Christopher Lee Kapenga[1][2] (born February 19, 1972)[3] is an American businessman and Republican politician from Waukesha County, Wisconsin.
His new district kept Delafield, Hartland, Chenequa, Wales, and North Prairie, removed areas of the city of Waukesha, and added neighboring Oconomowoc Lake and Dousman.
[11][12] In August 2012, Wisconsin state senator Rich Zipperer resigned his seat to accept a job in the administration of Governor Scott Walker.
Due to the timing of Zipperer's resignation, the special primary was scheduled to coincide with the Fall general election, November 6, 2012.
[15] Farrow, who had defeated Kapenga in the 2012 Senate primary, was elected Waukesha County executive in April 2015 and would therefore have to resign his seat in the Legislature.
[12][17] In the July 2015 special election, Kapenga faced Democrat Sherryll Shaddock, who had previously run unsuccessfully against Paul Farrow.
[22][23] In 2016, Kapenga—along with state representative Robert Brooks (R–Saukville)—introduced legislation to allow Wisconsin landowners to excavate Native American effigy mounds on their property.
The bill was strongly opposed by the Ho-Chunk Nation and other tribes who viewed excavation to determine the presence of remains as defeating the purpose of mound protection.
[31] Like most Republican state legislators in Wisconsin, Kapenga has consistently opposed Democratic proposals to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured Wisconsinites.
[32][33] In October 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin, Kapenga claimed, contrary to public health experts, that face masks were not effective in halting the spread of the coronavirus.
At the event, former Milwaukee County sheriff David Clarke called for the Proud Boys—a violent right-wing extremist group—to establish a chapter in Wisconsin.
[36] The rally ultimately descended into violence when the host venue, Serb Hall, attempted to shut down the event due to non-compliance with COVID-19 public health rules.