There will be a new person in the seat for the 50th AD, which covers Green County and parts of Mount Horeb and Oregon, after incumbent Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, announced she would instead run for the 17th SD.

The Democratic primary is between: Bryna Caves, a corrections nurse; Josh Mittness, who works for UScellular and is from rural Monroe; and Bill Oemichen, a professor of practice in law and local government at UW-Madison Extension.

The winner will go on to face Jon Aleckson, a former adjunct professor at UW-Platteville, who was the only Republican to file for candidacy.

The candidates vary in political experience. Oemichen, 56, is the president of the New Glarus School Board and previously served on the St. Croix County Board. Mittness, who turns 39 on primary election day, previously ran for Rock County Board when he was 18. Caves, 40, is a first-time candidate.

Each of the candidates has made expanding access to affordable childcare and healthcare a core tenet of their respective campaigns. Additionally, all candidates stressed the importance of continuing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and the need to increase funding for public schools.

Still, they differ slightly on other policy positions. Caves and Mittness said they support a statewide data center moratorium, while Oemichen said he would only if it was necessary to get proper regulations in place.

Caves pointed to the Wisconsin Farmers Union immigration policy, which calls for a ban on 287 G agreements, which are contracts between local law enforcement and ICE. Oemichen said he was concerned about “lack of due process” being given to those suspected of violating federal immigration laws.

Mittness, meanwhile, said local law enforcement should have no interaction with ICE other than to arrest federal agents if they are breaking state law.

Here is a summary of their interviews with WisPolitics:

Caves said she is focusing her campaign on solutions around healthcare and childcare, informed by her professional background.

The Albany resident said she wants to expand public education to add full-day 3k and proposes using a potential payroll or marijuana tax, if legalized, to help fund the effort.

She’d also like to institute a cap on hospital reimbursements for state healthcare plans, especially if a BadgerCare public option is opened. 

Caves is basing her campaign on “acts of service,” such as promoting local businesses on social media, donating to local organizations and talking to various neighbors.

“I think that we have more leeway to be a little bit more courageous and a little more daring in how we communicate with people, and the Democratic Party is struggling with this freshness and having people feel like we’re for them and that we’re connected, and I think that this is really the grassroots fire that we need to get people to think that this is for them again, instead of just more of the same,” Caves said.

Mittness, grandson of former state Rep. Lew Mittness, said he’s running to be the working class representative in the Assembly that he’d like to see.

He said he’d like to see the state transition to a single-payer healthcare system and fully fund public schools through Assembly Bill 1209, introduced back in March, which would create an additional tax bracket for individuals making $750,000 and above annually and direct that revenue toward school funding.

Mittness, who resides in rural Monroe, said he supports exclusively public funding for elections and believes energy infrastructure should be publicly owned. He’d also like to see PSC be more cautious when approving requested utility rate increases.

“I don’t believe that something that belongs to the people, like our energy infrastructure, should have somebody skimming profits off the top of it in the first place. It should be publicly owned and regulated by the people, and part of the cost increase should not be profits,” Mittness said.

Mittness has been endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold.

Oemichen said he was drawn to run for the Assembly as the New Glarus School District continues to be “punished by the equalization formula.”

As a member of the school board, he said it’s been frustrating to have to go to voters via referendums just to get operating dollars. Oemichen also said he’d like to see more state funding specifically for special education as well as WHEDA funding for affordable housing projects across the state.

He also emphasized his background as a former senior trade and consumer protection leader at the Wisconsin DATCP and said he’s a champion for the state’s dairy industry.

“I’m a person who likes to get things done, and sometimes that requires compromise, sometimes that requires sticking by your principles, but where there’s opportunities to move the state forward and solve problems, I want to be the candidate to get that done,” Oemichen said.

Oemichen has been endorsed by Rep. Mike Bare, D-Verona, and Rep. Clinton Anderson, D-Beloit.