While Door and Kewaunee counties have consistently voted red for their Assembly members for well over a decade, State Representative Joel Kitchens’ survey shows a diverse set of opinions when it comes to a number of topics in the First Assembly District. The Sturgeon Bay Republican has been releasing bits of the data over the last month highlighting budget priorities, the direction of the state, the greatest challenges facing the state, and its views on abortion. On many topics, the views of Kitchens’ constituents are split down the middle. To Kitchens, it shows how “purple” the region is and how he has to approach his job differently compared to his colleagues in safe Republican or safe Democratic districts.

Door County has been reliably purple for the heads of the state and the nation. The county flipped from Republican Donald Trump in 2016 to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 for U.S. President and after voting for Republican Scott Walker for two more terms as Wisconsin Governor in 2014 and 2018 to Democrat Tony Evers in 2022. Local Republicans will get to hear from potential candidates for U.S. President when Milwaukee hosts the Presidential Debates on August 23rd.