The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.
The Nov. 3 election is coming up soon, and while the race for governor has drawn most of the headlines here in Wisconsin — with good reason, in many cases — the race for control of the Wisconsin State Legislature is also an incredibly big deal, and will determine so much about the future of our great state. This is the first election in the state legislature where the gerrymandered maps are completely gone, with both the Senate and Assembly having all of their elections on new, fairer maps.
As we always do at The Recombobulation Area, we are previewing every last race on the ballot in the Wisconsin State Legislature — the 17 races happening in the State Senate, and the 99 happening in the State Assembly, along with the balance of power overall.
I’m also adding something a little different this time. I’m making a few endorsements, and we are featuring each of these Recombobulation Area-endorsed candidates with a special podcast conversation.
In recent years, I have not typically endorsed specific candidates in specific races, but I’m making a few exceptions for people who I’ve gotten to know a bit over the years, and who I think very highly of — in their work and as people.
One of those people is Mark Becker. Becker is the former chair of The Republican Party of Brown County (who has since left the party in the Trump years), a small business owner, a former radio show host, and he’s also been a contributor here at The Recombobulation Area. He is running as an independent in Senate District 1.
Becker is great candidate and a terrific person, and one of my favorite people to talk politics with. He is a man of principle, and stood firm in his beliefs as the party he used to be a part of took a turn toward Trump. That’s the type of quality we could really use in a state senator right about now.
In our conversation, we talked about Mark’s path to politics, leaving the Republican Party over Trump and other issues like marriage equality and women’s rights, confronting Ron Johnson over election denialism, running for Senate as an independent, the independent streak of politics in northeastern Wisconsin, how a new majority might govern in the Wisconsin State Legislature, and more.
Find out more about Mark’s campaign here.
You can watch this conversation on The Recombobulation Area’s YouTube Channel here:
For a beat-by-beat breakdown, check out our topics and timestamps below:
01:40 Meet Mark Becker, running for State Senate in District 1
02:24 Mark’s background and path into politics
03:07 Trying to join the National Guard and a blunt recruiter conversation
03:48 Growing up Catholic, conservative, and service-minded
04:29 Rising to chairman of the Brown County Republican Party
04:29 Speaking out on marriage equality and women’s rights within the GOP
05:55 Leaving the party over Trump
07:18 Confronting Ron Johnson over 2020 election denialism
08:39 Writing an op-ed in The Bulwark about the call
09:19 Ron Johnson’s furious text on January 7th
10:39 Running for Senate as an independent
11:19 The open seat: a Republican primary, no Democrat, and an independent
11:59 Doors, party walls, and reactions to “independent”
12:43 No independent state senator in 135 years
13:26 Northeastern Wisconsin’s independent streak
14:49 A tale of two doors: voters fed up on both sides
16:13 17 years without a cost-of-living upgrade
16:57 A “fork in the road” election and 16 years without accountability
18:21 What an independent win would mean for District 1’s leverage
19:44 A diverse district: Door County, Knowles-Nelson, and Wrightstown affordability
21:07 Extremism, gerrymandering, and how the maps have changed since 2010s/2022
23:10 Governing like a “deep red state” despite being purple
23:53 Resisting the temptation to govern like the other side did
25:19 Messaging that blurs party lines in Northeast Wisconsin
25:59 Democrats’ need to invest more in the region
26:40 “How goes Northeast Wisconsin, so goes Wisconsin”
27:20 National chaos bleeding into local politics
29:22 A Brown County Board fight over an LGBT history museum exhibit
30:05 The exhausting, “deep cuts” political mood of the moment
31:29 Final thoughts and sign-off
Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.
