Jesse James (Wisconsin)

Jesse James

Republican Party

Candidate, Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor

Kathy Bernier

Prior offices

Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Successor: Karen Hurd

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Compensation

Base salary

$57,408/year

Per diem

$140/day for senators who reside outside of Dane County; $70/day for Dane County senators

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 8, 2022

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

High school

Eau Claire North High School, 1990

Associate

Chippewa Valley Technical College, 2001

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Years of service

1990 - 1993

Service / branch

U.S. Army Reserve

Years of service

1993 - 1996

Personal

Birthplace

Eau Claire, Wis.

Profession

Law enforcement

Contact

Official website

Official Facebook

Official Twitter

Official Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal LinkedIn

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Jesse James (Republican Party) is a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing District 23. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 4, 2027.

James (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the Wisconsin State Senate to represent District 23. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election.^[source]

Biography

Jesse James was born in Eau Claire, WI, and lives in Altoona, WI. He graduated from Eau Claire North High School in 1990 and went on to serve in the US Army from 1990 to 1993 and as a US Army Reserve medic from 1993-1996. He earned an associate degree in police science from Chippewa Valley Technical College in 2001. James' career experience includes working as a small business owner, a warehouse specialist, a police officer, a SWAT team member, and a firefighter.

He has been a member of Jacob's Well Security Team, Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, AYSCO, and Eau Claire United Soccer Club.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:[email protected].

2023-2024

James was assigned to the following committees:

• Judiciary and Public Safety Committee
• Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children, and Families, Chairman
• Committee on Universities and Revenue, Vice Chairman
• Joint Legislative Audit Committee

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2021-2022

James was assigned to the following committees:

• Children and Families Committee
• Corrections Committee
• Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee
• Family Law Committee, Vice Chair
• Mental Health Committee
• Small Business Development Committee
• Substance Abuse and Prevention Committee, Chair
• Veterans and Military Affairs Committee

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2019-2020

James was assigned to the following committees:

• Children and Families Committee
• Corrections Committee
• Family Law Committee, Vice-Chair
• Small Business Development Committee
• Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
• Environment Committee
• Substance Abuse and Prevention Committee

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Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2026

Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

General election for Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Incumbent Jesse James is running in the general election for Wisconsin State Senate District 23 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jesse James (R)

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Endorsements

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Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2022

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Jesse James won election in the general election for Wisconsin State Senate District 23 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James (R)	94.7	56,391
		Other/Write-in votes	5.3	3,136

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 59,527
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Dan Hardy (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Dan Hardy advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 23 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Dan Hardy (Write-in)	72.3	905
		Other/Write-in votes	27.7	346

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,251
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 23

Jesse James defeated Brian Westrate and Sandra Scholz in the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 23 on August 9, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James	50.0	10,411
	Submit photo	Brian Westrate	37.5	7,809
	Submit photo	Sandra Scholz	12.4	2,588
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	18

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,826
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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2020

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2020

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Incumbent Jesse James defeated Emily Berge in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James (R)	60.9	18,993
	Submit photo	Emily Berge (D)	39.0	12,162
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	7

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 31,162
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Wm Bogdonovich (Independent)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Emily Berge advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Emily Berge	99.9	3,644
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	3

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,647
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Incumbent Jesse James advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on August 11, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James	100.0	4,264
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	1

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,265
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2018

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Jesse James defeated Wendy Sue Johnson in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James (R)	57.6	14,129
	Submit photo	Wendy Sue Johnson (D)	42.4	10,394
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	10

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,533
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Wendy Sue Johnson advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Wendy Sue Johnson	100.0	3,607

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,607
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68

Jesse James advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 on August 14, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jesse James	100.0	3,228

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,228
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jesse James has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Jesse James, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

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2022

Jesse James did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Jesse James did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Jesse James campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Wisconsin State Senate District 23	Won general	$133,103	$97,549
2020	Wisconsin State Assembly District 68	Won general	$94,081	N/A**
Grand total			$227,184	$97,549
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Wisconsin

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Wisconsin scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 16 to March 12. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. Wisconsin Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues. Wisconsin Family Action Legislators are scored by the Wisconsin Family Action on their votes on legislation related to "marriage, family, the sanctity of human life, or religious freedom." Wisconsin Professional Police Association Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community. Wisconsin Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 3 to December 31. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 18 to March 8. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: Senate and House Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. Wisconsin Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues. Wisconsin Family Action Legislators are scored by the Wisconsin Family Action on their votes on legislation related to "marriage, family, the sanctity of human life, or religious freedom." Wisconsin Grocers Association Legislators are scored on their votes on industry-specific legislation. Wisconsin Professional Police Association Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community. Wisconsin Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 4 to December 31. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: Senate and House Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Wisconsin Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues. Wisconsin Family Action Legislators are scored by the Wisconsin Family Action on their votes on legislation related to "marriage, family, the sanctity of human life, or religious freedom." Wisconsin Grocers Association Legislators are scored on their votes on industry-specific legislation. Wisconsin Professional Police Association Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community. Wisconsin Sierra Club Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].

In 2020, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 14 to May 13. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Wisconsin AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor policy. Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position. Wisconsin Professional Police Association Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].

In 2019, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 7, 2019 through January 13, 2020. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Wisconsin AFL-CIO Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor policy. Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position.

See also

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Officeholder

Wisconsin State Senate District 23

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Kathy Bernier (R)	Wisconsin State Senate District 23 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Wisconsin State Assembly District 68 2019-2023	Succeeded by Karen Hurd (R)

[show]

Current members of the Wisconsin State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Mary Felzkowski

Majority Leader:Devin LeMahieu

Minority Leader:Dianne Hesselbein

Senators

District 1

André Jacque (R)

District 2

Eric Wimberger (R)

District 3

Tim Carpenter (D)

District 4

Dora Drake (D)

District 5

Rob Hutton (R)

District 6

LaTonya Johnson (D)

District 7

Chris Larson (D)

District 8

Jodi Sinykin (D)

District 9

Devin LeMahieu (R)

District 10

Rob Stafsholt (R)

District 11

Stephen Nass (R)

District 12

Mary Felzkowski (R)

District 13

John Jagler (R)

District 14

Sarah Keyeski (D)

District 15

Mark Spreitzer (D)

District 16

Melissa Ratcliff (D)

District 17

Howard Marklein (R)

District 18

Kristin Alfheim (D)

District 19

Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R)

District 20

Dan Feyen (R)

District 21

Van Wanggaard (R)

District 22

Robert Wirch (D)

District 23

Jesse James (R)

District 24

Patrick Testin (R)

District 25

Romaine Quinn (R)

District 26

Kelda Roys (D)

District 27

Dianne Hesselbein (D)

District 28

Julian Bradley (R)

District 29

Cory Tomczyk (R)

District 30

Jamie Wall (D)

District 31

Jeff Smith (D)

District 32

Brad Pfaff (D)

District 33

Chris Kapenga (R)

Republican Party (18)

Democratic Party (15)