The magnificent election victory of Senator-elect Scott Brown in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has predictably spawned a tsunami of speculation about what it portends for incumbents (primarily Dems) during the forthcoming November elections.
Serious people are talking about the vulnerability of even entrenched Democratic stalwarts like Senator Russ Feingold .
Closer to home, incumbent Republican State Representative Scott Newcomer is facing a challenge for the primary, which he must overcome on September 14th before he can graduate to the November 2nd election for State Assembly.
The 33rd district which Mr. Newcomer has represented since getting elected in a January 2006 special election, is in the heart of Wisconsin's GOP stronghold - Waukesha County. So, Mr. Newcomer's seat has little chance of going to a Democrat any time soon, but he does face three credible and determined challengers in the primary.
The candidates include a former Arthur Andersen accountant and successful entrepreneur, Chris Kapenga, 30 year Town of Delafield resident, small business owner and current Town Board Member Larry Krause, and Joe DeKlotz - a former engineer turned real estate broker who has served in various civic roles in the Delafield area.
I interviewed Representative Newcomer this week to get his take on all of this.
What was his reaction to the early and seemingly intense interest in his assembly seat? Mr. Newcomer shrugged it off, "There are always people out there looking for office, it's really not surprising." He appears less familiar with Mr. Kapenga and Mr. DeKlotz than he is Mr. Krause whom he described as, "A great guy."
On why constituents should return him to office, "Because I represent the values of the district…look at my voting record..it is congruent with the wishes of the district."
On what he enjoys most about the office, "The best part of the job is constituent work, I enjoy helping people."
Last year may have been a rough one for Mr. Newcomer. His personal and professional travails have been reported by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political columnist, Daniel Bice and elsewhere. Rather than revisiting those items, I asked about his latest business venture (Mr. Newcomer owned a home inspection business which he sold to a private equity group approximately 5 years ago). He described it thus:
"I have a company called Bellwether Group that works with Banks to help them clean up their balance sheets where we buy their distressed assets and in return they buy Senior Life Settlements from us."
Finally, what would Mr. Newcomer cite as his signature legislative work, the work he is most proud of? He maintains it was his sponsorship for a constitutional amendment that would pave the way to consolidate more school districts, villages, cities and townships and reduce redundant services, increase efficiencies and lower costs - presumably to help lower our heinous (my word not his) tax burden.
It is the type of action that gets my fiscally conservative juices flowing. One usually hears more talk about cutting taxes than measures designed to cut spending. We need to talk about both.
I asked Rep. Newcomer, who was traveling, to provide details on the amendment and its status, both of which he promises to share next week. When he does so, that information and any related thoughts will be posted on maddente.com.
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