A pair of former Assembly lawmakers looking to return to the statehouse, this time to serve in the Senate, won primaries in some of the state’s most conservative districts.

Former state Rep. Ellen Schutt of Clinton won the GOP primary in the 11th Senate District with 50.8% of the vote. Schutt previously served in the Assembly from 2023-2025 and did not seek reelection following redistricting.

Schutt will look to succeed Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, after he decided not to seek reelection. Nass has been known as one of the most conservative members of the Republican caucus.

Schutt faced two other primary challengers in Kenosha County GOP Chair Sandy Wiedmeyer and U.S. Army Special Forces veteran and car dealership owner Nick Polce, of Lake Geneva. Polce dropped his bid for lieutenant governor to run for state Senate. 

Polce secured 20% of the votes, and Wiedmeyer received 29.3%. In November, Schutt will face Adam Duda, a software engineer from East Troy who won the Democratic primary with 59.7% of votes.

In the northern 25th Senate District, former Rep. Erik Severson, of Star Prairie, won the GOP primary over another former state lawmaker, Angie Sapik, of Lake Nebagamon.

Severson served in the Assembly from 2011 to 2015.

He will face Democrat Charly Ray, a Bayfield County Board supervisor who ran unopposed, in November. The winner will fill the 25th SD, which Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, left open when he decided to run in the 23rd SD under maps put in place two years ago.

In another one of the state’s strongly GOP districts, Nic Cravillion, an Army veteran, will look to follow Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken, after he won the GOP primary in the 1st SD 44.7% of the vote. Cravillion has served as Jacque’s district director.

Former Calumet County GOP Chair Barbara Bittner received 21.8% of the votes, while Katie Baney, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, received 19.8%. And Wisconsin National Guard veteran Jacob Vandenplas received 13.7%.

Cravillion will face former Brown County Republican Party Chair Mark Becker, who is running as an independent, in November.