Anthony Phillips wants to maintain Republican stronghold in Fox Valley Senate district

APPLETON - Oncologist Anthony Phillips is looking to maintain the Republican stronghold on the Fox Valley area state Senate districts.

Phillips is running as a Republican for Senate District 18, which covers the lakeside communities of Appleton, Neenah and Oshkosh, under recently redrawn election maps.

"I'm really concerned with the shift of Wisconsin politically to the far left and I'm motivated to stop this shift," Phillips told The Post-Crescent.

If elected, Phillips said his legislative priorities would be to stall raises in taxes, welfare programs, the inclusion of transgender athletes in sports and the teaching of diversity, equity and inclusion topics in schools.

Coming from the medical field, he also hopes to create legislation to help train and retain physicians in the state.

Since the previous 18th district covered the Fond du Lac area and is held by Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, there are no incumbents in this race, allowing for a newcomer to take the seat.

The Appleton-Neenah area was previously within the 19th Senate District boundaries and represented by Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton. Her district now stretches further west, covering New London, Waupaca and Omro.

Republicans have dominated Senate races in the Fox Valley for the past 40 years, as the last Democratic senator in the area was Gary Goyke in 1982.

But Gov. Tony Evers' new election maps could provide Phillips with a challenge, as the 18th district leans 55% Democratic.

This is according to an analysis of the maps by Marquette University Lubar Center research fellow John Johnson, who compared Wisconsin's current maps to the new ones and determined its partisan lean based on Republican or Democratic vote share in the 2022 election.

Under the previous 2022 and 2011 maps, the 19th Senate District covering the Fox Valley had a 52% Republican lean.

Phillips will likely face Democratic candidate Appleton alderperson Kristin Alfheim on Nov. 5 as no other candidates are currently running for the district.

Sophia Voight covers local government and politics in the Fox Valley for The Post-Crescent. She can be reached with feedback and story tips at svoight@postcrescent.com.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Anthony Phillips seeks Republican bid for Fox Valley Senate district