Juliana Bennett, a former City of Madison alder, caregiver, and community organizer, is running to represent the 76th District in the Wisconsin State Assembly, and she believes her grassroots credentials and platform are perfect for the Madison East Side district she would like to serve.
“This race is about how we are going to move in government and how we are going to use this position. I have a very clear track record and background of being a fighter and a doer,” Bennett tells Madison365. “On the Madison Common Council, I led the charge on all the housing initiatives that are happening right now, including legalizing duplexes citywide, including passing over 1,000 units of affordable housing. I am the candidate that has drafted and passed original legislation as an alder.”
Bennett, who is the chief of staff for State Rep. Angelito Tenorio, was first elected to the Common Council in 2021 at just 21 years old, and she served for four years. Three years ago, her dad suffered from cardiac arrest and had a 6 percent chance of surviving. Her father beat the odds, but his life came at the cost of a $500,000 medical bill.
“My dad was evicted, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was sitting on the City Council. I had all the connections. I just graduated from UW-Madison with degrees in real estate and political science, and I just started my job at the Wisconsin Housing Economic Development Authority, or WHEDA,” Bennett remembers. “But at the end of the day, when it comes to protecting tenants and when it comes to solving our housing crisis, that is a state and federal level issue. I feel very equipped to do that.”
Bennett, a graduate of Madison West High School and UW-Madison, describes herself as a proud queer Black democratic socialist fighting “for an affordable Wisconsin where working families can thrive.” At just 25 years of age, Bennett could be the youngest person elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature from Madison since David Clarenbach, about 50 years ago.
“[This election] is important because we are all under attack,” she says. “And I will tell you, this campaign is about electing the person who is going to fight for Madison and for Wisconsin at a time when a fascist dictatorship is taking over, and at a time when we have a real shot at a Democratic majority [in the Wisconsin State Legislature].
“[That] makes this [76th district] seat, the 90% Dem district, the most Democratic district, the beating heart of the state [important],” she adds. “Whoever has this seat will be leading the state in the future, and that’s why this election is important, and that’s why I’m running.”
Bennett has faced medical debt, eviction, and the pressure of living paycheck to paycheck, which has become increasingly common in America. Many of the issues for her campaign — housing, affordability, childcare, health care, education, human rights — relate to helping families move beyond paycheck to paycheck.
“We need to raise the minimum wage [to] over $20 an hour now. We need to make sure that every single person has an affordable home. That includes passing a Tenant Bill of Rights,” she says. “That means really making some changes to why our property taxes are spiking, and we need to fully fund public schools, because every kid, regardless of zip code, deserves a decent education and deserves a chance to succeed.”
Many of Bennett’s platform issues come from being a proud democratic socialist.
“If you like [New York City Mayor Zohran] Mamdani, if you like [Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate] Fran[cesca] Hong, then you would probably like me. Democratic socialism is all about how we tackle our economic system. Do you believe that you should be working for $7.25 an hour while your boss is pocketing billions and billions of dollars? I don’t think so,” she says. “And if you don’t think so, then you’ll probably have some socialist ideals. It’s about making sure that we redistribute the wealth and institute some real, more democratic systems so that everyone has a say, not just the politically connected and wealthy few.
“I currently work in the State Assembly, and have been really disillusioned with how much power lobbyists and mega corporations have in that building, even amongst those in our own party, and the fact that we don’t have a consensus around raising the minimum wage, about fully funding public schools and about actually tackling the fact that we need 200,000 affordable homes in Wisconsin. It’s a real problem,” Bennett adds. “We’re elected to serve the people, but quite often, those who are elected only serve those who have proximity to power and money.”
Bennett’s grassroots activism will have plenty of potential appeal for voters in the 76th district, which starts on the Capitol Square and spreads north and east like a funnel. It encompasses some of the most liberal districts in Madison, moving down Johnson Street, East Washington Ave. and Williamson Street and includes the North and East Sides of Madison.
“We are the most Democratic leaning district in the state. We’re over 90% Dem, and I think that we as a district need to recognize how important that is,” Bennett says. “I think that oftentimes we can get written off because we’ve had such strong Republican majorities for so long. With having new maps [that are no longer gerrymandered towards Republicans], this seat becomes all the more important.
“Knocking on doors is my favorite part about campaigning. The top things I keep hearing from folks are that they’re feeling the consequences of how Republicans have tackled municipal finance on their property tax bills,” Bennett says. “They’re feeling afraid for their kids, whether that be like having decent childcare, or that they have a trans kid, or they have a Black or brown kid. I think people are honestly just very excited that they will have someone who is gonna fight for them.”
Madison alder Dina Nina Martinez, Isaia Ben-Ami, a Democratic legislative staffer, and Zoe Sullivan, a Madison activist and organizer, are also campaigning for the 76th district seat. The partisan primary will take place in August and the general election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 3
Bennett says that she is ready to “fight back for her community, with her community.”
“Most of all, I think that what makes me the strongest candidate for this race is that I’m someone that is very deeply rooted in community and my values,” she says. “I know that there’s going to be times when the values of this district are going to differ from what is asked of us from within the party or within politics. I know that I will always remain rooted and fight for what this district needs. I think that’s what we need today. We need someone that’s going to build people up and bring people together.”
