For Zach Roper ’26, election experience was hard to beat

In the fall 2024 election, 21-year-old Carthage political science major Zach Roper ’26 ran for state office. How’s that for experiential learning?

Despite his age, Zach ran for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly to represent the 84th Assembly District. The newly redrawn district covers parts of Racine and Waukesha counties, including most of Zach’s hometown (Muskego).

“I thought the state needed change because it was filled with people who did not care about the people they were representing and, since I’m young, we would have a chance to bring Wisconsin forward and not backward,” he says.

Zach juggled college classes along with his campaign, and that was just one of the obstacles he had to overcome as a young candidate.

“Many people had an issue with how young I was, but when they would take time to get to know me they would come around and hear what I have to say,” he says.

At Carthage, Zach has taken classes focused on campaigning and elections. Although he lost to opponent Chuck Wichgers in the November election, the experience allowed him to apply what he’s learned in the classroom to real life situations.

“I had Snapchat, X, Facebook, and a website running at all times so people could get in contact with me, and for the most part that worked really well,” he says.

There was still plenty of face-to-face campaigning, too. During his time at home, Zach knocked on an estimated 5,000 doors to share his story and gather votes.

“The last 15 weeks of the campaign, we did a lot of door-knocking,” he says. “I wanted to make sure that we talked to people, not shove it down their throat.”