Elijah Behnke
Elijah Behnke | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
| Assumed office January 6, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Schmidt |
| Constituency | 6th district |
| In office May 11, 2021 – January 6, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | John Nygren |
| Succeeded by | Ryan Spaude |
| Constituency | 89th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 15, 1983 Oconto Falls, Wisconsin |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Chase, Wisconsin |
| Education | Toccoa Falls College (AA) |
| Occupation | business owner, politician |
Elijah Behnke (born February 15, 1983) is an American small business owner and Republican politician from Oconto County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 6th Assembly district since January 2025; prior to the 2024 redistricting, he represented the 89th Assembly district from May 2021 until January 2025.
Early life and career
[edit]Behnke was born in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, and raised on his parents' nearby farm. He worked on the farm through his childhood and graduated from Oconto High School in 2001.[1] He went on to attend Toccoa Falls College, a bible college in northeast Georgia, earning his associate's degree in 2005.[2]
In 2006, he returned to Wisconsin and started working for his mother's cleaning business. After a year, he started his own cleaning business, Eschalon Cleaning LLC.[3] In addition to his cleaning business, Behnke operates a hobby farm and is a ministry leader in his church.[4]
Political career
[edit]In December 2020, just after the 2020 election, state representative John Nygren announced he would resign from office. Within days, Behnke announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination to succeed Nygren in the Assembly.[5] In his campaign, Behnke stated that one of his motivations in running for office was to seek relief for small business owners like himself who had been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant public safety measures.[1] In the Republican primary, Behnke was endorsed by neighboring State Senator André Jacque and Oconto County Sheriff Todd Skarban, as well as other state Republican interest groups, such as Wisconsin Family Action, Pro Life Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Right to Life.[6] Behnke topped the five-person Republican primary field with nearly 45% of the vote.[7] He went on to defeat Democrat Karl Jaeger in the April special election.[8][9]
A recording of Behnke speaking in the Wisconsin State Capitol emerged in January 2022. Behnke referred to fabricated claims of Democratic electoral fraud, and urged his listeners: "Let's cheat like the Democrats do."[10]
On Wednesday, June 22, 2022, Governor Evers’ called for a special session to defend reproductive rights in Wisconsin to introduce and pass AB 713 and AB 106, which would have protected the right for women to have a say over their bodies. Despite bipartisan support for legal access to abortion from both Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans, Elijah Behnke and other Republicans in the Legislature gaveled in and gaveled out at the special session without taking action and leaving 1.3 million Wisconsin women of reproductive age without access to a legal abortion.[11][12]
Following the 2024 redistricting act, which abolished the decade-old Republican gerrymander, Behnke was drawn out of his former district and drawn into the new 4th Assembly district, where he would have faced an incumbent vs incumbent primary against 4th district incumbent David Steffen. Rather than running in this district, Behnke announced he would relocate to instead challenge incumbent Peter Schmidt in a Republican primary in the 6th Assembly district.[13] Despite the new district comprising none of the territory of his previous district, Behnke defeated Schmidt in the primary with 58% of the vote; he went on to win the general election in the overwhelmingly Republican district.[14][15]
Electoral history
[edit]Wisconsin Assembly, 89th district (2021, 2022)
[edit]| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Special Primary[7] |
Feb. 16 | Elijah Behnke | Republican | 1,691 | 44.75% | Michael T. Kunesh | Rep. | 875 | 23.15% | 3,779 | 816 |
| Debbie Jacques | Rep. | 789 | 20.88% | |||||||||
| Michael Schneider | Rep. | 264 | 6.99% | |||||||||
| David Kamps | Rep. | 160 | 4.23% | |||||||||
| Special[16] | Apr. 6 | Elijah Behnke | Republican | 8,129 | 63.17% | Karl Jaeger | Dem. | 4,732 | 36.77% | 12,868 | 3,397 | |
| 2022 | General[17] | Nov. 8 | Elijah Behnke (inc) | Republican | 17,514 | 66.52% | Jane Benson | Dem. | 8,800 | 33.42% | 26,329 | 8,714 |
Wisconsin Assembly, 6th district (2024)
[edit]| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Primary[14] | Aug. 13 | Elijah Behnke | Republican | 5,054 | 58.58% | Peter Schmidt (inc) | Rep. | 3,565 | 41.32% | 8,627 | 1,489 |
| General[15] | Nov. 5 | Elijah Behnke | Republican | 21,941 | 67.37% | Shirley Hinze | Dem. | 10,593 | 32.53% | 32,566 | 11,348 | |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "About Elijah". Elijah Behnke for State Assembly. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Representative Elijah R. Behnke". Wisconsin Legislature. 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ "ESCHALON CLEANING LLC". OpenCorporates. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ Tempus, Kent (January 7, 2021). "Two more Republicans join field of candidates for 89th Assembly District". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Behnke campaign: Announces candidacy for 89th Assembly District". Elijah Behnke for State Assembly (Press release). December 29, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021 – via Wispolitics.com.
- ^ Tempus, Kent (February 16, 2021). "Behnke claims GOP nomination in special election for 89th Assembly District seat, advances to April 6 vote". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ a b County by County Report - 2021 Spring Primary - Special Election for Representative to the Assembly District 89 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. March 1, 2021. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ Tempus, Kent (April 7, 2021). "Republican Elijah Behnke wins 89th Assembly District seat to replace John Nygren". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ Seibt, Cora (7 April 2021). "Elijah Behnke wins State Assembly District 89 over Karl Jaeger". WFRV Local 5. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ Dress, Brad (2022-01-21). "Wisconsin state GOP lawmaker calls for party to 'cheat like Democrats' to win elections". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
- ^ Spears, Baylor (September 4, 2024). "Most Wisconsinites oppose criminalizing abortion, according to recent survey". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
- ^ Baker, Ben (June 2, 2022). "Republican lawmakers reject special session Evers called to end 1849 abortion law". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 28, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Behnke to challenge Schmidt in GOP primary". NEW Media Inc. April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
- ^ a b County by County Report - 2024 Partisan Primary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2024. p. 105. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ a b County by County Report - 2024 General Election (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 27, 2024. p. 6. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ Canvass Results for 2021 Spring Election - 4/6/2021 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. April 22, 2021. p. 1. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 29. Retrieved January 16, 2025.