Rep. Behnke does not live in the northern WI district he is running for

State law does not prohibit a person from running in a district where they do not live, but they must move there before running for office. Behnke says he will rent something in the new area before moving there permanently with his family.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

The latest round of redistricting in Wisconsin hit like a thunderbolt the political status quo in the state.

The new political maps that Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, submitted to the state Supreme Court and approved by the Republican-controlled state Senate and Assembly not only made the Legislature competitive for the first time in more than a decade, but also many Incumbents relocated to new districts.

One of them was Rep. Elijah Behnke, a Republican who lives about 30 miles north of the city of Green Bay near Lake Michigan.

Behnke then made the surprising decision not to run in the 4th electoral district, where he calls home, and instead decided to announce his candidacy in the 6th electoral district, which borders to the west.

Asked via email about his plans if he wins, Behnke, who is married with two children, said: “I will be renting in the city of Chase (in the 6th Constituency) while we search for ours.” Looking for a forever home,” Behnke wrote .

State law only requires representatives to live in the district they represent once they take office, which would be the case for Behnke in January. You don’t have to live in a district to run for office there.

Why did Behnke decide to run in a district where he didn’t live?

Behnke noted that he currently lives near the county line and prefers to represent a more rural district rather than the 4th District, which includes Green Bay’s northern suburbs.

“I grew up on a dairy farm with 40 cows and 120 acres,” he wrote in an email. “Often small farms and rural towns in Madison are forgotten. I want to be a voice for those who can’t afford a lobbyist. We lost the family barn in 2022 and were planning to move in the fall of 2023. It was not an easy decision, but through prayers and many family discussions we came to the conclusion that this was what was best for our family.”

In any case, Behnke had to run a primary against an incumbent from his own party because Republican state representatives already lived in both the 4th and 6th districts. But the 4th state was home to Rep. Pete Schmidt, who pleaded no contest in 2019 to two misdemeanor charges stemming from an incident in which he was accused of choking a worker on his farm.

Schmidt was first elected to the seat in 2022, but lost heavily to Behnke’s primary challenger in August.

In an interview with Wisconsin Watch, Behnke agreed that Schmidt is an “easier target” than state Rep. David Steffen, who lives in the 6th and is running to represent him this year.

Instead, Behnke’s father, Darwin Behnke, ran in the Republican primary in August to unseat Steffen, but was defeated by the incumbent.

In the general election, Elijah Benhke is being challenged by Shawano Democrat Shirley Hinze, a long-term candidate who does not have a campaign website.

Behnke, who promotes “Conservative Family Values” and promotes being “an active member of my faith community” on his website, was secretly filmed in 2022 saying that Republicans “should cheat like Democrats” to win future elections , and that he “beat” Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

He later told a reporter that he regretted his choice of words.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported nonprofit journalism organization in Wisconsin.

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