Kitchens Wins 1st District Assembly Seat
Joel Kitchens and Nic Cravillion won Wisconsin's 1st District state Assembly and Senate races in Tuesday's election.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections
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Republican Joel Kitchens defeated Renee Paplham in the 1st District state Assembly race, while Nic Cravillion won the 1st District state Senate seat. Kitchens carried Door County 9,027-8,480 and Kewaunee County 6,149-3,486.
Why it matters
The results shape representation for the 1st District, which spans Door and Kewaunee counties, and signal how voters in the region split across legislative and statewide contests. Statewide, David Crowley won the governor race, and other down-ballot offices were also decided.
Official county tallies show Kitchens leading both Door County (9,027-8,480) and Kewaunee County (6,149-3,486) over Paplham. Cravillion won Kewaunee County 6,410-3,090 but lost Door County to independent Mark Becker 8,925-8,097.
The players
Joel Kitchens
Joel Kitchens is the Republican state representative from Sturgeon Bay who won the 1st District Assembly seat.
Nic Cravillion
Nic Cravillion is the Democratic candidate who won the 1st District state Senate seat.
David Crowley
David Crowley won the Wisconsin governor race in Tuesday's election.
The details
Kitchens and Cravillion posted wins in Tuesday night's election, and the Associated Press called the Tony Wied U.S. House race shortly before 10 p.m. Other statewide winners included Josh Kaul for attorney general, Jocasta Zamarripa for secretary of state, and Yee Leng Xiong for treasurer.
Timeline
Tuesday, November 3, 2026: State and federal elections held; Kitchens and Cravillion won their races.
Seasonal Patterns
The 2026 results fit a pattern in which Door and Kewaunee counties have supplied the margins in the 1st District races, as seen in Kitchens' county-level wins over Paplham.
Voters in the 1st District will be represented by Kitchens in the Assembly and Cravillion in the Senate. Statewide officials elected Tuesday, including the governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer, will set policy and administer state offices.
The takeaway
Local races can turn on a few counties, and the Door and Kewaunee tallies show how much a single district's results depend on its smaller communities.
Further reading
Explore more on Elections in Wisconsin for context on the state's legislative and statewide races.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Door County Daily News.
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