Ortiz-Velez Challenges Luna’s Residency in Assembly District 8

After losing the partisan primary in Assembly District 8, state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez has filed a complaint alleging her opponent, Ismael Luna, does not live in the district.

In a complaint filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), Ortiz-Velez alleges Luna is pretending to live at an address on W. Walker St. in Walker’s Point and that he actually lives at one of two properties he owns outside the district. Ortiz-Velez further alleges that Luna committed voter fraud when he registered to vote at the Walker Street address for the partisan primary in August.

Luna won the primary race by more than 70%. If the residency complaint amounts to nothing, he will face Republican and perennial candidate Angel C. Sanchez in the general election.

While state law does not require a candidate to be a resident of the district until they take office, it does require residency in the district for at least 28 days prior to an election to legally vote there.

Luna or a representative of his campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Before the election, when Ortiz-Velez announced her intention to file the complaint, a spokesperson for the campaign said, “Ismael Luna rents and lives in the district, like thousands of others who live here.”

Ortiz-Velez provided a copy of the complaint to Urban Milwaukee, as well as exhibits that include social media posts questioning Luna’s residency in the district and that allegedly show Luna registered to vote elsewhere as recently as the 2026 spring elections. Property records show Luna is listed as the owner and co-owner, respectively, on two properties outside District 8.

Ortiz-Velez’s complaint contends that if Luna does not reside in the district, he falsified election documents, lied to an election official and illegally voted. All are criminal offenses under state law.

Ortiz-Velez, a moderate Democrat who has crossed party lines to work with Republicans in the Assembly, found herself alienated from her Democratic colleagues in the Assembly at the end of the last legislative cycle. Personal conflict over a Hispanic Heritage Month resolution led her to allegedly threaten her colleagues, resulting in a criminal disorderly conduct charge. She pleaded no contest to the charge in March but continues to dispute the underlying allegations.

Luna, a progressive, was a first-time candidate for public office. His challenge to Ortiz-Velez drew support from many Democrats, including funding from the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee (ADCC). The Milwaukee County Democratic Party attempted to secure a state party endorsement for Luna, but the move backfired and the resulting pushback within the party led a majority of the executive board to resign.