2024 Wisconsin State Legislature Voter Guide: Senate District 30

Democrat Jamie Wall is facing Republican Jim Rafter in the race for Senate District 30 in the 2024 election.

This is part of The Recombobulation Area and Civic Media’s 2024 Wisconsin State Legislature Voter Guide. Read the first part of the series, “New Board, New Game,” here. See the full district-by-district breakdown of the Wisconsin State Senate here. See the comprehensive Voter Guide here.

D: Jamie Wall

R: Jim Rafter

Green Bay and Brown County are going to be enormously consequential parts of the 2024 state legislative elections. There are two close Assembly races projected for the region, and District 30 will be a highly competitive race. 

It will also be an open seat, with incumbent State Sen. Eric Wimberger moving to District 2, a heavily GOP-leaning district, and a more clear path for him to remain in the Senate. In fact, the new maps drew three Republican state senators into District 30 — Wimberger, Andre Jacque and Robert Cowles — but interestingly, none of them will be running in this district in 2024. 

Instead, the Republican running here is Jim Rafter, who has served as the Village President of Allouez for the past eight years, and has served on the Village Board since 2014. Rafter has been a longtime advocate of closing the Green Bay Correctional Institution, saying it “has exhausted its lifespan and cannot provide those inside with the tools necessary to navigate a return to society.” He was part of a coalition who went to the State Capitol in April, urging the closure of the 126-year-old prison.  

Democrat Jamie Wall is a business consultant who helped form New North, a regional economic development organization in Brown County and Northeast Wisconsin. He serves as the vice president of the Green Bay Water Commission and is a past board member of the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation and the Clean Wisconsin Action Fund. In 2012, Wall ran for Congress, losing to Republican incumbent Reid Ribble, 56% to 44%. 

CNalysis: Tilt D (FLIP)

• Proj. margin: D+3

Modeled 2022 outcome: D+5.3

Wisconsin Eye interviews:

More: Jamie Wall on the Civic Media airwaves and Jim Rafter on the Civic Media airwaves