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Find your district

What to know

Key races

THE DISTRICT

The 65th Assembly District covers downtown Kenosha and southern parts of Kenosha County, as well as the northern half of the village of Pleasant Prairie. It is a likely Democratic district.

THE NUTSHELL

Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, announced he won’t seek reelection after serving for a dozen years. Ben DeSmidt of Kenosha, will face former Kenosha police officer Brian Gonzales, a Republican, who is running to improve public safety. DeSmidt, who has been endorsed by Ohnstad, is a former educator and small business owner. He is focused on health care affordability, protecting abortion rights and expanding affordable opportunities for education. DeSmidt is favored to win due to the partisan composition of the district.

PRIMARY RESULTS

DeSmidt soundly won the Democratic primary and will face Gonzales who was uncontested.

CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS

Incumbent-backed Democrat faces opponent who wants to ‘crush’ insider politics

Civic Media: Former School Board Member, Police Officer, and Local Businessman vie for 65th State Assembly District seat

Assembly stories

Wisconsin Elections Commission challenges Madison’s argument on absentee voting

Wisconsin election officials to force depositions for Madison workers over uncounted ballots

Wisconsin voters whose ballots were not counted in November election seek damages

Wisconsin audit of Trump win finds not a single voting machine error

Some missing Madison ballots could have been counted — if clerk’s staff had acted in time

Wisconsin Elections Commission launches investigation into uncounted Madison ballots

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Assembly District 65

by Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch
September 6, 2024

<h1>Assembly District 65</h1>
<p class="byline">by Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />September 6, 2024</p>
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<figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img src="https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Election-GFX-14-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1291249" style="width:243px;height:auto" /></figure>
<p class="has-text-align-center"><a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?p=1294358">U.S. Senate</a> | <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?p=1294354">U.S. House</a> | <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?p=1294349">State Senate</a> | <strong><a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?p=1291349">Assembly</a></strong> | <a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/?p=1294827">Constitutional amendments</a> </p>
<div class="wp-block-buttons">
<div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button">Find your district</a></div>
<div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button">What to know</a></div>
<div class="wp-block-button"><a class="wp-block-button__link wp-element-button">Key races</a></div>
</p></div>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">THE DISTRICT</h4>
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<div class="wp-block-column">
<div class="flourish-embed flourish-map" data-src="visualisation/18980618"></div>
</p></div>
<div class="wp-block-column">
<p>The 65th Assembly District covers downtown Kenosha and southern parts of Kenosha County, as well as the northern half of the village of Pleasant Prairie. It is a likely Democratic district.</p>
</p></div>
</p></div>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">THE NUTSHELL</h4>
<p>Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, announced he won't seek reelection after serving for a dozen years. Ben DeSmidt of Kenosha, will face former Kenosha police officer Brian Gonzales, a Republican, who is running to improve public safety. DeSmidt, who has been endorsed by Ohnstad, is a former educator and small business owner. He is focused on health care affordability, protecting abortion rights and expanding affordable opportunities for education. DeSmidt is favored to win due to the partisan composition of the district.</p>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">PRIMARY RESULTS</h4>
<p>DeSmidt soundly won the Democratic primary and will face Gonzales who was uncontested.</p>
<h4 class="wp-block-heading">CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS</h4>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio">
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https://youtu.be/KSaOhI7TPJw
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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">READ MORE</h4>
<p><a href="https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/07/wisconsin-democrat-assembly-district-kenosha-desmidt-flood-election/">Incumbent-backed Democrat faces opponent who wants to ‘crush’ insider politics</a></p>
<p><a href="https://wrjn.com/news/2024/04/23/former-k-u-s-d-school-board-member-and-local-community-organizer-kyle-flood-former-kenosha-police-officer-brian-gonzales-and-longtime-local-businessman-and-educator-ben-desmidt-have-announced-their">Civic Media: Former School Board Member, Police Officer, and Local Businessman vie for 65th State Assembly District seat</a></p>
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Assembly stories</h2>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/09/wisconsin-voter-guide-2024-assembly-65/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://wisconsinwatch.org&quot;&gt;Wisconsin Watch&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
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Assembly District 65

Our newsletters:

THE DISTRICT

THE NUTSHELL

PRIMARY RESULTS

CANDIDATE INTERVIEWS

READ MORE

Assembly stories

Wisconsin Elections Commission challenges Madison’s argument on absentee voting

Wisconsin election officials to force depositions for Madison workers over uncounted ballots

Wisconsin voters whose ballots were not counted in November election seek damages

Wisconsin audit of Trump win finds not a single voting machine error

Some missing Madison ballots could have been counted — if clerk’s staff had acted in time

Wisconsin Elections Commission launches investigation into uncounted Madison ballots

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