A Wisconsin Congressional seat considered “safe” for the Tea Party carpetbagger incumbent has a worthy local Democratic challenger. Sarah Lloyd is running against Glenn Grothman, the 6th District Ultra-Conservative Representative who shoved out former incumbent Tom Petrie, a moderate Repub. Hunter considered Grothman eligible for the Louis Gohmert America’s Dumbest Congressman Watch List.
The 6th District is exceptionally rural even by the standards of mostly rural Wisconsin. Lloyd and her husband have a 400-cow family farm in the district, while Grothman moved there from the GOP suburban stronghold of West Bend. He’s an urban career politician. She’s a dairy farmer with a PhD in Community and Environmental Sociology.
A leader who lives and works at the intersection of agri- and -culture, Lloyd combines dirt-under-fingernails practical experience and off-farm work. She is involved in programs that promote farm enterprises and help create healthy, sustainable communities operated through Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU), Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative, and Wormfarm Institute. In 2013, she was appointed by US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to represent the dairy farmers of Wisconsin on the National Dairy Board. Lloyd also served on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors and currently teaches the Rural Social and Economic Issues course at University of WI. (See the full list of her professional experiences and political appointments on her website.)
Lloyd’s policy positions include
- sustainable energy development (her farm has a 7.3K solar system that supplies 50% of their needs for home and barns),
- single payer health care,
- raising the taxable income cap for Social Security, and
- investment in education from pre-K through higher ed.
With a contemporary perspective on agriculture and society that enfolds traditional values, Lloyd supports policies that benefit all the District’s constituents. Her website’s bio describes a woman of broad interests and talents and notes that her campaign follows the ideals and ideas promoted during Bernie Sander’s campaign.
Endorsed by environmental group Clean Wisconsin Action Fund for her natural resource protection policies, Lloyd said “We have serious water quality and quantity issues that must be addressed collaboratively [...] to reduce nutrient runoff and pollution from both point and nonpoint sources.” The AFL-CIO endorsed her as a fighter for worker’s rights.
Incumbent Glenn Grothman came into office in January 2015 after 22 years in the state legislature, replacing another Republican who held the position since 1979. Republican white men have dominated the District since 1967. During his tenure in the Wisconsin legislature, Grothman supported defunding kindergarten for four year old children saying that any benefits from early education don’t last, a claim rated false by Politifact. Grothman is unmarried and has no children.
Grothman opposes rational sex education classes because he believes the classes have an agenda to persuade students to become gay. Of course he also is against the ACA and was proud to claim an award as Pro-Life Wisconsin’s Legislator of the Year. During House hearings on Planned Parenthood, he told CEO Cecile Richards that Planned Parenthood’s services aren’t necessary because “as a guy” he has plenty of health care options in his home state.
In a statement that hints at his Gohmer-esqueness, Grothman claimed, "We had such a great country in the relatively recent past. Now America, supposed to be the light of the world, instead we’re the light going in the opposite direction.” He’s a misogynist (claims a fellow Republican) and a bomb-thrower (metaphorically). Grothman himself is the light going in the opposite direction. Hunter summed him up.
...he is a terrible person and that a bunch of people in one Wisconsin district are actually willing to vote to send this specimen of underripe humanity off to govern us all makes a good case for quarantine.
Lloyd brings more change than gender, grassroots activism, inclusiveness, and practical experience. Her positions on all the major issues contrast with Grothman’s. Lloyd endorses actions to address contemporary problems that won’t go away no matter how much Grothman wishes to dismiss their existence. Lloyd works to help farmers market their goods and connect communities to local food. She wants people to have better healthcare and early education opportunities and to revive our middle class with strong workers’ rights and good jobs that aren’t jeopardized by unfair trade deals. Infrastructure improvement and broadband access are two contemporary problems Lloyd wishes to address. She views these as essential to our society and as job creators.
The nation faces real problems demanding our attention right now and Lloyd has proven she can lead as well as work collaboratively. She offers both vision and practicality to replace the incumbent who said, “Our country is not going to survive if we continue this war on men.” The unbroken line of white men who have represented this part of Wisconsin since 1863 should clue us in that any war on men, if it ever existed, was won by men a long time ago.
In an historic election year when women’s achievements and contributions are spotlighted by Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, the Democratic party’s message is we are stronger together combining heart and law to benefit all citizens. It is time for a woman who embodies these messages, Sarah Lloyd, to reclaim this male-dominated Congressional seat for the Democrats.
Visit Sarah Lloyd’s website for details of her experience and positions on issues. Lloyd’s recent Reddit AMA offers a conversational view. ActBlue has a donation page for her campaign.
Lloyd’s campaign launch event is tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24th at 7:30 pm at the Columbia County Democratic Party office in Portage WI. Bernie Sanders will speak via livestream at 8pm. You can RSVP here. Her campaign connects to Sander’s Our Revolution group that seeks long term impact on races at all levels down to the local.
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