Renee Paplham

Renee Paplham is the Democratic candidate for Wisconsin State Assembly District 1 in the November 3, 2026 general election, in which she faces incumbent Joel Kitchens (R).[1][2] A program manager and mediator with the Mediation Center of Greater Green Bay, she said in a Ballotpedia survey that this is her second campaign for the seat.[3]

Paplham said in a Ballotpedia survey that she is a lifelong Kewaunee resident who graduated from Kewaunee High School and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where she received a bachelor's degree in human development.[3] She said she spent most of her career working with adults and children with special needs, and that she is employed as a program manager and mediator with the Mediation Center of Greater Green Bay.[3]

Paplham said she became involved in politics after the Dobbs decision and began as a community organizer before joining her local Democratic Party and running for the Assembly.[3] In the 2024 general election for District 1, she received 38.0 percent of the vote to Kitchens's 61.9 percent.[1] She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026.[1] In the survey, Paplham named affordability (housing, health care and child care), an overhaul of the public school funding formula, and clean drinking water, including PFAS and nitrate contamination, as her main campaign messages.[3]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21. Not yet independently fact-checked.