For many Wisconsin families, the cost of a grocery run, a utility bill, or a doctor’s visit can feel like it’s spiraling out of reach — and one Democratic candidate says that’s no accident. Trevor Jung is running for Wisconsin’s Senate District 21 with a straightforward message: the people currently in charge have stopped working for ordinary families, and it’s time for that to change.
Jung, 30, is challenging Jim Croft, a business executive, for the seat left open after incumbent Republican Van H. Wanggaard chose not to seek re-election. The contest has become one of Wisconsin’s most closely watched legislative races this cycle. Republicans have held control of the state legislature in Madison since 2011, and Jung believes the prolonged one-party hold on power has come at a real cost to working people across the state.
“We have lawmakers here in Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled state legislature who’ve gotten lazy. But the same people are telling you that they deserve another term in office.”
Jung told UpNorthNews, which first reported his story, that families in his district deserve elected officials who are fully focused on their needs.
“What we need are people in public office who are laser-focused on bringing down the cost of living, who want to make sure that opportunities are expanded by connecting folks to jobs and making sure that our schools have the resources they need.”
A Personal Story Behind the Campaign
Jung’s path to this race is unlike most political origin stories. He was born in Russia and placed in an orphanage after his biological mother didn’t have the resources to care for him. At age 2, he was adopted by a single father from Racine, Wisconsin. He describes growing up with a supportive family and community that gave him what he calls “this all-American childhood with Little League baseball.”
“When I grew up, I realized my calling was to give back to the place that gave me everything.”
Jung’s entry into public service came early. He was elected to the Racine City Council as an alderman at 22, served two terms, and was later appointed director of RYDE Racine, the city’s public transit system. Those years working in local government, he says, made it clear to him that the state legislature has acted more like an “adversary” to working families than an “ally.”
What Families Are Actually Saying at the Door
After knocking on hundreds of doors each week since entering the race, Jung says the top concern he keeps hearing is simple: everything costs too much. The district covers southwest Milwaukee County and northeast Racine County, and residents there are feeling the squeeze from multiple directions at once — rising grocery and gas prices tied to the ongoing war in Iran and the president’s tariffs and trade policies, escalating home prices, and utility bills that Jung links to what he calls the state’s “Wild West policies” on data center development.
The second issue that keeps coming up at those doorsteps is the state of public schools. Jung recounted speaking with a mother whose teenage child is deaf and has developmental disabilities and was forced to transition to homeschooling because the school district lacked the resources to properly serve her.
“That’s a direct result of almost two decades of Republican leadership in the state legislature underfunding our public schools.”
A $3.3 Billion Surplus That Isn’t Reaching Families
One of Jung’s central arguments centers on money that already exists but isn’t getting to the communities that need it. When Republican Governor Scott Walker was elected in 2011, state revenue-sharing with local governments was slashed by 9%. Since then, Republican lawmakers have continued withholding that revenue, allowing a $3.3 billion revenue surplus to sit untouched while local governments struggle to fund basic services.
In Racine, Jung notes, the city had to go to a public referendum just to maintain adequate firefighter staffing levels. Other municipalities across the state have been forced to ask voters for permission to keep funding police, fire, and public works departments — all while that surplus remains unspent in Madison.
Jung believes that if Democrats can win majorities in both the state Senate and Assembly, they can restore that revenue flow to cities, towns, and municipalities and begin directly easing the financial pressure on families. He also supports expanding BadgerCare through the federal Medicaid expansion, capping insulin prices, and broadening free breakfast and lunch programs in public schools. He backs an expansion of the Homestead Tax Credit to help residents cover mortgage or rent costs, and wants to grow the Wisconsin Shares childcare subsidy program to make child care more accessible for working parents.
Beyond policy, Jung says voters in his district are hungry for something else: a break from the divisive tone that has come to define so much of today’s politics.
“People are sick of the divisiveness and nastiness of politics… the culture that’s come down from the president with his name-calling. People don’t want to look at their neighbors as enemy combatants.”
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