Peter Schmidt
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 6th district
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byGary Tauchen
Personal details
Born (1992-07-03) July 3, 1992
Shawano, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceBonduel, Wisconsin
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (BA)
OccupationFarmer
WebsiteCampaign website

Peter A. Schmidt (born July 3, 1992) is an American dairy farmer and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 6th Assembly district since January 2023.

Biography

Peter Schmidt was born in Shawano County, Wisconsin, graduated from St. Paul Lutheran School, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point. He is a co-owner of his family farm, the Schmidt Ponderosa farm, which maintains a herd of 1,600 dairy cows.[1]

He has been a member of the Shawano County board of supervisors and the planning commission for the town of Hartland.[1]

Political career

In 2021, Wisconsin State Assembly incumbent Gary Tauchen announced he would not seek re-election in the 2022 election. Schmidt was one of six who sought the Republican nomination to succeed Tauchen. Schmidt ultimately prevailed in the primary by just 63 votes, but soon came under intense controversy.[2] Days after the primary, it was revealed that Schmidt had been the victim of a blackmail attempt by a worker on his family farm, who had a video of Schmidt performing oral sex on another man.[3] The same week, another story came to light in which Schmidt had been charged with a felony for choking another worker on his farm, but had pleaded it down to a misdemeanor.[4]

The controversies caused the Shawano County Republican Party to censure Schmidt and coalesce around a write-in campaign for his Republican primary rival, businessman Dean Neubert. The censure was backed by Republican county officeholders, including the district attorney, sheriff, and clerk of courts, who all said they could not support Schmidt. Many who signed the censure even suggested they would support the Democratic candidate if there were no Republican write-in campaign.[4]

Despite the controversies and the write-in campaign, the district's heavy Republican tilt, created by Wisconsin's strong Republican gerrymander, allowed Schmidt to easily prevail in the general election with 55% of the vote.[5]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2022)

Wisconsin Assembly, 6th District Election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, August 9, 2022[2]
Republican Peter Schmidt 2,155 23.37%
Republican Dean Martin Neubert 2,084 22.60%
Republican Nathan J. Michael 1,813 19.66%
Republican David Kohn 1,255 13.61%
Republican Craig Arrowood 1,076 11.67%
Republican Matthew Kyle Albert 836 9.07%
Scattering 2 0.02%
Plurality 71 0.77%
Total votes 9,221 100.0%
General Election, November 8, 2022[5]
Republican Peter Schmidt 14,710 55.60% -13.80%
Democratic William J. Switalla 7,694 29.08% -1.50%
Republican Dean Neubert (write-in) 4,050 15.31%
Scattering 3 0.01%
Plurality 7,016 26.52% -12.30%
Total votes 26,457 100.0% -13.73%
Republican hold

References

  1. 1 2 "About". Friends of Peter Schmidt. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2022 Partisan Primary - 8/9/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2022. p. 22. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
  3. ↑ Bollinger, Alex (August 24, 2022). "Republican campaign rocked by gay extortion attempt". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Schneider, Doug (August 25, 2022). "'I'm a changed man.' Assembly candidate from Bonduel vows to stay in race, despite criminal charge, loss of GOP support". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 21, 2022. p. 10. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
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