# Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin is a Republican member of the Wisconsin House for district 88.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Wisconsin House, district 88
- Serving since: 2025-01-06
- Current term: WI 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/04b709c6-b487-49c1-9bcf-dfbbc7082beb

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/04b709c6-b487-49c1-9bcf-dfbbc7082beb (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Franklin reported $737.9K in the 2026 cycle, in the top 5% of State House Republicans (median $33.7K).

## What Franklin says (WI 2025–26 session)

6 classified statements: 6 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Franklin | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 643 of 792 |
| Policy criticism | 0.0% | 9.3% | 736 of 792 |
| Policy discussion | 33.3% | 31.9% | 355 of 792 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 678 of 792 |
| Credit claiming | 0.0% | 12.7% | 764 of 792 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.4% | 619 of 792 |

Most discussed policy areas: Government Operations and Politics 100% (State House Republicans 18%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Armed Forces and National Security 0% (State House Republicans 4.9%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 0% (State House Republicans 6.2%); Commerce 0% (State House Republicans 3.9%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.79 (standard error 0.04), from 165 donors and 196 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 96% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (WI 2025–26 session)

245 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Wisconsin House 97.7%). Party unity 100% (97.6%). 0 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-13 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 1 Relating to: an income tax subtraction for qualified tips and for qualified overtime compensation; state aid for school districts; surplus refund… · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2026S1/AB1/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · CONCURRENCE · SB 181 Relating to: a levy limit exemption for regional emergency medical systems and eligibility for the expenditure restraint incentive program. (FE) · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/SB181/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 659 Relating to: tuition and fee remission or grants for certain veterans and their dependents enrolled in the University of Wisconsin System, a technical… · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB659/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 997 Relating to: funding for the Department of Financial Institutions for contributions to Trump accounts and making an appropriation. (FE) · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB997/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · CONCURRENCE · SB 439 Relating to: levy increase limit for the village of Oregon and the towns of Oregon and Rutland. (FE) · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/SB439/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 812 Relating to: allowing more than 35 percent of the area within a tax incremental district in the Village of Somers to be used for residential use. (FE) · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB812/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 870 Relating to: adopting changes to the federal Internal Revenue Code for state tax purposes and modifying administrative rules related to such changes.… · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB870/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 996 Relating to: contributions by the Department of Financial Institutions to Trump accounts. · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB996/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · PASSAGE · AB 957 Relating to: Internet crimes against children law enforcement and making an appropriation. (FE) · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB957/
- 2026-02-19 · voted yea · CONCURRENCE · SB 501 Relating to: creating a veterinary loan repayment grant program administered by the Higher Educational Aids Board and exempting from taxation amounts… · pass · https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/SB501/

## Legislation (WI 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 100 bills: 100 reached committee, 44 passed one chamber, 28 passed both, 22 became law. Cosponsored 0. 73.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Wisconsin House 45.2%; rank 21 of 99).

Recent sponsored bills:

- AR 17: Relating to: recognizing the life and extraordinary leadership of Bob Harlan. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AR17/
- AB 1107: Relating to: requiring carbon monoxide detectors in child care centers and schools, grants for placing carbon monoxide detectors in schools, and making an… (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB1107/
- AB 1121: Relating to: health insurance coverage of prosthetic limbs and custom orthotic braces. (FE) (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB1121/
- AJR 139: Relating to: reaffirming Wisconsin’s commitment to the strengthening and deepening of the sister ties between the State of Wisconsin and Taiwan, reaffirming… (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AJR139/
- AB 1006: Relating to: the definition of “veteran” for purposes of certain state veterans benefits. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB1006/
- AB 963: Relating to: social media accounts for minors and providing a penalty. (passed one chamber, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB963/
- AB 965: Relating to: artificial intelligence systems that simulate humanlike relationships with children and providing a penalty. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB965/
- AB 946: Relating to: implementing a behavioral health prevention pilot program and making an appropriation. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB946/
- AB 913: Relating to: subtraction for certain income of members of the National Guard and Reserves. (FE) (became law, 2026-06-16) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB913/
- AB 912: Relating to: an audiovisual recording of a child’s statement admitted as evidence. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/wi/bills/2025/AB912/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $737.9K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 94% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-04-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/2048968907378053427
- 2026-04-27 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/2048861275917074855
- 2025-05-26 · Post on X · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/1927000892135325744
- 2025-03-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/1899297399350120835
- 2025-03-08 · Post on X · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/1898216925857034440
- 2025-03-07 · Post on X · https://x.com/Franklin4WI/status/1897803114578649596

## Links

- Official site: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/legislators/assembly/2900
- Campaign site: https://www.franklinforwisconsin.com/
- X: https://x.com/Franklin4WI
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FranklinWisconsin/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franklinforwisconsin/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/04b709c6-b487-49c1-9bcf-dfbbc7082beb