Category: Wisconsin U.S. Senate Race

Six Wisconsin Primary Endorsements for August 11

Illustrated map of Wisconsin featuring Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, Eau Claire and La Crosse, with lakes, forests, farmland, dairy cows, cheese and Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin voters will choose their party nominees on August 11. CIVPAC has endorsed six candidates: one for governor and five for the U.S. House.

The endorsements cross party lines and do not reflect agreement with every position taken by every candidate. They reflect our judgment about the choices available in each primary. We favor candidates who take governing seriously, respect constitutional institutions, recognize economic and political tradeoffs, and offer a practical alternative to the ideological extremes of either party.

David Crowley for Governor

CIVPAC endorses Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the Democratic primary for governor.

Crowley has managed Wisconsin’s largest county, negotiated a difficult fiscal compromise with Republican legislators and demonstrated that he can accept an imperfect agreement when it produces meaningful results. The unusual sequence of withdrawals and reentries in this primary helps explain his long-shot position; it does not make him less qualified. In a closely divided state, Crowley offers a more realistic and governable alternative to democratic socialism.

Mitchell Berman in Wisconsin’s 1st District

CIVPAC endorses Mitchell Berman in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.

Berman is an emergency-room nurse who previously cared for veterans at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. His firsthand experience gives him useful insight into health-care access, cost and administration. His platform still needs greater detail on fiscal policy, immigration and foreign affairs, but he offers Democrats the strongest combination of relevant experience, democratic accountability and campaign capacity in the field.

Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin’s 3rd District

CIVPAC endorses Rebecca Cooke in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s highly competitive 3rd District.

Cooke combines rural roots, small-business experience, political realism and a demonstrated ability to appeal beyond the Democratic base. We do not regard “center-left” as a synonym for centrist or as automatic praise. But center-left is better than far-left, especially when Democratic voters must consider which nominee can actually win a competitive general election.

Niina Threlfall-Baum in Wisconsin’s 7th District

CIVPAC endorses Niina Threlfall-Baum in the Republican primary for the open 7th District seat.

Baum is the clearest moderate and problem-solving Republican in a field that otherwise tilts toward Trump-aligned or ideological candidates. We have reservations about her proposed moratorium on major artificial-intelligence data centers and would like clearer positions on NATO and Ukraine. Even so, her emphasis on fiscal responsibility, local control and practical representation makes her the strongest Republican choice.

Fred Clark in Wisconsin’s 7th District

CIVPAC endorses Fred Clark in the Democratic primary for the same open seat.

Clark is a forester, conservationist, small-business owner and former state legislator with deep knowledge of rural Wisconsin. His approach to immigration combines border enforcement with due process, lawful immigration and realistic workforce needs. He is a center-left Democrat, not a centrist, but his rural credibility, legislative experience and respect for constitutional limits distinguish him from the field.

Endorsing candidates in both party primaries does not predetermine our general-election position. We will evaluate the November choice after voters select the nominees.

Rick Crosson in Wisconsin’s 8th District

CIVPAC endorses Rick Crosson in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 8th District.

Crosson brings two decades of Army service, extensive business and logistics experience, and service on the Green Bay school board. His immigration position is both enforceable and humane, and his military experience gives him a valuable perspective on national security and executive accountability. His opponents offer either a sweeping and risky reconstruction of the federal tax system or democratic-socialist policies well outside CIVPAC’s range.

These endorsements are choices among real candidates, not searches for perfect agreement. Readers can review all of CIVPAC’s 2026 candidate endorsements and races under consideration, follow the links above for the full reasoning, and tell us where they believe we have judged wisely—or gone wrong.

Wisconsin U.S. Senate Race

U.S. Senate Race in Wisconsin.

A Far Right Incumbent

Sen. Ron Johnson (R) is running to retain his seat in the U.S. Senate. Unfortunately, he is far to the right on issues like abortion and climate change and he supports Trump’s outrageous claims about the 2020 election. He is also endorsed by Donald Trump.

A Far Left Challenger

Given all of the above, the Centrist Independent Voter would probably endorse Johnson’s opponent. Sadly, Mandela Barnes (D) is a self-described Progressive and a member of the Working Families Party. His positions on most issues are on the far left of the political spectrum.

Wisconsin is an excellent example of what happens when the base of both parties get to choose who we can vote for in the general election. I cannot in good conscience recommend endorsing either of them.

The Alternative

There is a third party, write-in candidate, Scott Aubart, from the American Independent Party. Aubart does not have a serious chance of winning, so voting for him is really a protest vote. I do not normally recommend protest votes, feeling that it is better to choose the lesser of two evils. I will, therefore, stop short of endorsing Aubart. You should check out his website. He is hard to pin down in terms of political philosophy. He claims to be centrist. He appears to be pro-abortion rights and pro-gun rights (with some interesting reservations in both areas). He is no libertarian, he recommends larger government in the areas of health care and education. He is interesting.

The Best Outcome

If the margin of victory for the winner in this race is far less than the vote for the third party candidate, it might make it clear to both parties that they need to turn toward the center. That would be a good thing.