Wisconsin's 88th Assembly district

Wisconsin's 88th 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	Ben Franklin R – De Pere since January 6, 2025 (0 years)
Demographics	84.87%  White 3.45%  Black 15.9%  Hispanic 2.98%  Asian 2.36%  Native American 0.13%  Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	59,855 47,127
Website	Official website
Notes	Green Bay metro area

The 88th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. ^[1] Located in Northeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises parts of central Brown County. It includes the city of De Pere, the villages of Allouez and Bellevue, and a small part of the city of Green Bay. The district also contains landmarks such as St. Norbert College and the De Pere Lock and Dam Historic District. ^[2] The district is represented by Ben Franklin, since January 2025. ^[3]

The 88th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 30th Senate district, along with the 89th and 90th Assembly districts. ^[4]

• 
  St. Norbert College
• 
  De Pere Dam on the Fox River
• 
  Downtown De Pere

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] Under the 1972 plan, the 88th district did not closely resemble any of the districts under the previous maps, it comprised parts of eastern Marinette and Oconto counties.

Under the 1982 court-ordered redistricting plan, the district was briefly moved to east-central Wisconsin, comprising much of southern Winnebago County and central Fond du Lac County. The 1983 redistricting reverted the 88th district back to its prior location, but added parts of Shawano County. The 1992 court-ordered redistricting plan moved the 88th district into the east side of the city of Green Bay, with the 89th district taking over much of what had been the 88th district. The district remained in that area with only slight boundary changes in the 2002 redistricting. The 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) removed most of central Green Bay from the district in order to pack Democratic votes into the 90th district. The 88th district shifted into the neighboring village of Bellevue, the towns of Ledgeview and Glenmore, and part of the city of De Pere. The 2022 court-ordered redistricting mostly preserved this configuration, giving the district a mostly rural character.

The 2024 redistricting (2023 Wisc. Act 94) moved the 88th district closer into the Green Bay metro area, adding all of the city of De Pere, all the territory of the villages of Allouez and Bellevue, and part of the city of Green Bay, itself. Rural towns were mostly removed from the district. Under the new map configuration, the 88th Assembly district is projected to be one of the most competitive districts in the state legislature.

List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 88th district

Member	Party	Residence	Counties represented	Term start	Term end	Ref.
District created
Richard P. Matty	Rep.	Stephenson	Marinette, Oconto	January 1, 1973	January 3, 1983
Esther Doughty Luckhardt	Rep.	Horicon	Dodge, Fond du Lac, Washington	January 3, 1983	January 7, 1985
Richard P. Matty	Rep.	Stephenson	Marinette, Oconto, Shawano	January 7, 1985	August 4, 1987
--Vacant--				August 4, 1987	October 12, 1987
John Gard	Rep.	Peshtigo		October 12, 1987	January 4, 1993
Rosemary Hinkfuss	Dem.	Green Bay	Brown	January 4, 1993	January 2, 1995
Carol Kelso	Rep.			January 2, 1995	January 1, 2001
Judy Krawczyk	Rep.			January 1, 2001	January 3, 2007
James Soletski	Dem.			January 3, 2007	January 3, 2011
John Klenke	Rep.			January 3, 2011	January 5, 2015	[6]
John Macco	Rep.	Ledgeview		January 5, 2015	January 6, 2025	[7]
Ben Franklin	Rep.	De Pere		January 6, 2025	Current	[3]

Electoral history

Year	Date	Elected				Defeated				Total	Plurality	Other primary candidates
1972 [8]	Nov. 7	Richard P. Matty	Republican	10,720	59.19%	Robert La Count	Dem.	7,390	40.81%	18,110	3,330	John E. Blackowiak (Dem.) Robert LaCount (Dem.) Stanley J. Leja (Dem.) James R. Hertwig (Rep.)
1974 [9]	Nov. 5	Richard P. Matty (inc)	Republican	9,769	67.70%	James G. O'Donahue	Dem.	4,661	32.30%	14,430	5,108
1976 [10]	Nov. 2	Richard P. Matty (inc.)	Republican	14,344	70.60%	Carl E. Krog	Dem.	5,974	29.40%	20,318	8,370
1978 [11]	Nov. 7	Richard P. Matty (inc.)	Republican	10,876	69.11%	Joseph Donovan Jr.	Dem.	4,861	30.89%	15,737	6,015
1980 [12]	Nov. 4	Richard P. Matty (inc.)	Republican	15,891	73.14%	Gene L. Oatman	Dem.	5,835	26.86%	21,726	10,056
1982 [13]	Nov. 2	Esther Doughty Luckhardt	Republican	6,946	49.71%	Patricia Gruber Jerominski	Dem.	6,869	49.16%	13,973	77
						Carol Neumann	Con.	6,869	49.16%
1984 [14]	Nov. 6	Richard P. Matty	Republican	11,791	58.18%	Douglas T. Oitzinger	Dem.	8,475	41.82%	20,266	3,316
1986 [15]	Nov. 4	Richard P. Matty (inc)	Republican	10,827	100.0%					10,827	10,827	Richard C. Johnson (Rep.)
1987 [16]	Oct. 6	John Gard	Republican	5,037	51.59%	Charles J. Boyle	Dem.	4,726	48.41%	9,763	311	Jason L. Maloney (Dem.) Tim A. Duket (Rep.) Walter C. Hitt (Rep.) Richard C. Johnson (Rep.) Danny J. Kanack (Rep.) Corliss A. Lightner (Rep.) Harold A. Pierce (Rep.)
1988 [16]	Nov. 8	John Gard (inc)	Republican	11,624	59.71%	Gary Potasnik	Dem.	7,843	40.29%	19,467	3,781
1990 [17]	Nov. 6	John Gard (inc)	Republican	6,991	50.16%	Scott A. McCormick	Dem.	6,946	49.84%	13,937	45
1992 [18]	Nov. 3	Rosemary Hinkfuss	Democratic	12,246	58.38%	Robert J. Loy	Rep.	8,731	41.62%	20,977	3,515
1994 [19]	Nov. 8	Carol Kelso	Republican	8,223	56.39%	Rosemary Hinkfuss (inc)	Dem.	6,360	43.61%	14,583	1,863	Robert L. Menner (Rep.)
1996 [20]	Nov. 5	Carol Kelso (inc)	Republican	11,067	100.0%					11,067	11,067
1998 [21]	Nov. 3	Carol Kelso (inc)	Republican	8,783	56.93%	Lori Nelson	Dem.	6,646	43.07%	15,429	2,137
2000 [22]	Nov. 7	Judy Krawczyk	Republican	11,078	50.32%	Steve Peggs	Dem.	10,898	49.50%	22,015	180	Jack Krueger (Dem.) Michael Bina (Rep.)
2002 [23]	Nov. 5	Judy Krawczyk (inc)	Republican	8,157	60.41%	Bryan Milz	Dem.	4,794	35.50%	13,503	3,363
						Dan Senglaub	Lib.	541	4.01%
2004 [24]	Nov. 2	Judy Krawczyk (inc)	Republican	13,174	54.24%	Dan Aude	Dem.	11,093	45.67%	24,290	2,081
2006 [25]	Nov. 7	James Soletski	Democratic	8,927	50.15%	Judy Krawczyk (inc)	Rep.	8,851	49.72%	17,800	76	Dan Aude (Dem.)
2008 [26]	Nov. 4	James Soletski (inc)	Democratic	13,155	55.86%	Tony Theisen	Rep.	10,368	44.03%	23,548	2,787
2010 [27]	Nov. 2	John Klenke	Republican	8,224	50.74%	James Soletski (inc)	Dem.	7,957	49.09%	16,209	267
2012 [28]	Nov. 6	John Klenke (inc)	Republican	14,445	52.40%	Ward Bacon	Dem.	13,085	47.47%	27,566	1,360
2014 [29]	Nov. 4	John Macco	Republican	12,915	56.20%	Dan Robinson	Dem.	10,046	43.72%	22,980	2,869
2016 [30]	Nov. 8	John Macco (inc)	Republican	17,742	60.99%	Noah Reif	Dem.	11,312	38.88%	29,091	6,430
2018 [31]	Nov. 6	John Macco (inc)	Republican	14,628	53.31%	Tom Sieber	Dem.	12,793	46.62%	27,440	1,835
2020 [32]	Nov. 3	John Macco (inc)	Republican	17,214	52.31%	Kristin Lyerly	Dem.	15,673	47.63%	32,906	1,541
2022 [33]	Nov. 8	John Macco (inc)	Republican	14,451	58.14%	Hannah Beauchamp-Pope	Dem.	10,384	41.78%	24,854	4,067

References

1. "Assembly District 88". Wisconsin Legislature . Retrieved January 19, 2021.
2. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 88 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature . Retrieved January 19, 2021.
3. "Representative Ben Franklin". Wisconsin Legislature . 2025. Retrieved January 9, 2025.
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 January 22, 2021.
6. "Representative John Klenke". Wisconsin Legislature . Retrieved February 5, 2021.
7. "Representative John Macco". Wisconsin Legislature . Retrieved January 19, 2021.
8. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1973). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  810, 828 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
9. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1975). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1975 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  810, 831 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
10. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1977). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  894, 916 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
11. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1979). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1979–1980 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  908, 926 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
12. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1981). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1981–1982 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  896, 917 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
13. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1983). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1983–1984 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  891, 912 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
14. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1985). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1985–1986 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  909, 927 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
15. Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S., eds. (1987). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1987–1988 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  890, 909 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
16. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1989). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1989–1990 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  909, 912, 925, 927 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
17. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1991). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1991–1992 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  901, 917 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
18. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1993). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1993–1994 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  906, 923 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
19. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1995). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1995–1996 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  905, 923 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
20. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1997). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1997–1998 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  902, 905 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
21. Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E., eds. (1999). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1999–2000 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp.  881, 884 . Retrieved May 3, 2024.
22. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. May 10, 2001. p. 39. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
23. Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 2, 2002. p. 40. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
24. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2004 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2004. p. 41. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
25. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 5, 2006. p. 40. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
26. Results of Fall General Election - 11/04/2008 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2008. p. 37. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
27. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2010 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 29. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
28. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 29. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Historical Society.
29. Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 28. Retrieved May 3, 2024– via Wisconsin Elections Commission.
30. Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. pp. 28–29. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
31. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 29. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
32. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 28. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
33. Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 29. Retrieved May 3, 2024.