Senate 14: Ballweg (R) vs Keyeski (D)
Senate District 14 boundaries and landscape have dramatically changed. The Senate now contains parts of Juneau, Sauk, Richland, Columbia and Dane Counties and the municipalities of Wisconsin Dells, Lake Delton, Poynette, Portage, Reedsburg, Richland Center, Baraboo, Prairie Du Sac, Lodi, Columbus (parts) DeForest, Windsor and also the areas of and around Lyndon Station, Wonewoc, LaValle, Ironton, Cazenovia, Lime Ridge, Hill Point, Loganville, Rockbridge, Ithaca, Yuba, Viola, Sylvan, Boaz, Sexton, Gotham, Lone Rock, Spring Green, Plain, Rock Springs, North Freedom, Doylestown, Rio, Wyocena, Fall River, Morrisonville, Leeds and goes down to the Dane County Regional Airport. Wow, what a district!
The Republican
Joan Ballweg (R – Markesan)
Co-owner of farm equipment business. Elected to Markesan City Council, 1987–91; mayor of Markesan, 1991–97; Assembly 2004-2018. Majority Caucus Chair 2013, 2011. Elected to Senate 2020. Majority Caucus Vice-Chair 2023.
Current Committees:
Committee on Agriculture and Tourism (Chair)
Committee on Finance
Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families
Committee on Universities and Revenue
Joint Committee on Finance
Technically Joan Ballweg is the incumbent in this district even though she does not live in it. That is what the redistricting process does sometimes. Ballweg has been around politics and elected to office a long time now. Most recently though she was on the Joint Finance Committee that gutted anything marijuana from the budget and refused to let citizens testify on the issue during the budget public hearing process.
Rep. Ballweg seemed sympathetic back in 2009 while the Republicans were in the minority under a Democrats controlled legislature. 2010 changed as Republicans took control and basically killed everything marijuana related, always. Since then, Rep. Ballweg has really failed on the issue. NOTE: Advisory Referendums on Marijuana in 2018 passed 78% in Marquette County and 80% in Sauk County and Rep. Ballweg Constituent Surveys in 2019 had 73-83% support for cannabis reform and she responded by caring even less about the issue.
Interesting voter demographics in the new Senate District 14
53.1% DEM , 45.7 GOP and 1.2% OTHER. Interesting new district lines for sure. Incumbent Joan Ballweg (R) technically resides in the new 13th Senate District, but currently she represents the 14th district. There are 5 competitive Senate Races and 2 out of those 5 are listed as toss ups. The other 3 races either tilt, lean or are likely Democrat. But in a close district like this, every vote will matter to both parties.
The new 14th is predicted to be a 53% DEM lean and even with that fact, Ballweg has announced her intent to keep the 14th RED! Some election experts have the 2024 Election for Senate 14 as a “toss up” but with a +2% margin to the Democrats some might say it “tilts” Democrat now. No matter the numbers, Joan Ballweg has never ran in a district this close, she was always housed in the GOP stronghold district.
Update: After primary numbers are calculated and new information on candidates was published, sources show this Senate District now trending from ’tilting’ to “leaning” Democrat by as much as +6.
As a side note Senator Marklein was drawn into the 14th and Ballweg was not. Marklein represents the current 17th SD and is expected to continue in that seat through at least the 2026 election, when he would be up for another term.
If 72 year old Ballweg loses her bid will she just retire or will she challenge Senator John Jagler (R) in 2026 for Senate District 13 where she currently resides?
Joan Ballweg (R) remains opposed to any cannabis reform at all and just does not care about the issue. Her official campaign Facebook Page has 203 followers and is following 3.
The Democrat
Sarah Keyeski (D)
Democrat Sarah Keyeski has announced her intent to run in the new SD14. I first spoke to this candidate the fall of 2023 when she was considering an Assembly District run against Jon Plumer before the map changes were settled. At that time Keyeski said “I have not been able to study the issue deeply, yet, but I am open to considering the legalization of marijuana for medical use.“
I then followed up with her again in the Spring of 2024 when I saw she was potentially running for the Senate District 14. At that time she stated “I’m still learning a lot about all of the issues, but I can assure you that decriminalizing marijuana is an important issue to me.”
Now that summer is here, deadlines are met and she is the only Democrat candidate in the race, I followed up with her again. I will help educate her if needed and help her defeat Joan Ballweg.
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 and published their answers on August 21st.
We are not surprised that she 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?
Please follow her campaign Facebook Page Sarah Keyeski for Wisconsin and visit her campaign website for more information on this candidate.
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
