MADISON: Tuesday Sept. 14 is Wisconsin’s Fall 2010 partisan primary election. Unlike the Nov. 2 general election, voters are limited to voting for candidates within a single party. The winners of contested primaries represent their parties on the Nov. 2 ballots. Sometimes it can be politically strategic to vote outside one's usual party choice.
The following is Part Two of a look at some key primary contests. Because of length I have published it in 2 parts. Part One is here. As I noted in Part One, this information is by no means complete with so the many candidates and races. Reader input on candidates is appreciated.
Moving on down the ballot to the State Legislature, we have returning lawmakers who cosponsored the Jacki Rickert MMJ act or other medical cannabis legislation. Of 11 returning JRMMA State Assembly sponsors and cosponsor up for election this fall, only two are facing primaries. Milwaukee Rep. Josh Zepnick, a reliable supporter of medical cannabis, is facing three challengers. Rep. Barb Toles, another Milwaukee supporter is facing a Democratic opponent in Mike Erdmann.
The contest for mmj bill cosponsor Rep. Spencer Black’s Madison district has a large field, with seven Dems vying to face off against Green Party candidate Ben Manski and Republican Dave Redick in November. Both candidates are confirmed to speak at Harvest Fest in Madison on Sat. Oct. 2.
Two of the Democratic candidates are Dane County supervisors who joined in the July 15 unanimous vote to place the MMJ advisory referendum on County ballots Nov. 2, Brett Hulsey and Dianne Hesselbein. Considering the district, it can safely be assumed the remaining Democrats are also supporters.
The sole cosponsoring State Senator up for election is Senate sponsor Jon Erpenbach (D-Waunakee). Erpenbach, who was the Senate lead sponsor of the JRMMA, will face the winner of a 3-way GOP primary. One of the three is Dane County Supervisor Kurt Schlicht, a former Badger football player. Schlicht spoke in favor of the Dane County Medical Marijuana Advisory Referendum before the July 15 unanimous vote for passage and shard how cannabis benefited his late mother as she was dying from pancreatic cancer.
Although there is no primary, at least two additional GOP State Senate candidates have expressed support for state medical marijuana legislation, Rick Richard, running for the seat now held by the retiring Judy Robson (D-Beloit), and Ed Thompson, running against the Democratic incumbent Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), Jacki Rickert's state senator. Jacki served as Ed's Buffalo County campaign director in his 2002 run for governor. We’ll have more to say about these races later.
In the River Falls area in the northwestern part of the state, two Democrats are vying for the nomination for the Assembly D-30 seat held Rep. Kitty Rhoades, who is retiring. Ben Plunkett is a strong supporter of medical cannabis. If he is able to get past felloq Democrat Matt Borup in the primary, Plunkett may have a decent shot at picking up this seat. Rhoades was not a friend of medical cannabis and her departure is a welcome sign for long suffering Wisconsinites. If Plunkett can hang on through the primary, the River Falls Medical Marijuana Advisory Referendum should help drive voter turnout in City wards to help his chances if it makes the ballot as expected.
In the Berlin area, District 41 incumbent: Joan A Ballweg is facing a GOP challenger Nick Quade, but the cannabis-friendly candidate in this race is Jay Selthofner. Selthofner, a cannabis activist running as an Independent, will face a Democrat, Scott Milheiser along with the winner of the Ballweg-Quade face-off Nov. 2. Read the Madison NORML Examiner interview with Jay.
With GOP arch-anti-medical marijuana zealot Leah Vukmir giving up her Wauwatosa Assembly seat to challenge Democratic Sen. Jim Sullivan, there are no less than 7 Republicans vying for the former Vukmir seat. No Democrats have filed to run.
Two other quick notes: In the GOP primary for the U.S. House seat held by Rep. Steve Kagen (D-Green Bay), former Wisconsin Assembly Rep. Terri McCormick is in a primary. McCormick, a moderate, was known as a medical cannabis supporter in her time in the legislature.\
Dodge County voters may want to consider voting in the GOP primary. Incumbent Sheriff Todd Nehls is up against former sheriff Stephen Fitzgerald, father of GOP State Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), and his brother, Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon).
On April 17, 1995, during a botched no-knock raid of 29-year-old technical college student Scott Bryant's trailer over some pot stems found in a garbage search, one of then-sheriff Stephen Fitzgerald's officers, Robert Neuman, shot Bryant in the chest, killing him. Bryant's eight-year old son was asleep in the next room when his father was shot dead. After the shooting, Stephen Fitzgerald compared the shooting to "a hunting accident" and tried to cover it up. Neuman told investigators he "can't remember pulling the trigger." Madison's Isthmus did a cover story, which is no longer online.The Capital Times also mentioned it in a 2001 expose.
For more info: Dane County Medical Marijuana Referendum: www.jrmma.org. 06/24/10: Gary Storck OPED: Isthmus: Rejection of Wisconsin medical marijuana bill was a profile in cowardice. This Oct. 1-3, 2010: Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. Madison NORML Examiner: Jacki Rickert MMJ Act 2010 runs out of time in Wisconsin Legislature. For additional details on medical cannabis and Wisconsin visit JRMMA.org, IMMLY.org, Wisconsin NORML or MadisonNORML.org. Visit my Madison NORML Examiner articles archive. Photo courtesy of IMMLY/Madison NORML. All rights reserved. Madison NORML Examiner is dedicated to the memory of Mary Powers (1949-2009).
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Lets defeat Vukmir and fill her old seat with a rational thinker!
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