1 week Ago By TERRY FLORES [email protected]
Administering an election is a balancing act. It requires making it easy for as many voters as possible to participate, tabulating and releasing results as fast as possible, and keeping elections secure and voters confident in the process. Wisconsin’s First Congressional District features a three-way race among candidates from distinct political parties.
Rep. Bryan Steil, the incumbent Republican from Janesville, is being challenged by Somers resident Peter Barca, a Democrat and former congressman, and newcomer Chester Todd, a Racine elder statesman and Green Party representative. Recently, the Kenosha News asked the candidates why they were vying for office.
Their unique perspectives offered a look into the issues they believe to be most important to residents of the district. for office? Barca Barca: I am running because Wisconsin families need leaders who will address rising costs, keep our communities safe, and protect access to healthcare. We need leaders in Congress who are willing to work across the aisle to accomplish those goals.
We have a do-nothing, dysfunctional Congress thanks to politicians like Bryan Steil, who are more concerned with playing politics than solving those problems. Steil voted against the law that is lowering prescription drug costs and capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month, and his party bosses killed a bipartisan bill that would have provided $20 million in funding to address the border crisis and keep our communities safe. I have spent my entire career working across the aisle to deliver for families in Wisconsin.
As Secretary of Revenue, I worked with both parties to cut taxes for middle-class families. I am running because we must return to real leadership who cares about Wisconsin families above all else — leaders who will buck their party and who aren’t afraid to cross the aisle. Steil Steil: As a lifelong resident of Wisconsin, we know how important community is and I believe by working together we can get our country back on track.
Throughout my time in Congress, I have sought to be a voice for our community. I believe we’ve accomplished a number of important things that impact everyone in Wisconsin’s First District. I will always value the input of hardworking Wisconsinites to identify and solve the biggest problems we face.
Todd Todd: Every two and four years, the Democrats come to the Black, Brown and poor communities and we are told we must vote for them. The Democrats offer promises that are never kept and they disappear for another four years until they again demand our vote. I am running to offer action and not just words to the downtrodden and the historically oppressed.
Barca: Public safety must be a top priority for our representatives. As a father and grandfather, I believe we must keep our communities safe by securing the border: Congress had the opportunity to pass a bipartisan law that would have provided $20 million in funding to address the border crisis and keep our communities safe, but Bryan Steil and his party bosses killed the bill. We must also expand access to quality, affordable healthcare.
I will work to expand access to programs like Medicaid, lower premiums and prescription drug costs, and protect coverage for those with pre-existing conditions. Finally, we deserve a representative who will protect access to reproductive healthcare. The right to choose when, how, and if to start a family is under attack by politicians who think they should make decisions for women.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Bryan Steil called it a “great victory.” This “great victory” banned abortion in Wisconsin and ripped away the rights of Wisconsin women.
Now he’s part of a group that wants to ban abortion and IVF nationwide, and he has even voted against protecting access to birth control. Steil: Bringing down rising costs and protecting Social Security and Medicare. Wisconsinites are paying over $1,000 a month more on average for the products they need than they were just three-and-a-half years ago.
This is crushing Wisconsin families, and seniors on fixed incomes are often hardest hit. I’m proud to have helped pass the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which is projected to reduce the U.S.
national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. There is much more work to be done, but I believe that by reducing federal spending, eliminating wasteful government programs, and cutting red tape to restore our energy independence, we can dramatically change course.
I believe every American will be better off if we can make these changes. Todd: We must end the disparity between the Black, Brown and poor people of our community and those of privileged wealth. Average Black wealth in Kenosha County is a third of the county average.
Greater economic opportunity, the end of systemic racism, reparations for slavery and access to free, accessible healthcare will close this gap. Barca: We must prioritize getting things done. In Congress, I will fight to restore the protections we had under Roe vs.
Wade. I will build on the work I did in the Assembly and protect women’s right to make their own healthcare decisions. My opponent is part of an extreme group that’s pushing for dramatic cuts to Social Security and Medicare.
When I return to Congress, I will oppose raising the retirement age or cutting benefits. Finally, we must protect and strengthen organized labor. When Governor Walker introduced Act 10 to repeal most unions’ collective bargaining rights, I led a 60-hour floor debate to try and stop it.
When they tried to push through right-to-work and end prevailing wage, I stood up again. When I return to Congress, I will work hard to pass the PRO Act because strong unions build a strong middle-class. Steil: I am focused on the issues of rising prices, an unsecure southern border, and crime in our communities.
If re-elected, I am committed to building off the success we’ve had in these areas by promoting pro-growth policies to fully address all three challenges. I have supported legislation like the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which cut billions in wasteful spending and will reduce our national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.
I also proudly supported the Secure the Border Act, which would solve the majority of the ongoing border crisis if signed into law. I’ve also supported legislation to give law enforcement the resources it needs and end weak-on-crime bail policies that allow crimes like the Waukesha Christmas parade disaster to occur. I remain focused on these issues and will work with anyone willing to solve these problems, regardless of political party, to improve the lives of everyone in Southeast Wisconsin.
Todd: As a Green Party member of Congress, I will have a platform to speak truth to the power that rules us. With a split Congress, my votes will likely be decisive, yielding me the power to make life better for those who have been left behind. In downtown Baraboo, a mural recognizes the contributions of area residents, past and present.
That image of unity is being tested this election year. Don Dempsey leaves the Sauk County GOP headquarters in Reedsburg with a new Trump yard sign. The county GOP has many signs to choose from, including a bright pink "Women for Trump" sign.
Store manager at "A Sense of Adventure" in Baraboo, Kelly Gebhard has been a lifelong Sauk County resident and Democratic voter. “A president is supposed to work for his people and for his country, not for himself, and his friends, and his bank accounts," she said. The Sauk County Republican Party is headquartered in a former Mexican Thursday, Sept.
26, 2024. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL A Tammy Baldwin sign and a hand-painted Kamala Harris sign share the roadside of Highway 12 near Prairie du Sac. A shortage of Harris signs has prompted many of her supporters to make their own.
The Sauk County GOP is headquartered in Reedsburg, Wis., in what was once a Mexican restaurant. Visitors to downtown Baraboo, Wis.
converse near the town square Thursday. Baraboo is the largest community in Sauk County. Donald Trump supporter Dan Forcier at Sauk County GOP headquarters in Reedsburg.
Behind him is a painting commemorating the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Books and literature fill a table at the headquarters of the Sauk County Democratic headquarters in Baraboo. Charlotte Huelsemann, 71, of Denzer, has voted for both Democrats and Republicans over the years but has never voted for Donald Trump.
Huelsemann, seen here at the headquarters of the Sauk County Democratic Party, intends to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. For the first time, the Democratic Party of Sauk County has purchased, through a political action committee, a billboard. This one is just south of downtown Baraboo.
Misgivings about the former president’s personality were enough to take Brad Horner from Trump supporter to local Democratic volunteer. Republican signs fill the side of a barn southeast of Baraboo. Sauk County has voted in line with the country in every presidential election since 2008 — voting twice for Barack Obama, for Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020.
Susan Knower has lived in the Baraboo Hills since the 1980s and is head of the Sauk County Democratic Party. Since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race in July, Knower has seen renewed energy and swarms of county residents volunteering in an effort to elect Harris. NAME: Peter Barca PARTY: Democrat AGE: 69 EDUCATION: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF RESIDENCE: Somers WORK EXPERIENCE: Teacher, small business owner, Wisconsin Secretary of Revenue PAST/ CURRENT PUBLIC (ELECTED) OFFICES HELD: U.
S. Congress, Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader PROFESSIONAL/ NONPROFIT MEMBERSHIPS: Honorary lifetime member of the AFL-CIO ------ NAME: Bryan Steil (Incumbent) PARTY: Republican AGE: 43 EDUCATION: Janesville Craig High School, Georgetown University (BS); University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School (JD) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF RESIDENCE: Janesville WORK EXPERIENCE: Before coming to Congress, worked for over a decade in Wisconsin’s manufacturing industry, first with an industrial motion control manufacturer in Beloit, Wisconsin, and later at a local plastics manufacturer in Milton, Wisconsin. PAST/ CURRENT PUBLIC (ELECTED) OFFICES HELD: Currently represents Wisconsin’s First District in the U.
S. House of Representatives. PROFESSIONAL/ NONPROFIT MEMBERSHIPS: St.
John Vianney Catholic Church ----- NAME: Chester Todd PARTY: Green AGE: 82 EDUCATION: BA Carthage College, MS University of Wisconsin–Platteveille CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF RESIDENCE: Racine WORK EXPERIENCE: Social Work PAST/ CURRENT PUBLIC (ELECTED) OFFICES HELD: None PROFESSIONAL/ NONPROFIT MEMBERSHIPS: (left blank) Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Reporter {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items..
