Challengers Michael Alfonso, Niina Baum, Jessi Ebben, Kevin Hermening and Don Raihala will compete for the Republican nomination for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Aug. 11 fall primary election.
U.S. representatives serve two-year terms. The candidate who receives the most votes will appear as the Republican candidate in the Nov. 3 general election.
Current Wisconsin 7th Congressional District Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua) is not seeking reelection to this office as he is seeking election to the office of Wisconsin governor. Three candidates are currently vying for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District seat in the Aug. 11 fall primary election.
To learn more about registering to vote and to find your polling place, visit My Vote Wisconsin.
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin asked each of the candidates to address important issues in the district and why they are running for the position.
Michael Alfonso
Residence: Hayward
Age: 26
Occupation and education: I was raised in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, where I grew up hunting, fishing and playing hockey and football. I met my wife, Evita Duffy, at Newman Catholic High School. I earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating debt-free after working construction to pay my way through college. After graduation, I returned to the construction industry before later becoming the producer of one of the nation’s top-rated conservative podcasts, “The Dan Bongino Show.”
Campaign website: https://www.alfonsoforwisconsin.com
Niina Baum
Residence: Town of Crescent
Age: 31
Occupation and education: Owner of Valo Media (marketing agency). Bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northland College, master’s degree in information communication technologies from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Relevant experience: I built a small business from the ground up, taught as an adjunct professor at a local technical college and serve on the Town of Crescent Planning Commission working directly on zoning and land use. I co-founded Northwoods Young Professionals to retain young talent in rural Wisconsin and organized events that brought $500,000 in economic impact to Oneida County. I have served on the Rhinelander Rotary Club Board and represented Team USA as a competitive dog musher.
Campaign website/Facebook page: www.baumforwisconsin.com and Baum for Congress on Facebook
Jessi Ebben
Residence: Stanley
Age: 36
Occupation and education: I currently work for a major manufacturer right here in Wisconsin, fighting against bureaucratic red tape and costly government regulations.
Relevant experience: I have more than a decade of experience in the private sector. I previously worked in rural health care, helping set up clinics across northwest Wisconsin.
Campaign website/Facebook page: www.ebbenforwisconsin.com and Jessi Ebben on Facebook
Kevin Hermening
Residence: City of Wausau
Age: 67
Occupation and education: Certified financial planner for Hermening Financial Group (self-employed, independent financial advisor). Bachelor’s degree in business administration (economics) from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, master’s degree in applied leadership and decision-making from UW-Stevens Point.
Relevant experience: Marine Corps veteran, 13 Years (one of the Americans taken prisoner by Iranian terrorists in 1979 and held captive for 444 days). Mosinee School Board member, 16 years (board president during COVID, making masks optional as a formal board policy). Republican Party of Marathon County chairman for 24 years, helping to elect conservatives, Trump presidential elector in 2016.
Campaign website: kevinhermening.com
Don Raihala
Residence: Superior
Age: 57
Occupation and education: Construction contractor. Bachelor of arts degree with concentrations in accounting and finance from the University of WIsconsin-Superior in 1990.
Relevant experience: Accounting, project manager, housing contractor.
Campaign website/Facebook page: www.votefordon.com and Don Raihala for Congress on Facebook
Why are you running for office?
Alfonso: I’m running for Congress because I want to help make the American Dream more attainable for every Wisconsin family. Seniors deserve to keep more of what they earned, and young families should have every opportunity to buy a home, raise their children and build a prosperous future. As a young husband, Wisconsin native and the grandson of Cuban refugees, I’m running to advance President Trump’s America First agenda, lower costs, defend our Constitution and ensure future generations inherit a stronger, freer nation.
Baum: I am running because it seems more of Congress answers to donors and special interests instead of voters, and that must change. I have pledged no corporate PAC money and spent under $20,000 to date while my opponents have millions from special interest donors. How you run says something about how you govern. If we want to change how Congress works, we need to change the type of people we elect to Congress.
Ebben: I am a Christian Conservative and a Trump Republican running for Congress to secure the southern border, lower costs for Wisconsin families and stand with law enforcement. As a conservative I believe we need to get the federal government out of the way so that people, families, businesses and farms can thrive here in Wisconsin.
Hermening: I’m running for Congress because I love this country, and I don’t want to leave my children and grandson an America that’s weaker than the one I was blessed to inherit. I’ve spent my life serving others — as a Marine, a hostage who came home grateful for this nation, a financial advisor and a local elected official. Washington needs people with real-world experience, not more politicians. I’m ready to fight for fiscal responsibility, economic opportunity, freedom and the Constitution on day one.
Raihala: I’m running for office because I have proven four times now that I am the only candidate who doesn’t fear talking to and hearing other political viewpoints. This is what a representative in Congress should always be doing, but in reality we know that has not been the case. I know I can do this because it’s how I gathered over 1,000 nomination signatures, by going door to door and talking to everyone of all political viewpoints and earning their approval.
What makes you the better candidate in this race?
Alfonso: Socialists are gaining ground with young Americans, and Republicans need more than passive representation to answer them. Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, the largest district east of the Mississippi, deserves a fighter with the energy to travel it, organize it and make it redder. As a UW–Madison graduate, I have seen the left’s influence on campuses and spoken directly with students across Wisconsin. I represent a new generation of America First leadership — active, ambitious and ready to grow the movement. I will lower costs, protect American workers and prove that freedom, hard work and conservative values — not socialism — offer the strongest path to the American Dream.
Baum: I am the only candidate who has spent nearly my entire life in this district. I grew up here, built a business here, serve on my town’s planning commission and was the first candidate to secure ballot access despite not taking any corporate PAC money and spending less than $20,000. My opponents have spent millions, including one backed by a million-dollar super PAC from a sitting cabinet member’s family. I will not be a rubber stamp for any administration, donor or party. My loyalty is to the people of this district. Nobody else.
Ebben: I am the only candidate for this office with the energy and the experience to do the job. I am the only candidate who has gone up against the federal government and won, saving thousands of domestic manufacturing jobs. I’m going to take my lived and work experience to Washington, D.C., to do the job on day one.
Hermening: What sets me apart is a lifetime of leadership and service. Leadership isn’t something you learn in a classroom or from a textbook. It’s earned by making tough decisions, accepting responsibility, solving problems and putting others first. I’ve led Marines, built and grown a business, helped thousands of families plan for their future and served my community in elected office. I’m not looking for a stepping stone. I’m ready to go to work on day one, fight for northern Wisconsin and help bring common sense back to Washington.
Raihala: Let’s be honest here, if you are waiting for a political promise from the next congressman to come through on, it’s likely not happening. A freshman or even a sophomore congressman has very little power to get their voice heard in a chamber of 435 representatives. Now, if you want your voice to be heard and represented, then that’s that promise that I have made as I’m the only candidate to promise and who has the capacity to visit each county five times per year and keep everyone informed on a daily basis with the known facts.
What is the most pressing issue facing the 7th Congressional District, and how would you address it?
Alfonso: The greatest threat facing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District and America: the collapse of affordability and the radical Democrats who use socialism to exploit it. If families can’t afford groceries, young people can’t buy homes and retirees are watching savings evaporate, Democrats make socialism’s false promises tempting. We must ensure young people can build a future here so communities thrive and the family unit endures across generations. The solution isn’t Democrats’ government control, but an America First economy: unleash American energy, cut wasteful spending, fight inflation, protect wages, safeguard Medicare and Social Security, stop Wall Street from buying family homes and lower drug costs.
Baum: Affordability is the defining challenge facing Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. Wisconsin is losing farms, health care providers, young people and small businesses simultaneously. AI data centers are arriving with promises of growth while consuming land, water and energy with no federal oversight — and I am the only candidate in this race calling for a moratorium on large-scale development until federal standards exist to protect communities and ratepayers. Social Security insolvency is projected by 2032 with an automatic 23% benefit cut without action. I will pursue a bipartisan fix and will not support cuts to earned benefits.
Ebben: Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District deserves a representative who will fight for our way of life and our values: protecting the unborn, keeping solar panels and windmills off our farmland, ensuring that our 2nd Amendment is not infringed upon, securing the southern border, deporting violent criminal illegal aliens and supporting law enforcement. I am honored to be endorsed by eight sheriffs from across the district.
Hermening: The biggest challenge facing the 7th Congressional District is making sure people can afford to build a future here. Too many young families are leaving because good-paying jobs, housing and opportunities are harder to find. Washington can’t solve every problem, but it can stop making them worse. I’ll fight for responsible spending to get inflation under control, support policies that help businesses grow and create jobs, expand affordable workforce housing, invest in reliable infrastructure, and cut unnecessary regulations so our communities can grow without Washington getting in the way.
Raihala: While gathering 1,000 nomination signatures going door to door most people talked about gas prices, the Iranian war, Epstein files and immigration. After hearing everyone’s concerns, the most pressing issue facing the majority of people is their lack of faith in our government. People are exhausted on a daily basis with politics as usual. There is also a ton of misinformation that needs to be cleared up, and I’m the only one with my stated promises that can do that. I will conduct my voting in a conservative manner, but I will have plenty of leanings on what the majority of constituents tell me.
What are residents telling you are their most important issues, and how would you address them?
Alfonso: The issue I hear about most is affordability. Families want to keep more of what they earn, buy a home, grow a business and build a future in Wisconsin. President Trump is already delivering results through tax relief, stronger border security and America First economic policies. In Congress, I’ll work with President Trump to lower costs even further, support our farmers and manufacturers, unleash American energy, cut burdensome regulations and protect the American Dream so the next generation can afford to live, work and raise a family right here in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District.
Baum: Health care costs are unsustainable and unknown, especially for self-employed workers and small business owners. Housing is unaffordable and there is too much regulation to build on your own. Farmers feel abandoned by policy built for large operations not small family farms. Potential cuts to Social Security benefits would devastate many people. And many are exhausted by political division that produces nothing, and by extremely wealthy special interests influencing representatives and elections with their money. I will start by pushing to overturn Citizens United.
Ebben: One issue I hear about often across the district is the need for Congress to de-list the gray wolf from the endangered species list. I will prioritize delisting the gray wolf and untying the hands of rural residents and farmers who are defenseless against the vicious attacks on their livestock and livelihoods.
Hermening: As I’ve traveled across the 7th Congressional District, I keep hearing the same concerns. Families are worried about the rising cost of living. Employers are struggling to find workers. Young people are leaving because housing is too expensive, and people are frustrated that Washington spends too much and listens too little. I’ll fight to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy through pro-growth tax and energy policies, reduce unnecessary regulations, support workforce housing and protect Medicare and Social Security for those who’ve earned them. Washington needs more common sense and a lot more accountability.
Raihala: The most common comment people said to me was about high gas prices. No one cared for a war that maybe could have been avoided and few can ignore what it’s doing to their wallets. I will use my votes in Congress to bring the war to a quicker resolution, and I will join the effort to reign in price gouging, especially in time of emergency, as clearly the oil and gas companies are reaping record profits off our miseries. Why do families have to bear the burden of this Iranian conflict to protect America and yet oil and gas companies get to profit off off it?
Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at epfantz@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Meet the 5 Republican candidates for WI’s 7th Congressional District
Reporting by Erik Pfantz, Wausau Daily Herald / Wausau Daily Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Erik Pfantz, Wausau Daily Herald | USA TODAY Network
