On Tuesday, February 18. local voters will be asked to choose two candidates from a field of four; campaigning for the 7th District Congressional seat vacated by (R) Sean Duffy in September. Those candidates are current 12th District Senator Tom Tiffany (R), Josh Church (R), Tricia Zunker (D) and Lawrence Dale (D.
7th Congressional District:
Full Name: Jason Church
Age: 30
Family (spouse, children, grandchildren): Fiance, Bella Barbosa
Employment/position: Former Military Officer
Membership in religious, service, fraternal, etc., clubs or organizations, and offices held, dates served: Member of American Legion, VFW, NRA, and college alumni associations. Lutheran Brethren Church member.
Why have you chosen to run for the 7th Congressional District seat: “Growing up in Menomonie, I was taught conservative values from my mother who listened to Rush Limbaugh every afternoon, and about service from my father, grandfather, and uncles who were all in the military. My dream was to serve our nation, so I joined the ROTC program at UW-La Crosse. I deployed to Afghanistan in 2012 where I ultimately lost both of my legs in an IED explosion. Even though the Taliban took my legs, they didn’t take my desire to serve.
“I want to go to Washington, D.C. because I haven’t lost my fighting spirit. Our values in Northern Wisconsin are under attack by the radical left. We need outsiders, like President Trump, who are willing to fight for what’s right. The NRA recognized my commitment to defending the Second Amendment with an AQ rating, the highest score a first time candidate without a voting record can receive. Wisconsin Right to Life endorsed my campaign because I will not allow federal funding to go to Planned Parenthood and I will support a constitutional amendment banning infanticide.
“Wisconsin farmers have struggled. I will work with President Trump to renegotiate our trade deals in order to make more of our products available to foreign markets. Focusing on future phases of a new trade agreement with China is crucial for giving our farmers relief.
“As a veteran, supporting our military and servicemen and women is also very important to me. We need to bring ongoing conflicts in the Middle East to a peaceful conclusion while also keeping our eye on future threats, like China. Our veterans deserve the best care we can provide. I experience the inefficiencies of the VA when I receive my medical care. Reforming the VA is critical for taking care of our veterans while also making sure they have access to quality housing and mental health resources.
“I will be the fighter Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District needs to support President Trump and our conservative values.”
Full Name: Lawrence Dale
Age: 71
Family (spouse, children, grandchildren): My great grandfather on my mother’s side homesteaded up near L’Anse , Michigan east of Houghton in the 1880’s making me 4th generation Yooper. Marital status, never married, no children.
Employment/position: Independent Insurance Agent.
Why have you chosen to run for the 7th Congressional District seat: “The people residing in the 7th Congressional District want a more diversified economy. I’m running because I have a plan called a Green New Deal that envisions building several small slaughter, meat processing and direct marketing cooperatives that will be environmentally friendly complementing our tourism economy and it would attract hundreds of new family farm businesses.
“The other prong of this plan envisions transitioning from timber pulp to processing hemp thereby giving farmers another cash crop , attract new farm businesses and provide more good paying pulp and paper worker jobs to process the hemp. (See Platform Planks Nos .2 and 3 at: Dale2020.com.) The plan also calls for transitioning from natural gas and fossil fuels to renewable energy like solar and wind to provide more new good paying jobs and fight climate change.
“As your Congressman, my priority will also be to see that legislation is passed to deal with our national dairy crisis regarding small dairy operations being run out of business without a plausible economic rationale. (See Investigative Report cited below).There is no question that small dairy operations are more efficient than industrial dairies.
“My immediate task as your Congressman will be to:
a. Gather legislative support to place a moratorium on on the expansion of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) otherwise known as Industrial Dairies or Factory Farms.
b. In addition, I would support or present a Bill to enact a nation-wide Supply Management Plan emulating Canada’s , that protects small dairy operations by prohibiting expanding the number of milk cows unless carefully monitored demand were to increase. Monitoring consumer demand for milk and keeping the number of milk cows in check, leads to stable prices allowing small dairy operations to thrive.
c. Because of the over-riding danger of raw milk from industrial dairies having excessive antibiotic concentrations , I would present legislation that would require large type labeling warning consumers that the product may increase their susceptibility to viruses over time.
Related to this , I would seek a Congressional investigation of the Republican Party’s role in driving small dairies out of business. It is clear from the Report’s findings that:
1. The Republican leadership abused their power by manipulating the supply of raw milk when they initiated incentives to increase milk production at a time when over supply of raw milk was already driving thousands of small family run dairy operations into foreclosure.
2. There is ample direct evidence based on a December, 10, 2019 Milwaukee Journal’s Investigative Report that found Republican leadership’s action(s) enacted milk production incentives, e.g., 2012’s , Grow Wisconsin Dairy and that this measure was purposefully enacted to incentivized increased milk production at a time when thousands of small dairies were quitting the business due to raw milk oversupply.”
Full Name: Tom Tiffany
Age: 62
Family (spouse, children, grandchildren): Wife, Chris, three daughters, Karlyn, Lexie and Katherine
Employment/position: Former small businessman owning and operating Wilderness Cruises for two decades, dam tender, state legislator
Past or present elected offices held, dates served: Town of Little Rice supervisor from 2009–13; state assemblyman from 2011–13; state senator from 2013–present.
Membership in religious, service, fraternal, etc., clubs or organizations, and offices held, dates served: National Rifle Association (lifetime member), Ruffed Grouse Society
Why have you chosen to run for the 7th Congressional District seat: “Growing up on a small farm near Elmwood with my seven siblings, I learned the value of hard work. We put our nose to the grindstone and pitched in to help with our 50 cows so our family could succeed. While I didn’t know it at the time, we were considered poor. No opportunity seemed too far-fetched with our self-reliant mindset. We grew up believing in freedom and dreaming the American dream.
“With perseverance, we achieved it. My wife, Chris, and I became the owners of an excursion boat business, Wilderness Cruises. For many years, we had the pleasure of entertaining people on the Willow Flowage.
“Over time, I saw problems growing in state government. Red tape and regulations crippled businesses. Taxes were too high. Wisconsinites were losing their jobs, and our state had multi-billion-dollar deficits.
“Madison needed a dose of Northwoods common sense. So I stepped up.
“It wasn’t easy. Democrats fled the state, conservatives faced recall attempts, some had paramilitary-style raids on their homes, and our Capitol saw protests unlike ever before. None of that deterred me from looking out for my daughters, family, neighbors, and our community.
“Using the work ethic my parents taught me, I worked with my colleagues to cut taxes by $13 billion and help more Wisconsinites get to work than ever before. We banned late-term abortions and enacted pro-2nd Amendment policies like concealed carry and Castle Doctrine.
“Now, it’s clear our nation is in a state of emergency.
“Senators Sanders and Warren want to dismantle healthcare as we know it. Representative Ocasio-Cortez would destroy Wisconsin agriculture and manufacturing with her excessive regulations in the Green New Deal. Socialism is the norm for Congressional Democrats, who want to upend our Wisconsin way of life completely.
“Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi and her allies marched in lockstep toward impeachment instead of working swiftly on policies for rural America, like securing our southern border or enacting the USMCA trade deal.
“This isn’t the America I dreamt of for my daughters who, like all our children, deserve every opportunity promised in the American dream. The government shouldn’t stand in the way of their life, liberty, and happiness.
“President Trump needs more allies in Congress who have proven they will get results for our hardworking families in rural America.
“Wisconsinites can count on me to stand with the President and support free and fair trade deals for our farmers and manufacturers.
“I’ll work to lower the price of health care and increase access. I’ll champion delisting the gray wolf. I’ll fight to build a border wall so we can fight against the influx of drugs that are a scourge on our neigh-borhoods. And to stop future generations from being saddled with this offensive federal debt, I’ll roll up my sleeves to lower out-of-control spending.
“We must ensure our children and grandchildren can grow up with the same freedom and opportunity we did. I hope I can earn your vote for the Tuesday, February 18, primary.”
Full Name: Tricia Zunker
Age: 39
Family (spouse, children, grandchildren): Son, age 9.
Employment/position: Associate Justice, Ho-Chunk Supreme Court; Law Professor, California School of Law; Professor, Colorado State University-Global Campus; Professor, University of Maryland. J.D., UCLA School of Law ; B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Past or present elected offices held, dates served: Wausau School Board, Board President (2019-present), elected to seat in 2018.
Membership in religious, service, fraternal, etc., clubs or organizations, and offices held, dates served: Founding Director, Central Wisconsin Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee (2018- present); ACLU Board of Directors (2018 -present) and serve as requisite attorney member of Executive Committee (2019- present); Member, Wisconsin Tribal Judges Association (2013- present); Member, National American Indian Court Judges Association (2013-present); Member, State Bar of California (2007-present); Member, Wisconsin Indian Education Association (2018-present.)
Why have you chosen to run for the 7th Congressional District seat: “I was born and raised in Wausau, WI. I come from generations of farmers and grew up in a strong union household. I am a first generation college graduate and then went onto law school. I believe in public service. I’ve been given opportunities in my life that I seized on and I believe representatives must work to ensure opportunities for those who want them. I am running to represent the people of Wisconsin, not the corporate interests. We need campaign finance reform and must get the corporate money out of our elections. I refuse to accept corporate PAC money. And we need campaign finance reform so we can achieve a government that actually looks like society. When I am elected to represent WI-7, I’ll be the first Native American (Ho-Chunk) representing Wisconsin in Congress and I’ll be the first woman to represent WI-7 in Congress. These are overdue representations. But people shouldn’t vote for me because of that – they should vote for me because I am a hard-working woman who will get the job done to improve life in Wisconsin.
“We must ensure access to affordable, accessible healthcare, including mental healthcare. The cost of deductibles is excessive. We must ensure people with pre-existing conditions are covered without penalty. We must take on Big Pharma and drastically lower the cost of prescription drugs.
“We must address the farm crisis here in Wisconsin and ensure our farmers have access to competitive markets, eliminate predatory business practices that hurt our farmers, ensure funding for mental health resources, and ensure broadband access, not just for farmers but throughout this district. We must also support our small businesses because when we support our small businesses, we support our farmers.
“We must also protect our environment. We must ensure clean air, clean water and that our beautiful lands stay protected from corporate greed for generations to come.
“I have put thousands of miles on my car meeting with voters throughout this district and as many minutes on the phone talking with voters. I am hearing the same concerns time and again – healthcare costs, addressing the farm crisis and the environment. But I am also hearing that people are tired of the attacks and the gridlock. I am, too. I have a demonstrated record of working hard and working well with people of different political leanings. I do this through respectful communication, listening, and going to the facts and data as a basis for decision-making. I am committed to working across the aisle to achieve bipartisan solutions that will make life better here in Wisconsin.
“Ultimately, I believe we need representatives who will do what is right for the people. When I approach decision-making, it is with three guiding principles: 1) Compassion – is this the compassionate answer? 2) Equality – does this legislation protect people equally? 3) Opportunity – will this result in the most equitable and inclusive opportunity for success?”
More issues discussed at: www.triciaforwisconsin.com