Chris Unterberger
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Chris Unterberger (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Wisconsin State Senate to represent District 14. He was disqualified from the Democratic primary scheduled on August 13, 2024.
Unterberger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Chris Unterberger was born in Wisconsin. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse in 2017 and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2022. His career experience includes working as a scientist. He has been affiliated with 350 Wisconsin.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2024
General election
General election for Wisconsin State Senate District 14
Sarah Keyeski defeated incumbent Joan Ballweg in the general election for Wisconsin State Senate District 14 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sarah Keyeski (D)  | 51.1 | 52,483 |
 | Joan Ballweg (R) | 48.8 | 50,149 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 101 | ||
| Total votes: 102,733 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 14
Sarah Keyeski advanced from the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 14 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sarah Keyeski | 99.9 | 20,637 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 19 | ||
| Total votes: 20,656 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 14
Incumbent Joan Ballweg advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 14 on August 13, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joan Ballweg | 99.6 | 13,216 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 49 | ||
| Total votes: 13,265 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Unterberger in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Unterberger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Unterberger's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a small-town kid with big ideas to transform Wisconsin’s 14th Senate District. I'm running as a pragmatic and passionate progressive combining fiscal responsibility with policies to ensure Wisconsin continues to be a leader in public education, a champion of healthcare rights, and has the infrastructure necessary to support a growing future.
- First and foremost, I am a Wisconsinite. I believe that Wisconsin has lost its way as the progressive leader that it once was. In order for us to return to being the political leaders the country needs us to be, we must return to the progressive values of individual liberty and community building that are at the heart of every Wisconsinite. I am a product of communities coming together to act on those progressive values, and I want to give back to those communities by representing them in the state legislature.
- Second, I am a scientist. I received a high quality education from three great public schools in Wisconsin that led me to a career as a scientist--one that I am proud of. I know that science has a rightful place in policymaking, and it has been lacking for far too long. The COVID pandemic shed light on the issue, but the current need to fund public education, ensure affordable healthcare, and combat climate change makes it apparent that we still must push for science in our policies.
- Lastly, I believe that our representatives in the State Capitol should be representative of us. There are far too many career politicians making the decisions for the carpenters, nurses, restaurant workers, and farmers of the state. Wisconsin is made up of a great variety of young, rural, hard-working individuals who do not see themselves in the lawmakers in Madison. I hope that I can represent the people of South Central Wisconsin who see themselves in me.
Wisconsin has a prime opportunity with its large budget surplus to make the investments in education, healthcare, and infrastructure that will be necessary for it to attract people, jobs, and economic development to the state.
As representatives of the people, elected officials must be able to listen to their constituents. Only after listening can they use the tools and levers of government to benefit the people.
As a scientist, I know the value of first listening: the best decisions are made when you are able to gather as much information and data as possible. And as a scientist, I know that there are different tools for different experiments. Knowing which ones to use can be the difference between success and failure in the lab.
I have the benefit of working with and befriending folks from all sorts of backgrounds, beliefs, and political philosophies. I have just as much interest in talking to the farmer in Adams-Friendship as the nurse in Madison. My ability to listen and understand where each and every one of them are coming from will be invaluable in a position of representing Wisconsinites in the state legislature.
I am a product of the small communities I grew up in and near. I owe the people of South Central Wisconsin a great debt for making me the man I am today. If I am able to give back a fraction of what they've given me, I will consider a success.
I was 6 years old on 9/11. The fear I witnessed and experienced that day will never leave me.
I started washing dishes when I was 14. The lessons you learn from two years of pruned hands stay with you for a lifetime (lesson #1: don't get behind on silverware).
The legislature’s job is to make laws and the governor’s job is to execute those laws as the chief executive of the state. However, as the top elected statewide official in the state government, the governor speaks for the state as a whole and must set the priorities of the state legislature, guiding them in one direction.
Wisconsin cannot afford to fail in attracting people to the state. The past decade-plus has given prospective Wisconsinites the negative impression that the state is a home for conservative politics. Our greatest challenge will be overcoming this perspective, but we can do that by investing in public education, providing access to affordable healthcare, and ensuring Wisconsin is a destination for high quality jobs that are competitive with every other state in the country.
I believe that the state legislature should be made up of representatives of the state. Very few Wisconsinites are career politicians, yet our legislature is made up of just that. Many Wisconsinites are young, yet very few of our legislators are under 40 years old. Wisconsin is home to a budding biotechnology industry and great scientific universities, yet few of our legislators have backgrounds in science.
If the most representative Wisconsinite has past political experience then great, but I am worried that routine election of career politicians creates a sense of complacency that does not offer fresh perspectives nor representation of our great state.
If the most representative Wisconsinite has past political experience then great, but I am worried that routine election of career politicians creates a sense of complacency that does not offer fresh perspectives nor representation of our great state.
Yes. As a scientist I know the value of collaboration. On every research paper I published I relied on the expertise of my colleagues to conduct a well-rounded study. Like science, legislating requires that same reliance on others’ expertise as well as resource and perspective sharing.
Additionally, the 14th Senate contains only 1/33rd of all Wisconsinites. What’s good for my district must be good for my state. So, I must work with my 32 other senators as well as my Assembly colleagues to determine what that good is.
Additionally, the 14th Senate contains only 1/33rd of all Wisconsinites. What’s good for my district must be good for my state. So, I must work with my 32 other senators as well as my Assembly colleagues to determine what that good is.
Bob La Follette is not only a role model of mine, but of many other Wisconsinites and progressive champions across the country. His determination to work for all Wisconsinites and not the business interests of the time inspired me to do the same. His efforts showed me the power of an efficient and broad state government. I can only hope that the work I do has a fraction of the impact that his did.
I got into this race because I saw the communities where I grew up and live struggling to maintain their way of life. I saw schools shrinking, hospitals shutting down, and people losing jobs. All because the state government was failing to invest in them.
Right now, I am running to re-prioritize the state legislature’s investment in Wisconsin. If the best way to make Wisconsin a better place is by fighting for it in a different office, then I will go where I’m needed.
Right now, I am running to re-prioritize the state legislature’s investment in Wisconsin. If the best way to make Wisconsin a better place is by fighting for it in a different office, then I will go where I’m needed.
The most memorable story is the one that pulled me into this race in the first place. It was my middle school band teacher telling me about his prior six Saturdays spent knocking on doors, writing letters, and making phone calls in attempts to convince the people of Adams-Friendship to vote for an operational referendum to keep the doors of the school district open. While I admired his determination and work ethic, I thought “there has to be a better way”. From there I learned of the many pitfalls that contributed to the defunding of public education in Wisconsin; I learned that the schools in the small communities where I grew up were barely scraping by; and I learned that the problem wasn’t at the bottom, it was at the top. The way schools are funded at the state-level is broken, and I was determined to fix it.
Why does carrot cake have the best frosting?
Because it needs the best frosting.
The authority to oversee emergency powers is an important responsibility for the legislature. As we saw in the COVID pandemic emergency, the governor needs to be able to act quickly within the demands of the people. The legislature is the best equipped to hear the demands of their constituents and relay them to the executive branch.
Most importantly and most pressing in the early stages of the legislature is drafting of the biennial budget. The Senate and the Assembly contribute to the budget that is presented to the governor’s office. It will be my priority to make sure that the first budget to which I contribute will be the best budget for public education in the state. Only after ensuring that the state correctly prioritizes its people will I be able to work with my colleagues of any party in ensuring affordable access to healthcare by enacting a public option for BadgerCare. Education and healthcare is a right that everyone should be able to access.
I am determined to support public education, ensure affordable access to healthcare, and commit Wisconsin to a clean energy future. The best committees to complete that mission are in the Education, Health, and Natural Resources and Energy committees.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 7, 2024
Current members of the Wisconsin State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Mary Felzkowski
Majority Leader:Devin LeMahieu
Minority Leader:Dianne Hesselbein
Senators
District 1
André Jacque (R)
District 2
Eric Wimberger (R)
District 3
Tim Carpenter (D)
District 4
Dora Drake (D)
District 5
Rob Hutton (R)
District 6
LaTonya Johnson (D)
District 7
Chris Larson (D)
District 8
Jodi Sinykin (D)
District 9
Devin LeMahieu (R)
District 10
Rob Stafsholt (R)
District 11
Stephen Nass (R)
District 12
Mary Felzkowski (R)
District 13
John Jagler (R)
District 14
Sarah Keyeski (D)
District 15
Mark Spreitzer (D)
District 16
Melissa Ratcliff (D)
District 17
Howard Marklein (R)
District 18
Kristin Alfheim (D)
District 19
District 20
Dan Feyen (R)
District 21
Van Wanggaard (R)
District 22
Robert Wirch (D)
District 23
Jesse James (R)
District 24
Patrick Testin (R)
District 25
Romaine Quinn (R)
District 26
Kelda Roys (D)
District 27
District 28
Julian Bradley (R)
District 29
Cory Tomczyk (R)
District 30
Jamie Wall (D)
District 31
Jeff Smith (D)
District 32
Brad Pfaff (D)
District 33
Chris Kapenga (R)
Republican Party (18)
Democratic Party (15)
