AD 27: Lindee Brill (R) vs Kay Ladson (D)
The 27th Assembly District is located in eastern Wisconsin, the district comprises much of Sheboygan County and parts of southeast Manitowoc County and northeast Fond du Lac County. It includes the cities of Sheboygan Falls, Plymouth, and Kiel, and the villages of Oostburg, Elkhart Lake, Howards Grove, and Kohler and Greenbush, Cascade, St. Cloud, Malone, Waldo, Saint Peter, Mount Calvary and Oostburg. It also contains Lakeland University, the Blackwolf Run golf course, the Road America motorsport course, and the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport. 67.5% Republican favored district.
Back in April when I first covered this district, The Republican Incumbent Katsma was the 19th member of the Assembly to announce plans to retire or to seek another office. Six of them are Republicans. By the time all the dust settled, at least 61 members of the state Assembly and Senate did not run again in their old districts. Of those, 41 are Republicans and 20 are Democrats.
That means there will be lots of new faces in the elected body come January 2025.
We expected a close primary battle in this district and we got one. That win all but assures the Republican gets the job.
Lindee Rae Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls)
Brill narrowly won her primary (51.4%) in August to Brian Hilbelink (R-Oostburg) by only 249 votes.
Her campaign website did say she has both volunteered and worked in the non-profit sector, so she understands the importance of helping those in our community that are most in need. She says The Bible is her guide.
In April, Brill told me that she does not support the legalization of marijuana for recreational use but is open to discussing cannabis reform.
I followed up with her in early October and she really did emphasis her faith based Christian viewpoints community work drive her on this issue. Voters in the district are encouraged reach out to her directly should they wish to discuss it with her more and she agreed to receive my emails. Some of the items we discussed were the gateway theory / slippery slope theory, fentanyl in cannabis and a little bit about cannabis used in harm reduction.
Overall I don’t think she is by any means an expert on the 2018 Farm Bill, but did not seem to happy about “CBD” stores in Sheboygan County selling drug paraphernalia that are then used as crack pipes. We briefly touched on the intoxicating hemp products, but I think our conversation was already over at that point. I did promise to make her office one of the first I visit in Madison this coming January if she was elected.
Please do not hesitate to contact her on her campaign facebook page.
Kay Ladson (D-Fond du Lac)
Although Kay has let her feelings and opinions known that she would protect the Wisconsin Industrial Hemp Cannabis industry and support legalization of marijuana, but she is asking voters in the district if they care about this topic also with a survey on her website.
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 and official 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 (Solid R +31) WisPolitics /2024 Assembly Races (67% Rep), Davesredistircing, PeoplesMaps, Ballotpedia
