Democratic Newcomers Unseat Veteran Legislators In Primaries

An immigration attorney has unseated a state lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct.

Marisabel Cabrera defeated state Rep. Josh Zepnick in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. No Republicans are running for the seat, which means Cabrera has won a two-year term in the Assembly representing portions of Milwaukee’s south side.

Zepnick has represented that district since 2002. He kept a relatively low profile in the Legislature until December, when two anonymous women told The Capital Times newspaper that a drunken Zepnick tried to kiss them against their will at political events in 2011 and 2015.

Zepnick apologized and wasn’t charged with any criminal wrongdoing. Democratic leaders still stripped him of his committee assignments and demanded he resign. He refused, saying they were treating him unfairly.

Myers Bests Kessler In Tuesday Election

A woman who ran a campaign focused on education has beat a longtime Wisconsin lawmaker in a Democratic primary.

Milwaukee schoolteacher Lakeisha Myers defeated Democratic state Rep. Fred Kessler on Tuesday in Milwaukee County’s 12th Assembly District. No Republicans have registered to run for the seat, which means Myers has won it.

The 78-year-old Kessler, who is white, was first elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1960. He was re-elected to the body in 1964 and served until 1970. He served as a judge in the 1970s and 1980s. He was elected to the Assembly again in 2004 and has held the seat since then.

Messages left with Myers’ campaign Tuesday evening weren’t immediately returned. Her campaign website says “neglect and fiscal starvation” have hurt the state’s educational system. She also laments what she calls the district’s economic decline.