Ismael Luna easily knocked off state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez in the Dem primary for her Milwaukee-based seat after the ADCC and other Dem groups got behind his campaign.

Meanwhile, five other lawmakers turned away primary challenges.

Ortiz-Velez, who first won her seat in 2020, broke with the Dem caucus last year after colleagues accused her of threatening to shoot them. That followed a rift between Ortiz-Velez and members of the Hispanic Caucus over resolutions to honor Hispanic Heritage Month and Hispanic veterans.

The Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee accounted for $110,721 in contributions to Luna’s campaign, including $92,000 in transfers. He had raised $113,896 through the end of the pre-primary period July 27.

Through Tuesday, groups had also reported spending $41,997 on independent expenditures to back Luna, a case manager for homeless women at the Cathedral Center in Milwaukee. That includes the Voces de la Frontera Political Fund, the Power to the Polls Action Fund and the Working Families Party PAC.

Meanwhile, groups reported spending $15,983 on independent expenditures to back Ortiz-Velez. That includes $7,050 on online ads and phones by the Jobs First Coalition Political Fund, which typically backs Republican candidates.

“For too long, the South Side has been told to wait,” Luna said. “Wait for better schools. Wait for safer streets. Wait for housing we can afford. No más. The waiting ends now. And I’m not going to Madison alone. I’m bringing this whole community with me.”

According to unofficial returns, Luna had 70.25% of the vote.

In other races where incumbents faced primary challenges:

*Rep. Priscilla Prado, D-Milwaukee, beat Mimi Reza, a member of the Milwaukee School Board, with 69% of the vote. Reza was backed by Ortiz-Velez, but no groups reported independent expenditures on her behalf. Prado took 70.7% of the vote.

*Rep. Russell Goodwin, D-Milwaukee, beat back a challenge from Jordan Roman, a former president for the Milwaukee Urban League, with 53.9%. Roman outraised Goodwin more than 4-to-1 through the end of the pre-primary period and had outside help from LGBTQ+ advocacy group Fair Wisconsin PAC. Some targeted Goodwin because he voted for a GOP-authored bill to ban transgender athletes from playing on sports teams designed for girls and women.

*Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, turned away a challenge from Bridget Maniaci, a small business owner and former Madison alderwoman. Two years ago, Clancy beat a primary challenger with 54.8% of the vote as some outside groups targeted him for comments over the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Despite no independent expenditures on Maniaci’s behalf, Clancy’s margin of victory shrank slightly to 54.3%. 

*Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, beat Steve Rydzewski, a Beaver Dam man who has spent most of his career working in cheese factories, in a rematch of their 2024 primary. Born won that race by nearly 40 points, though Rydzewski sought to make a Beaver Dam data center a major issue in their race. Born won the rematch with 65.7%, a margin of more than 31 points.

*Rep. Chanz Green, R-Mason, won his rematch with Scott Harbridge, a Radisson man who served in the Army and worked as a sergeant for the Department of Corrections, despite some late efforts by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on the challenger’s behalf. Green won with 54.6% of the vote two years ago and had more than 65% of the vote with some returns still out today. On Sunday, Harbridge posted a video of Duffy calling him “America first, Wisconsin first.” It came after Green told a podcast last week that he believed Kevin Hermening was the better candidate in the 7th CD GOP primary over Duffy’s son-in-law, Michael Alfonso.