NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – State Rep. David Steffen of Howard faces a challenge from Democrat Alexi Unertl of Suamico in the 4th Assembly District race.

Steffen, a Republican, represents the 4th district, which includes all or parts of Brown and Oconto counties.
The candidates were sent surveys by the Northeastern Wisconsin News Lab as part of its coverage of the 2026 election. Answers were limited to no more than 100 words.

Early, in-person voting starts Oct. 20. To find out the races on your ballot, where to vote, how to get an absentee ballot, go to MyVote Wisconsin website at myvote.wi.gov.

David Steffen (i), Republican

Age: 54
Residence: Howard
Occupation and employer: Legislator and small business owner (Isaro Consulting) in Howard.
Relaxant experience: State representative for 12 years, Brown County supervisor for three years and Howard village trustee for seven years.
Campaign website: N/A

Alexia Unertl, Democrat

Age: 37
Residence: Suamico
Occupation and employer: Logistics broker, Schneider
Relevant experience: I was elected as Brown County vice chair to the Wisconsin Conservation Congress and serve on its Environmental Committee. The Wisconsin Conservation Congress advises the Natural Resources Board and the DNR on responsibly managing Wisconsin’s natural resources for present and future generations. As the only statutory body where citizens elect delegates to advise on conservation, they facilitate public input on natural resource policy. I also serve as treasurer on the board of directors for The Art Garage, a local arts nonprofit, where I oversee budgets, work closely with accountants, and ensure expenditures align with our financial plan.

Wisconsin has a large budget surplus. What should lawmakers prioritize: tax cuts, increased spending on public services, or something else?

Steffen: The state government over-charged its residents $3 billion. To assist with rising costs of everyday living, the vast majority of this budget surplus should be returned to the people, not spent on expanding government. Sadly, a bipartisan agreement with Gov. Evers was defeated by the Democrats this spring.

Unertl: Care does not have to be costly. If elected, I would work to expand access to health care, including a BadgerCare public option. In rural Wisconsin, small businesses and farms often struggle to compete with larger employers when they cannot afford both competitive wages and employer-sponsored health insurance. A public option could reduce that burden while giving workers greater freedom to choose jobs without losing access to affordable care. Rather than short-term tax cuts, I want Wisconsin to invest its surplus in health care and other public services that lower costs, support small businesses, and strengthen our workforce for the long term.

What policies are most important to address Wisconsinites’ concerns about cost of living?

Steffen: Ensuring residents retain more of their paycheck and retirement income is the best way for families and seniors to address rising costs. This is why I authored Wisconsin’s Tax Free Retirement legislation that became law last year, and supported direct property tax relief rebate checks this spring.

Unertl: Wisconsinites need policies that make it easier to afford everyday life. I support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and phasing it to $20, with automatic inflation adjustments so workers do not fall behind. I also support expanding publicly owned and cooperative power options, strengthening oversight of utility rates, and investing in reliable infrastructure. Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives can keep more utility revenue in the communities they serve instead of sending it to shareholders. We need energy policies that put ratepayers first, keep electricity affordable, and ensure our infrastructure is reliable and resilient.

Housing costs have risen in many Wisconsin communities. What role should state government play in creating more affordable housing?

Steffen: The cost of housing is largely controlled by the amount of local, state and federal regulation on new home construction. All levels of government need to work together to reduce the barriers and price tag of new construction. Without these efforts, the demand will continue to outpace the supply, thereby driving up the cost.

Unertl: The state government has a responsibility to help increase the supply of safe, affordable homes while making it easier for people to buy their first home. I support reducing unnecessary barriers to manufactured and prefabricated housing, expanding homebuyer assistance, and investing in programs that help build and preserve affordable housing. This includes predatory lending practices, which jeopardize stable housing by making mortgages more expensive. We also need to protect renters from unfair rental practices that artificially drive up rent prices, pricing people out of their neighborhoods and communities.

What policies would best address Wisconsinites’ concerns about property taxes?

Steffen: Property taxes will continue to rise as long as the demand for housing outpaces the supply of housing. Until local communities and state government work more closely to address the housing crisis, the upward pressure on property taxes will remain. Last session, the legislature, with the support of Gov. Evers, increased the amount of local funding to Brown County by 77% and to Oconto County by 99%. This was the largest incase in local government aid in state history. Yet, property taxes continue to rise.

Unertl: The state needs to invest more in the public services that communities rely on every day without forcing local taxpayers to shoulder an ever-growing share of the cost. That means increasing the state’s investment in public schools, fire and emergency services, roads, and other essential infrastructure. I also support state-assisted bulk purchasing and cost-sharing programs for volunteer and municipal fire departments, helping small communities afford trucks, protective equipment, and lifesaving gear. When the state pays its fair share for essential public services, we can reduce pressure on local property taxpayers while strengthening the services every Wisconsin community depends on.

Funding of public education has been an issue and has been tied to property taxes for years. Schools often rely on local referendums for funding staffing, programs and maintenance. What specific changes would you support to the state’s school funding formula and how would you pay for them?

Steffen: Public school funding remains the largest part of the state budget. I believe the cost-share of two-thirds funding by the state and one-third by local taxes is a reasonable method of handling the financial load. As it relates to “fixing” the funding formula, it has always shown to create a new set of winners and new set of losers.

Unertl: Wisconsin should fully fund public education so the quality of a child’s education does not depend on their community’s property tax base. I support modernizing the school funding formula with weights for students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and districts facing greater economic or geographic challenges. The state should fully fund special education through a sum-sufficient formula and adjust school aid for inflation. I would also increase the state’s share of K-12 funding so schools are less dependent on local property taxes and referendums. Public education is a public investment, and Wisconsin deserves good outcomes.

Should the state direct more funding toward voucher and school-choice programs and what evidence supports your position?

Steffen: Absolutely. While only 2% of the state’s K-12 education funding goes to these schools, they educate 3.4% of the state’s students. This means it costs taxpayers less and allows parents to have more control over their child’s education.

Unertl: I support freezing new voucher enrollment and ultimately sunsetting the voucher program. Wisconsin’s public schools educate the overwhelming majority of students and are accountable to taxpayers through public meetings, elected school boards, open records, and state requirements. Voucher schools receive public dollars but are not subject to the same level of public oversight and transparency. I attended a private parochial school that now participates in the voucher program, giving me a personal perspective on the importance of accountability when public dollars are involved. If elected, I would advocate for public funding that prioritizes strong, fully funded public schools.

What steps can the Legislature take to alleviate court backlogs and address the need for more judges, prosecutors and public defenders?

Steffen: I am the lead author of Wisconsin’s Justice for All Act, which is a bipartisan effort to address this issue. We don’t just need more judges, but also more prosecutors, public defenders to handle the thousands of cases that remain in a backlog status. These backlogs are creating multi-year delays in cases making their way through the court system, thereby denying justice to victims and the accused alike.

Unertl: People have a constitutional right to a speedy trial and to effective legal representation, yet inadequate funding, low reimbursement rates, and staffing shortages make it difficult to provide appropriate representation. We need to pay public defenders and other court professionals competitively and build sustainable career paths to recruit and retain experienced attorneys, judges, prosecutors, and court staff. We should also invest in technology to reduce backlogs. A fair − and modern − justice system cannot function when people wait months for a lawyer or their day in court or cannot afford bail.

How do you feel about the number of prisons in Wisconsin − should there be more? Less? Why?

Steffen: We have a record number of prisoners in our system, which means we need a record number of prison beds. This spring, we came very close to developing a bipartisan solution to this situation, which included the closer of Green Bay Correctional Institution. I am confident this issue will be addressed in the next state budget.

Unertl: Wisconsin should spend less on incarceration and more on keeping people safe, strengthening our workforce, and keeping families together. Wisconsin’s use of revocations can contribute to incarceration even when someone has not been convicted of a new crime. DOC data found that 27.2% of revocations reviewed from 2017 through mid-2019 involved noncriminal behavior. We should better distinguish serious new offenses from supervision violations that can be addressed in the community. Expanding treatment, job training, education, and reentry support can help people return to work and become productive members of their communities while reducing recidivism and strengthening public safety.

How significant an issue is climate change? What would you advocate for related to climate change if elected?

Steffen: I focus my time and ability on environmental efforts that are within our ability to make a difference. I’ve been a lifelong advocate for clean water, clean air and clean lands. I will continue that commitment going forward.

Unertl: Climate change is already affecting Wisconsin families, farmers, businesses, and local governments through flooding, severe storms, wildfire smoke, drought, and changing seasons. I support setting a stronger goal of 100% renewable energy by 2040 and creating good-paying jobs through the clean energy transition. We also need to prepare our communities for the climate we are already experiencing. That means designing roads, bridges, culverts, stormwater systems, and other infrastructure to withstand heavier rainfall and more extreme weather. Climate resilience is a practical investment that protects families, reduces long-term costs for taxpayers, and keeps our communities safe and connected.

Wisconsin’s bipartisan support for a PFAS law to hold polluters accountable and the state’s lower maximum contaminant levels for drinking water put it out in front nationally on forever-chemical protections. Some say the best way to prevent PFAS contaminations is to outlaw their use, while others hope to reverse the regulations. How important is this issue? What still needs to be addressed? How should remediation costs be raised?

Steffen: I support the bipartisan successes we’ve had over the last four years to address the PFAS issue in Wisconsin. I look forward to supporting additional, similar efforts next session.

Unertl: Clean water is crucial to the health and success of Wisconsin. I support emergency plans for contamination of municipal water supplies and private wells, including stronger monitoring, enforceable groundwater standards, and reducing unnecessary PFAS use. When contamination occurs, residents need immediate access to safe drinking water, filtration systems, or connections to a municipal supply. The state should help identify contamination and expedite cleanup while requiring responsible companies to pay remediation and replacement-water costs. None of this is possible without fully funding the DNR and giving it the resources to protect Wisconsin’s water.

What do you think of the implementation process for the new Medicaid work requirements so far in Wisconsin? What has worked? What could be improved?

Steffen: Requiring able-bodied, able-minded individuals of working age to either be working or looking for work is an important requirement that I support.

Unertl: I am concerned these requirements will create unnecessary barriers to health care, particularly in rural communities where transportation, childcare, limited job opportunities, and health care access are already difficult. The danger is that someone who is sick, disabled, unhoused, caring for a vulnerable person, or otherwise struggling could lose coverage because they cannot navigate the paperwork, prove an exemption, or document their circumstances. I worry that those with significant health limitations can be especially vulnerable, including residents who have declining health or physically demanding jobs but are not yet eligible for Medicare. Wisconsinites shouldn’t lose health care because of administrative bureaucracy.

What do you think about funding the 988 crisis line long-term at the state level?

Steffen: Like all government programs, 998 crisis line needs to be routinely evaluated for its value in relation to the cost. All too often in government, we create a program without properly evaluating or adjusting to current needs, methods and technology.

Unertl: On the other end of the 988 hotline is a person willing to answer when someone feels like they have nowhere else to turn. We cannot put a price on that moment. If the federal government will not reliably fund this lifeline, Wisconsin must. We should also invest in mental health support systems that help people before they reach a crisis. If you feel like you can not go on, please call or text 988. If no one else has told you today, we are better because you’re here.

This questionnaire was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of five news outlets.