This year, the Wisconsin Legislature is seeing an exodus of Republican incumbents, including eight in the Assembly, six in the Senate.
Wisconsin’s Assembly District 21 (AD-21) is no different, with the departure of Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, as Democrats try to end a 16-year GOP stranglehold on the legislative branch.
Rodriguez is walking away from her 21st District seat in the Milwaukee suburbs, a seat that has shifted Democratic in recent years. Since 2016, Democrats have swept every election there, including president, governor, and US Senate. The only outlier had been Rodriguez.
Republicans controlled the Assembly this session, 54-45, but Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz hopes to be among the Democrats flipping seats in November.
This is only the second election since the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the Republican-drawn legislative maps in 2023.
Dan Bukiewicz
Bukiewicz was born and raised in Milwaukee and is the current mayor of Oak Creek. Before becoming mayor, he served as an alderman for five terms.
Bukiewicz has served as president of the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council since 2014, representing more than 15,000 union tradeswomen and tradesmen.
He has been endorsed by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, US Rep. Gwen Moore, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Assembly Democratic Leader Greta Neubauer, and former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
In the Aug. 11 primary, he faced off against progressive David Liners. Bukiewicz won with about 58% of the vote.
“Now it is time to come together as Democrats and focus on what matters most—winning in November,” Bukiewicz said after his win in the primary election. “Working families across this district cannot afford Republican leadership that has failed them on wages, costs, and schools. I am ready to fight for every single voter in the 21st District and I look forward to earning their support.”
According to his campaign website, Bukiewicz lists his priorities as keeping communities safe, lowering costs for families, and supporting public education.
“My style is very much partnerships,” Bukiewicz said in an interview with the Daily Reporter. “Everything I do, whether it’s when I was in the field, working as a working guy, doing customer service, or whether I was at the building trades, working on developments or workforce development, or at City of Oak Creek, I never started [at] no.”
Nov. 3 general election
Bukiewicz will go on to face Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach, an Oak Creek resident and Carroll University student, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Pfaffenbach has been endorsed by Rep. Bob Donovan, state Sen. Julian Bradley, and conservative Milwaukee County Supervisor Patti Logsdon.
According to Marquette Law School, AD-21 is likely to lean Democratic in the upcoming election with the Rodriguez retirement.
After the election of President Donald Trump, the moderate right lean of the district has faded. In 2016, Republican US Sen. Ron Johnson won with 53% of the vote, and Trump narrowly lost by only 68 votes. In 2020 and 2024 respectively, Trump lost by 1,541 and 1,385 votes.
