Wisconsin's 68th Assembly district

Wisconsin's 68th State Assembly district
From 2024 to 2031 From 2022 to 2023 From 2012 to 2021 2024 map defined in 2023 Wisc. Act 94 2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in 2011 Wisc. Act 43
Assemblymember	Karen Hurd R–Fall Creek since January 3, 2023 (1 years)
Demographics	95.34% White 0.36% Black 1.16% Hispanic 0.6% Asian 1.46% Native American 0.22% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	59,902 47,350
Website	Official website
Notes	Northwest Wisconsin

The 68th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.^[1] Located in northwestern Wisconsin, the district comprises all of Price and Rusk counties, and most of Chippewa and Taylor counties. It includes the cities of Bloomer, Cornell, Ladysmith, Park Falls, and Phillips, and the villages of Bruce, Catawba, Conrath, Gilman, Glen Flora, Hawkins, Ingram, Kennan, Lublin, Prentice, Rib Lake, Sheldon, Tony, and Weyerhaeuser. The district also contains Lake Wissota State Park, Brunet Island State Park, and Timms Hill—the highest natural point in the state of Wisconsin.^[2] The district is represented by Republican Karen Hurd, since January 2023.^[3]

The 68th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 23rd Senate district, along with the 67th and 69th Assembly districts.^[4]

• 
  Timms Hill
• 
  Lake Wissota State Park
• 
  Phillips, Wisconsin
• 
  Prentice, Wisconsin
• 
  Brunet Island State Park

History

The district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties.^[5] The 68th district was drawn mostly in line with the former Eau Claire County 1st district (most of the city of Eau Claire), but added all of the remaining precincts of the city of Eau Claire. The last representative of the Eau Claire County 1st district, Joseph Looby, went on to win the first election to represent the 68th Assembly district.

The district boundaries have shifted over the various redistricting schemes since 1983, though the district had remained anchored on the city of Eau Claire until the controversial 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) which divided the city between the 68th and 91st Assembly districts, and added vast stretches of Clark County and parts of Jackson and Trempealeau counties to the 68th district. Under the 2022 court-ordered redistricting, barely any of the city of Eau Claire remains in this district. The 2024 redistricting completely removed the district from Eau Claire County, shifting it north to rural Chippewa, Rusk, Price, and Taylor counties.

List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 68th district

Member	Party	Residence	Counties represented	Term start	Term end	Ref.
District created
Joseph Looby	Dem.	Eau Claire	Chippewa, Eau Claire	January 1, 1973	January 1, 1979
William P. Gagin	Rep.	Eau Claire		January 1, 1979	January 5, 1981
Joseph Looby	Dem.	Eau Claire		January 5, 1981	January 3, 1983
John M. Young	Rep.	Brookfield	Milwaukee, Waukesha	January 3, 1983	January 7, 1985
Joseph Looby	Dem.	Eau Claire	Chippewa, Eau Claire, Taylor	January 7, 1985	January 2, 1989
David Zien	Rep.	Eau Claire		January 2, 1989	April 12, 1993
--Vacant--			Chippewa, Eau Claire	April 12, 1993	July 9, 1993
David Plombon	Dem.	Stanley		July 9, 1993	January 6, 1997
Chuck Schafer	Rep.	Lafayette		January 6, 1997	January 4, 1999
Larry Balow	Dem.	Eau Claire		January 4, 1999	January 3, 2005
Terry Moulton	Rep.	Chippewa Falls		January 3, 2005	January 5, 2009
Kristen Dexter	Dem.	Eau Claire		January 5, 2009	January 3, 2011
Kathy Bernier	Rep.	Chippewa Falls	Chippewa, Clark, Eau Claire, Jackson, Trempealeau	January 3, 2011	January 7, 2019	[6]
Jesse L. James	Rep.	Altoona		January 7, 2019	January 2, 2023	[7]
Karen Hurd	Rep.	Fall Creek	Chippewa, Clark, Eau Claire	January 3, 2023	Current	[3]

Electoral history

Year	Date	Elected				Defeated				Total	Plurality	Other primary candidates
1972[8]	Nov. 7	Joseph Looby	Democratic	12,599	59.07%	David Duax	Rep.	8,730	40.93%	21,329	3,869
1974[9]	Nov. 5	Joseph Looby (inc.)	Democratic	9,507	90.00%	Joseph L. Larson	Amer.	1,056	10.00%	10,563	8,451
1976[10]	Nov. 2	Joseph Looby (inc.)	Democratic	13,263	61.14%	Gerald R. Ritsch	Rep.	8,430	38.86%	21,693	4,833	Roger C. Wold (Dem.) Anthony J. LaChappelle (Rep.) Joseph L. Larson (Rep.)
1978[11]	Nov. 7	William P. Gagin	Republican	7,382	50.10%	Joseph Looby (inc.)	Dem.	7,353	49.90%	14,735	29
1980[12]	Nov. 4	Joseph Looby	Democratic	13,398	57.20%	William P. Gagin (inc.)	Rep.	10,025	42.80%	23,423	3,373	Mark D. Lewis (Dem.) Martin A. Grindeland (Dem.)
1982[13]	Nov. 2	John M. Young	Republican	11,210	100.00%					11,210	11,210	Jerome P. Delfeld (Rep.)
1984[14]	Nov. 6	Joseph Looby	Democratic	12,878	63.14%	Allan G. Brown	Rep.	7,518	36.86%	20,396	5,360
1986[15]	Nov. 4	Joseph Looby (inc.)	Democratic	7,470	50.82%	David A. Zien	Rep.	7,228	49.18%	14,698	242	Norman Gillette (Rep.)
1988[16]	Nov. 8	David A. Zien	Republican	11,093	52.65%	Joseph Looby (inc.)	Dem.	9,978	47.35%	21,071	1,115	Douglas A. Kranig (Rep.)
1990[17]	Nov. 6	David A. Zien (inc.)	Republican	8,337	52.92%	Colleen A. Bates	Dem.	7,416	47.08%	15,753	921
1992[18]	Nov. 3	David A. Zien (inc.)	Republican	13,466	53.40%	Colleen A. Bates	Dem.	11,752	46.60%	25,218	1,714	Richard Postlewaite (Dem.)
1993[18][19]	June 29	David Plombon	Democratic	4,161	51.05%	Wayne E. Laufenberg	Rep.	3,990	48.95%	8,151	171	Louis P. Hebert Jr. (Dem.) Howard J. Ludwigson (Rep.) Fred S. Poquette (Rep.) Charles G. Barlow (Rep.) Maynard Hopkins (Rep.) Paul M. Pettis (Rep.)
1994[20]	Nov. 8	David Plombon (inc.)	Democratic	7,750	50.12%	Wayne E. Laufenberg	Rep.	7,217	46.67%	15,464	533	Darold E. Wall (Dem.) Frank Lach (Dem.) Kevin J. Dickinson (Rep.)
						Mark S. Lawrence	Ind.	497	3.21%
1996[21]	Nov. 5	Chuck Schafer	Republican	11,010	53.01%	David Plombon (inc.)	Dem.	9,758	46.99%	20,768	1,252	Steve Kaste (Dem.) Jeffrey Wood (Rep.) Violet M. Dawes (Rep.)
1998[22]	Nov. 3	Larry Balow	Democratic	8,210	51.42%	Chuck Schafer (inc.)	Rep.	7,758	48.58%	15,968	452
2000[23]	Nov. 7	Larry Balow (inc.)	Democratic	12,909	53.47%	Howard J. Ludwigson	Rep.	11,205	46.41%	24,143	1,704	Violet M. Dawes (Rep.)
2002[24]	Nov. 5	Larry Balow (inc.)	Democratic	9,341	51.27%	Terry Moulton	Rep.	8,858	48.62%	18,218	483
2004[25]	Nov. 2	Terry Moulton	Republican	16,665	54.09%	Joe Bee Xiong	Dem.	14,094	45.74%	30,810	2,571
2006[26]	Nov. 7	Terry Moulton (inc.)	Republican	11,143	51.24%	Michael A. Turner	Dem.	10,594	48.71%	21,747	549
2008[27]	Nov. 4	Kristen Dexter	Democratic	15,437	50.35%	Terry Moulton (inc.)	Rep.	15,165	49.47%	30,657	272
2010[28]	Nov. 2	Kathy Bernier	Republican	10,765	50.15%	Kristen Dexter (inc.)	Dem.	10,673	49.73%	21,464	92
2012[29]	Nov. 6	Kathy Bernier (inc.)	Republican	13,758	52.39%	Judy Smriga	Dem.	12,482	47.53%	26,263	1,276
2014[30]	Nov. 4	Kathy Bernier (inc.)	Republican	11,289	52.82%	Jeff Peck	Dem.	10,076	47.15%	21,371	1,213
2016[31]	Nov. 8	Kathy Bernier (inc.)	Republican	15,628	58.05%	Howard White	Dem.	11,263	41.83%	26,923	4,365
2018[32]	Nov. 6	Jesse L. James	Republican	14,129	57.59%	Wendy Sue Johnson	Dem.	10,394	42.37%	24,533	3,735
2020[33]	Nov. 3	Jesse L. James (inc.)	Republican	18,993	60.95%	Emily Berge	Dem.	12,162	39.03%	31,162	6,831
2020[34]	Nov. 8	Karen Hurd	Republican	14,338	60.68%	Nate Otto	Dem.	9,273	39.25%	23,627	5,065	Hillarie Roth (Rep.) Chris Connell (Rep.)

References

1. "Assembly District 68". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
2. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 68 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
3. "Representative Karen R. Hurd". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
4. An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting (Act 94). Wisconsin Legislature. 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
5. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Legislature" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 227–230. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
6. "Representative Kathleen Bernier". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
7. "Representative Jesse L. James". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
8. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 809, 828. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
9. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1975). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1975 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 809, 830. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
10. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1977). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 894, 916. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
11. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1979). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1979-1980 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 907, 925. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
12. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1981). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1981-1982 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 895, 916. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
13. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1983). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 890, 911. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
14. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1985). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 908, 926. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
15. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1987). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1987-1988 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 889–890, 908. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
16. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1989). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1989-1990 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 911, 926. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
17. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1991). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 901, 916. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
18. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1993). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1993-1994 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 905–906, 923. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
19. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1993). "Addenda" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1993-1994 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 969. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
20. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1995). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.). State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 905, 923. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
21. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1997). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.). State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 901, 905. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
22. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1999). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 880, 883. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
23. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. May 10, 2001. p. 32. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
24. Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 2, 2002. p. 34. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
25. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2004 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2004. p. 34. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
26. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 5, 2006. p. 34. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
27. Results of Fall General Election - 11/04/2008 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. November 25, 2008. p. 32. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
28. 2010 Fall General Election Results Summary.pdf (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. pp. 25–26. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
29. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 25. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
30. Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 24. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
31. Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. p. 24. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
32. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 24. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
33. Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. p. 24. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
34. Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 24. Retrieved December 1, 2022.