Two new Democratic candidates — one backed by the longtime incumbent, the other fighting what he calls insider politics — will face off in a primary election on Aug. 13 to represent the 65th Assembly District.
Rep. Tod Ohnstad, D-Kenosha, announced he won’t seek reelection after serving since 2013. He has endorsed Ben DeSmidt, a former educator and small business owner, over Kyle Flood, a community organizer.
The district covers downtown Kenosha and southern parts of Kenosha County, as well as the northern half of the village of Pleasant Prairie. It is a likely Democratic district, but the primary winner will face Republican Brian Gonzales of Kenosha in the Nov. 5 general election.
Six schools in the Kenosha Unified School District will close this year in an effort to tackle a $15 million deficit due to declining enrollment. Flood is a former Kenosha School Board member, elected when he was just 18 years old.
Kenosha Superintendent Jeffrey Weiss told Wisconsin Watch the state’s revenue limits for school districts haven’t kept up with inflation for a long time, putting pressure on Kenosha to close and consolidate schools.
“Keeping the revenue limit up with inflation is probably the biggest need that the district has,” Weiss said. “For 2025-26, we’re looking at another significant deficit.”
Declining enrollment and tightened budgets can be seen in school districts across the state, Weiss said.
Beyond education, housing and affordability concerns — which both candidates recognize as key issues in the district — Flood has been outspoken about restoring trust in government. He hears from many constituents who believe that government officials don’t get anything done because of too much partisan gridlock and that politicians lack transparency.
“We’ve just seen it constantly in Kenosha, and honestly statewide, where the same people hold on to the same positions, and then they hand them off to their friends,” Flood told Wisconsin Watch. “And I think that’s got to end.”
Flood said he supports ranked-choice voting, term limits and other changes that would get money out of politics. He also said despite being a “major progressive” himself, he is against hyper partisanship and believes offices like district attorney, sheriff and county treasurer should be nonpartisan. If elected, he said he would make changes to “crush” insider politics.
“There’s this struggle between conservatives in Kenosha, the establishment Democrats and then everybody else,” Flood said. “I’ve organized that ‘everybody else’ for a long time. That’s what I’m trying to do with this campaign, is bring together independents, Democrats, progressives, socialists, libertarians … bring us all together under one vision that we can get behind.”
Flood said Ohnstad’s endorsement of DeSmidt is a prime example of insider politics.
Desmidt said he does not see himself as an “insider” given that he has never run for political office before while Flood has. He also said bipartisanship will be key in a state Legislature that is divided.
DeSmidt said he began talking with Ohnstad during the pandemic when he backed grant opportunities that helped keep DeSmidt’s business afloat. During that time, DeSmidt became more interested in politics and spoke to Ohnstad about running for the position if he were to retire. He also said Ohnstad was looking for a candidate “he could trust to run for the position.”