Senators Mark Spreitzer, Dianne Hesselbein, Jeff Smith, Chris Larson and Tim Carpenter are still going to be Senators next session and all have co-sponsored adult use cannabis legalization legislation in past sessions. It is clear, the Democrats are the leaders on this issue.

There are a few very competitive Senate Races in November that are extremely important for the Democrats to win for cannabis reform to have a chance next session. We all want to know there stance on cannabis reform and I am very please to report that all of these next Democratic candidates support legalizing marijuana. Now to share with you what I know about them and there competition I have authored an article on each of these very competitive Senate races.

I will say this, as a candidate, Kristin Alfheim has been super vocal and always supportive of ending prohibition and legalizing marijuana. Not that the other Democrat candidates have not been there, they have and I feel they will continue to be, but Alfheim stands out to me as really caring about this issue and is one of the most likely Democrats to flip that seat from prohibition red to marijuana green. You can meet Kristin Alfheim at the Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Pizza, Pot and Politics Event in Appleton on October 5th.

Here are the links to the top five (5) most competitive Senate Races in Wisconsin.

Senate District 18: Kristin Alfheim (D-Appleton) VS Anthony Phillips (R-Appleton)

Senate District 32: Incumbent Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) vs Stacey Klein (R-Trempealeau)

Senate District 14: Incumbent Joan Ballweg (R-Markesan) vs Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi)

Senate District 30: Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) vs Jim Rafter (R-Green Bay)

Senate District 8: Incumbent Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) vs Jodi Habush Sinykin (D-Milwaukee)

We should have no problem finding a lead sponsor on the Democrat side of the isle. Which Democrat has enough political capital to finally make progress in Wisconsin under the Republican controlled Senate? What changes, if any, need to be made in the legislation to draw in a Republican co-sponsor? Are there areas of expertise that any of these candidates bring to the table? What committee assignments to these people get? Which elected official will have leadership roles within their caucus? Should we have a separate lead Democrat on the decriminalization, medical and recreational cannabis bills?

I think it is way too early to label anyone the leader, especially when it will take a team of people to get any reform measures passed.

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 /2024 Senate Races, Davesredistircing, PeoplesMaps