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Peter A. Schmidt (born July 3, 1992) is an American dairy farmer and Republican politician from Shawano County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 6th Assembly district since January 2023.
Peter Schmidt | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 6th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Gary Tauchen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 3, 1992 Shawano, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Bonduel, Wisconsin |
| Education | University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (BA) |
| Occupation | Farmer |
| Website | Campaign website |
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]
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]
In 2023, the Republican gerrymander was struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court; under pressure from the court, the legislature agreed to new maps proposed by the Democratic governor in early 2024. Under the new maps, the 6th Assembly district was significantly reconfigured but remained a safely Republican seat and Schmidt was not drawn out of his district or drawn into a matchup against another incumbent. In the neighboring 4th district, however, Republican incumbents Elijah Behnke and David Steffen were drawn into the same district. Rather than running against Steffen, Behnke chose to establish residency in the new 6th district and challenge Schmidt in the primary.[6] Behnke won the primary by a wide margin, taking 58% of the vote.[7]
Wisconsin Assembly (2022, 2024)
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Primary[2] | Aug. 9 | Peter Schmidt | Republican | 2,155 | 23.37% | Dean Martin Neubert | Rep. | 2,084 | 22.60% | 9,221 | 71 |
| Nathan J. Michael | Rep. | 1,813 | 19.66% | |||||||||
| David Kohn | Rep. | 1,255 | 13.61% | |||||||||
| Craig Arrowood | Rep. | 1,076 | 11.67% | |||||||||
| Matthew Kyle Albert | Rep. | 836 | 9.07% | |||||||||
| General[5] | Nov. 8 | Peter Schmidt | Republican | 14,710 | 55.60% | William J. Switalla | Dem. | 7,694 | 29.08% | 26,457 | 7,016 | |
| Dean Martin Neubert (write-in) | Rep. | 4,050 | 15.31% | |||||||||
| 2024 | Primary[7] | Aug. 13 | Elijah Behnke | Republican | 5,054 | 58.58% | Peter Schmidt (inc) | Rep. | 3,565 | 41.32% | 8,627 | 1,489 |
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