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2026 General Election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Wisconsin Assembly District 3

2 candidates, listed alphabetically.

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The job

A member of the Wisconsin State Assembly: “The members of the assembly shall be chosen biennially, by single districts, on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November in even-numbered years” (Article IV, Section 4) [1]. The Assembly has ninety-nine seats, within the constitution's range of fifty-four to one hundred (Article IV, Section 2) [1].

Where this office sits

  1. Federal
  2. State — this office
  3. County
  4. Local

A state office: its powers come from this state's own constitution and statutes.

What the job involves

  • Sits in a legislature whose size the constitution bounds rather than fixes: “The number of the members of the assembly shall never be less than fifty-four nor more than one hundred. The senate shall consist of a number not more than one-third nor less than one-fourth of the number of the members of the assembly” (Article IV, Section 2) [1].
  • Is elected from single districts “of contiguous territory and … in as compact form as practicable”, bounded by county, precinct, town or ward lines (Article IV, Section 4) [1].
  • Works inside nested maps: senate districts are built from whole assembly districts, because “no assembly district shall be divided in the formation of a senate district” (Article IV, Section 5) [1].
  • Redraws those maps itself, at the first session after each federal census (Article IV, Section 3) [1].
  • Faces the strongest veto in the country: a Wisconsin governor may approve an appropriation bill “in whole or in part”, and the part approved becomes law (Article V, Section 10(1)(b)) [1].
  • Is protected from the two things governors used to do with it: in approving a bill in part the governor “may not create a new word by rejecting individual letters in the words of the enrolled bill, and may not create a new sentence by combining parts of 2 or more sentences” (Article V, Section 10(1)(c)) [1].
  • Overrides at two-thirds of the members present in each house, on the whole bill or on a rejected part of an appropriation bill (Article V, Section 10(2)) [1].
  • Has six days of the governor's silence before a bill becomes law — and loses it entirely if a final adjournment prevents the return (Article V, Section 10(3)) [1].
  • Sets what three separately elected administrative officers do, since the constitution leaves the powers of the treasurer and attorney general, and most of the secretary of state's, to statute (Article VI, Sections 2 and 3) [1].

What the next officeholder will decide

The work waiting in the term being elected, from what the law puts in the job.

  • Two biennial budgets, each of which the governor may approve in part [1].
  • Whether to override a partial veto, at two-thirds of the members present [1].
  • The maps, at the first session after each federal census [1].
  • What the treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state are given to do [1].
  • A two-year term from January 2027 [1].

Worth asking a candidate

Ours, not a questionnaire anyone answered. They come from what the job actually involves.

  • Your governor can approve an appropriation bill in part and make that part law. How do you legislate around a partial veto?
  • Voters twice amended the constitution to stop governors making new words and new sentences out of your bills. Is the power that is left still too much?
  • The legislature draws its own maps here. Should it?
  • An override takes two-thirds of those present. Has that been within reach?
  • Which committee would you seek, and what does it decide?

Sources for the job

  1. Wisconsin Constitution — Article IV (legislative), Article V (executive), Article VI (administrative) and Article X (education) (Wisconsin Legislature, Legislative Reference Bureau, Public record)

Where this office sits in state government

Assembly Member is one of 6 elected offices in this part of the drawing. The one handoff it is part of are drawn below and written out underneath.

Assembly Member State Senator Governor Secretaryof State AttorneyGeneral State Treasurer Counties, cities, townsand school districts 1 They write the law and the budgetThey handle the money, the law and the electionsWho the law lands on
How Wisconsin's state government fits together. Not every office here is on this year's ballot, and each box leads to what that office does. The particulars — how a veto is overridden, how long a session runs — are on each office's own page, quoted from this state's constitution.

Assembly Member

A member of the lower chamber of the state legislature, which writes state law and the state budget.

A member of the Wisconsin State Assembly: “The members of the assembly shall be chosen biennially, by single districts, on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday of November in even-numbered years” (Article IV, Section 4). The Assembly has ninety-nine seats, within the constitution's range of fifty-four to one hundred (Article IV, Section 2).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • To State Senator: A bill has to pass both chambers in the same form before it can reach the governor, so one chamber's vote only gets it halfway. In most states a bill that raises revenue has to start in the lower chamber.

State Senator

A member of the upper chamber of the state legislature. A bill has to pass both chambers.

A member of the Wisconsin Senate, elected from a single district “at the same time and in the same manner as members of the assembly”, with senators “chosen alternately from the odd and even-numbered districts for the term of 4 years” (Article IV, Section 5). So half the Senate is on the ballot each cycle, and a senate district is always built from whole assembly districts (Article IV, Section 5).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Assembly Member: A bill has to pass both chambers in the same form before it can reach the governor, so one chamber's vote only gets it halfway. In most states a bill that raises revenue has to start in the lower chamber.
  • To Governor: What both chambers pass goes to the governor to sign or veto. The share of each chamber needed to override a veto is set by this state's own constitution and is on the legislature's office page.
  • To Counties, cities, towns and school districts: The legislature writes the property tax, local tax and budget rules that every county, city, town and school district in the state has to work inside. A local council choosing a rate is choosing among options set here.

Governor

The state's chief executive. Signs or vetoes what the legislature passes, and runs the state agencies.

Wisconsin's chief executive, in whom “the executive power shall be vested”, elected for four years jointly with the lieutenant governor on a single vote (Article V, Sections 1 and 3). The office's defining power is the partial veto: “Appropriation bills may be approved in whole or in part by the governor, and the part approved shall become law” (Article V, Section 10). Overriding any of it takes two-thirds of the members present in both houses.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From State Senator: What both chambers pass goes to the governor to sign or veto. The share of each chamber needed to override a veto is set by this state's own constitution and is on the legislature's office page.
  • To Attorney General: The state's lawyer is elected separately in most states, so the governor cannot pick or remove the person who decides which laws to defend, which cases to bring, and which opinions to issue. Where the office is appointed instead, that page says so.
  • To Secretary of State: In most states this is the chief election official, elected on the same ballot it administers and not answerable to the governor. A few states put elections elsewhere; that office's page says which.
  • To State Treasurer: The governor proposes a budget and the legislature appropriates, but the money itself sits with a separately elected treasurer. What that office may do with it is set by this state's own law.
  • To Counties, cities, towns and school districts: State agencies under the governor license, inspect, fund and audit the counties, cities and school districts below. Much of what a local government can do in practice depends on a state agency's rules.

Secretary of State

One of Wisconsin's three elected administrative officers, serving four years (Article VI, Section 1).

One of Wisconsin's three elected administrative officers, serving four years (Article VI, Section 1). Unlike most states, Wisconsin does not put elections here — the constitution's job for this office is the record: the secretary “shall keep a fair record of the official acts of the legislature and executive department of the state” and lay them before either house when required (Article VI, Section 2). Sits on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands: “The secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of the school and university lands and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom”, and “Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum” (Article X, Section 7).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: In most states this is the chief election official, elected on the same ballot it administers and not answerable to the governor. A few states put elections elsewhere; that office's page says which.

Attorney General

The state's lawyer: brings and defends the state's cases, and advises its agencies.

Wisconsin's elected chief legal officer, serving four years, whose powers the constitution hands wholly to the legislature: “The powers, duties and compensation of the treasurer and attorney general shall be prescribed by law” (Article VI, Sections 1 and 3). Sits on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands: “The secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of the school and university lands and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom”, and “Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum” (Article X, Section 7).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: The state's lawyer is elected separately in most states, so the governor cannot pick or remove the person who decides which laws to defend, which cases to bring, and which opinions to issue. Where the office is appointed instead, that page says so.

State Treasurer

One of Wisconsin's three elected administrative officers, serving four years, with powers "prescribed by law" (Article VI, Sections 1 and 3).

One of Wisconsin's three elected administrative officers, serving four years, with powers “prescribed by law” (Article VI, Sections 1 and 3). Because those powers are statutory, the legislature has been free to move this office's work elsewhere without any change to the constitution. What the constitution still fixes here is the land board: Sits on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands: “The secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of the school and university lands and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom”, and “Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum” (Article X, Section 7).

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From Governor: The governor proposes a budget and the legislature appropriates, but the money itself sits with a separately elected treasurer. What that office may do with it is set by this state's own law.

Counties, cities, towns and school districts

Every local government in the state. None of them can tax or spend outside what the legislature allows.

Elected separately, each at its own level.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

  • From State Senator: The legislature writes the property tax, local tax and budget rules that every county, city, town and school district in the state has to work inside. A local council choosing a rate is choosing among options set here.
  • From Governor: State agencies under the governor license, inspect, fund and audit the counties, cities and school districts below. Much of what a local government can do in practice depends on a state agency's rules.

Every office drawn here has its full description, quoted from Wisconsin's own constitution with sources, on its race pages.

Candidates

Michael J. Goodwin

Democratic

We haven't found a sourced summary for Michael J. Goodwin yet.

Where we looked:

  • 2026 Wisconsin State Assembly election (Wikipedia): this district's general-election table named the candidates. It gives the name, party and district and no account of the candidate's record. Wisconsin's election office refuses automated requests, so no official candidate list could be read for this seat.

That is where we have looked so far, not everywhere there is to look. If you know Michael J. Goodwin's work or background, tell us — we'd rather print it than leave it blank.

Ron Tusler

RepublicanIncumbent

We haven't found a sourced summary for Ron Tusler yet.

Where we looked:

  • 2026 Wisconsin State Assembly election (Wikipedia): this district's general-election table named the candidates. It gives the name, party and district and no account of the candidate's record. Wisconsin's election office refuses automated requests, so no official candidate list could be read for this seat.

That is where we have looked so far, not everywhere there is to look. If you know Ron Tusler's work or background, tell us — we'd rather print it than leave it blank.

Sources

Candidate list and race details

What's included
U.S. Senate and House, statewide offices, every state legislative district on the ballot and statewide ballot measures.
Everything else
Local races (county, city, school board, judges) and anything else on your ballot are on your official sample ballot: myvote.wi.gov.
Candidate lists
As of Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

This is not an official ballot. Confirm your registration, polling place and ballot with your election office through vote.gov.