Exciting stuff is happening in rural Northwest Wisconsin. Two very strong progressive candidates have emerged to challenge relatively vulnerable first-term GOP Assembly Reps in the 28th and 75th Districts; and GOP incumbents in 3 adjacent districts have announced they’re not running for reelection.
All 5 districts vote a bit more conservative than the state as a whole, but have gone for Democrats in the not-so-distant past. And they’re close enough to Minnesota that folks are keenly aware of how the Gopher State has been eating our lunch on any number of fronts. None of these will be easy, but they should all be squarely in-play this November.
If you’re in this neck of the woods, consider volunteering for these campaigns. Or, if you’re in a solid-blue area not likely to be contested by the GOP, maybe chip in a few bucks to help your progressive neighbors to the northwest.
Joe Huftel — Challenging Romaine Quinn in the 75th District
Website | Donate via ActBlue | Dist Map
Tends to vote ~4-5pts more GOP than WI as a whole. Obama carried this district in ‘08. A Democrat won the seat in 2012 (out-performing Obama by 3.6pts); and Democrats held this seat from 1978-2010.
Joe Huftel recently retired as administrator of WITC technical college in New Richmond, and prior to that was a K12 principal and teacher. He couldn’t be more familiar the funding challenges facing schools and colleges, and has pledged to make that a central issue of his campaign. As an added bonus, Huftel even started up an innovative new program dedicated to Scott Walker’s favorite profession; and he knows that WI wages lagging neighboring states is a bigger issue for northwest WI than any “skills gap” that may or may not exist.
Huftel is also focusing on local control and environmental protections, which are both heavily intertwined and vitally important to the tourism-heavy economy in this part of the state. He is committed to restoring the role of science at the DNR (amazingly, this is actually a thing) and putting local governments back in control of land use decisions related to shoreland protections and sand mining.
There really isn’t much to say about first-term Rep. Romaine Quinn. Other than his youth (he is 25 yrs old), his tenure in the legislature has been wholly unremarkable, and that should make him a relatively weak incumbent. He has voted with GOP leadership at virtually every opportunity, and is perhaps best known for co-authoring taking Wayne LaPierre’s dictation of the repeal of the 48 hr waiting period to purchase a handgun. Other than that, he seems to spend an inordinate amount of time writing in to small local newspapers, making sure they always have the very latest Club for Growth talking-points.
Jeff Peterson — Challenging Adam Jarchow in the 28th District
Website | Donate via ActBlue | Dist Map
Tends to vote ~9pts more GOP than WI as a whole. A Democrat won this seat in 2006 and 2008, out-performing Obama here in ‘08 by 9pts.
Jeff Peterson is a retired elementary school teacher who has served on the Polk County Board of Supervisors, the Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative board of directors, and the Polk County Board of Adjustment. He is a very strong advocate of renewable energy, with a 1.5 kW solar array at his home and he has helped to organize the Polk County Energy Fair. Peterson’s background in education, local government, and environmental advocacy align perfectly with what are sure to be central issues in the campaign.
First-Term Incumbent Adam Jarchow is best known for his repeated attacks on water quality (in the name of “property rights”). Jarchow has authored or co-authored:
- Prohibit counties from having any shoreland zoning requirements more restrictive than state law; nullifies all existing local shoreland zoning. (Inserted into 2015-17 Budget as Motion 520.)
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AB 582 — Restricts local control of zoning/permitting and prohibits any kind of local development moratorium (think sand mining).
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AB 600 — Reduces wetland protections, allows lakefront property owners to dredge up to 3 dump truck loads of lakebed per year, and much more.
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AB 874 — Grant “forever” permits for high-capacity wells that will never be subject to DNR review if they’re sold/repaired/replaced/etc.
As you might expect, realtors and megafarms are pretty into all of this, but year-round residents, conservation groups, and lake associations are pissed. This one will be tougher sledding than the 75th, but the combination of Jarchow’s divisive record, Peterson’s deep roots in the district, and presidential-year coattails make this a very winnable seat.
Bonus: 3 Open GOP-held Seats
District #29 (Map) — 2012: Romney +1.8%; 2008: Obama +6.4%
District #30 (Map) — 2012: Romney +6.0%; 2008: Obama +2.9%
District #67 (Map) — 2012: Romney +2.5%; 2008: Obama +7.1%
I’m not aware of any declared Democratic candidates for these seats, but if you are please let us know in the comments. Better yet, if you know somebody from this neck of the woods who would make a great public servant, talk to them about running.
Note that District #29 includes the UW-Stout campus, and District #30 includes UW-River Falls. Getting both students and faculty engaged in these campaigns will be crucial to victory in November. In District #67, Sen. Tammy Baldwin came within about 500 votes of carrying this district in 2012.
Double-Bonus: Citizen Action Western WI Organizing Co-Op
As many of you already know, Citizen Action of Wisconsin does outstanding and important work organizing and advocating for progressive causes at the state level, and particularly in Milwaukee.
They are currently in the process of launching a new Organizing Co-operative for Western WI, to be based out of Eau Claire. This is exactly the kind of thing that will focus and amplify the efforts of progressive groups and individuals in this part of the state and make flipping these 5 Assembly seats possible. One might say it really ties the room together.
The Co-Op needs 200 member-owners from western WI to get off the ground. As of this writing, it stands at 164. Member-Owners contribute $20/month (or whatever you can swing, it’s just important that you give something each month), and in turn get to collectively decide what issues and campaigns to focus on. Think of it as the progressive-grassroots (and very local) version of being on the Board of Directors for a SuperPAC.
If you’re in this part of the state and want to help spur focused, effective progressive activism in your community, consider joining the Co-Op!