Assembly District 40 - Competitive Race
+4.9 Dem projected, but in 2024 DeSanto did win by 8% or 2728 votes.
Here is the bio on DeSanto from the 2024 Election Coverage
Job: Non Profit Consultant
Prior elected office: none
Other public service: President WI State Alliance of Boys & Girls Club 2 years VP WI State Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs 1 year Member: Baraboo Kiwanis
Education: Consumnes River College – GE Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Clown College, Dale Carnegie Skills for Success, University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Stanford University, Lilly School of Philanthropy, – 2019 Cert Harvard Business School – 2021 Inclusive Leadership Cert American Management Association – 2022 DEI Cert
DeSanto was the most vocal so far of the 2024 primary candidates. Megan from Grassy Barn from the Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Network had a chance to speak with candidate Karen DeSanto about the subject of cannabis reform for Wisconsin. The DeSanto campaign provided Megan the following statement:
I support the legalization of marijuana for both medicinal and recreational purposes. Advisory referenda in Wisconsin about legalization have passed by wide margins. Our neighboring states have made it legal and are seeing economic benefits. Three of every 10 Wisconsinites above the age of 21 live within an hour’s drive of a legally-operating dispensary. It is time Wisconsin took that step.
Incumbent Rep. Karen DeSanto (D) first elected in 2024 was a cosponsor of the Dems legalization bill SB 1045, was not on SB 644 Dems Hemp Reg bill in 25-26 and did not co-sponsor any of Republican HDC Hemp Reg bills either that I recall…
DeSanto Campaign Facebook Page link
DeSanto is the Minority Party State Rep on State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (SCAODA)
VS
Julie Helmer, the Republican candidate. Vice Chair of the Republican Party 2nd Congressional District, Secretary of the Republican Party Sauk County, Executive committee member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Presidential Elector for the State of Wisconsin. Her campaign facebook page, website and email: helmer@chorus.net
I think Julie is the wife of Jerry Helmer, who ran in 2024, they are politically active.
Interesting enough, DeSanto faced Jerry Helmer in 2024 and Helmer was one of the few Republicans on the campaign trail to address “cannabis reform”; here is my article: Assembly District 40: Karen DeSanto (D) vs Gerald Helmer (R)
Geography of the district: Northern Columbia, E and SE Sauk County, Baraboo, Portage, Prairie Du Sac, Sauk City, Merrimac, Pardeeville, Plain, Spring Green, West Baraboo
Activists: Jeremy from TabEASE has stores in the district.
Strategies: Help DeSanto stay elected if she puts hemp first; obtain stance from Republican candidate. If both favorable, use that in the strategy to push more elected officials to save hemp first and follow what we have put forth in the following:
2026 Wisconsin Candidate Hemp Cannabis Resource Guide Page and Links
5-6pm on Wednesday, June 10th
Portage Public Library: 253 W Edgewater St
Questions? Contact my office at 608-266-0751 or