Wilanne Stangel
Candidate for: Kentucky House District 69;
Party: Democrat;
Status: Challenger;
Wilanne Stangel is a Democratic candidate for Kentucky’s 69th House District in the 2026 election, where she will face incumbent GOP Rep. Steve Doan in the November general election.
She previously defeated Bryan Snapp in the Democratic primary in May.
Stangel is no stranger to her district’s electoral ballot, as she was the Democratic challenger to Doan in 2024, where she garnered around 37% of the vote.
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A lifelong resident of Erlanger, Stangel attended Erlanger-Elsmere Independent schools and later earned a degree in industrial management from Northern Kentucky University.
Eventually, she went back to school to earn a master’s degree in library media education from Western Kentucky University. Afterward, she worked as a school librarian in various public and parochial schools throughout Northern Kentucky.
Stangel’s campaign is focused on expanding education funding, health care access, worker protections, and environmental concerns. She is especially passionate about health care and education systems, which she became familiar with through raising a child with autism.
Moreover, Stangel has expressed concerns about the Republican Supermajority in the Kentucky General Assembly, which she says has led to a shift in priorities by the state GOP toward appeasing the national Republican Party rather than delivering for statewide voters.
“As a veto-proof supermajority in Frankfort, our legislators have been more
concerned with currying favor with their national party and its agenda,” she told LINK nky. “I refuse to stand by while the hard won rights and protections for MY children and grandchildren, and for MY community are dismantled to feed the greed of oligarchy.”