Here & Now

Candidates Rally for Support in 7th Congressional District

Frederica Freyberg:

In our first look tonight, next Tuesday is the spring primary. Statewide, voters will choose which two Supreme Court candidates advance to the April election. Also on the ballot in northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional district is the primary for a special election to replace Congressman Sean Duffy, who resigned last fall. “Here & Now” reporter Zac Schultz met with all four candidates and has this report.

Jason Church:

My name is Jason Church.

Tricia Zunker:

I am Tricia Zunker.

Tom Tiffany:

Tom Tiffany.

Lawrence Dale:

I’m Lawrence Dale. I’m going to be on the ballot.

Zac Schultz:

Congressional seats don’t come open very often in Wisconsin, so it’s no surprise a special election in the 7th brought out two Republicans and two Democrats. The man with the most name recognition is Republican State Senator Tom Tiffany, whose 12th Senate District overlaps the eastern portion of the 7th Congressional.

Tom Tiffany:

Much bigger but you know, used to it. I’ve been putting 50,000 miles a year on representing the 12th Senate District, which is the second largest senate district in the state of Wisconsin so it’s just more territory to cover.

Zac Schultz:

Tiffany is campaigning on his record in Madison, advancing former Governor Scott Walker’s conservative agenda.

Tom Tiffany:

I’ve helped drain the swamp in Madison. I will do the same in Washington D.C. I have the track record to prove it. Madison did not change me in the time I was down there. Washington D.C. will not either.

Jason Church:

I always like to say I’ve never left Wisconsin voluntarily. It’s always been on orders.

Zac Schultz:

Jason Church is a veteran, also running as a Republican. He’s been working in Senator Ron Johnson’s office in Washington. The story of how they met is part of why Church is running for Congress.

Jason Church:

I was injured as a platoon leader, lost both my legs to an IED explosion. I came back and recovered at Walter Reed. In the middle of my recovery, that’s actually where I met Senator Ron Johnson.

Zac Schultz:

Church is running as an outsider and a supporter of term limits.

Jason Church:

I can bring the fight for us here in northern Wisconsin in Washington. We need a new generation of leadership to come in that comes from outside politics, who has never had an intention of it being a career.

Zac Schultz:

There really are no policy differences between Tom Tiffany and Jason Church. Tiffany has endorsements from prominent Republicans like Scott Walker and Sean Duffy. But in an era where Republican voters like anti-establishment candidates, he has to make sure those endorsements don’t make him the establishment.

Tom Tiffany:

That question gets asked and I’m so proud of the endorsements I’ve gotten from Governor Walker and Congressman Duffy because they’ve been true reformers.

Zac Schultz:

Jason Church’s endorsements come from national Republicans with military backgrounds.

Jason Church’s:

I come from outside politics and the people who’ve endorsed me, they didn’t know me from working in the legislature in ten years or trying to run for office for a decade and a half.

Tricia Zunker:

I grew up in a strong union household.

Zac Schultz:

On the Democratic side of the ballot there isn’t much of a battle over endorsements, Tricia Zunker is endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Tricia Zunker:

I’m an enrolled member of Ho-Chunk Nation and I come from generations of dairy farmers on my mom’s side.

Zac Schultz:

Zunker is a justice on the Ho-Chunk Supreme Court and the president of the Wausau School Board.

Tricia Zunker:

We have real opportunity here to get representation for the people of Wisconsin seven.

Zac Schultz:

A Democrat has not won the 7th in more than a decade. In a different political era and under different maps. But Zunker says she’s reaching out to populations that have been overlooked, like Native American tribes.

Tricia Zunker:

I met with members of the Somali community in Barron County. I met with male clan leaders, male Hmong clan leaders at their annual meeting here in Marathon County recently. I did some Hispanic outreach for the community in Abbotsford. There are so many communities that have been overlooked and have said to me this is the first time a candidate has come to us.

Zac Schultz:

Lawrence Dale is also running as a Democrat and says he’s unafraid to criticize his own party leaders.

Lawrence Dale:

I’m not a zealot for any party. I’m running as a FDR Democrat. I support Bernie Sanders. And I support justice for working people generally and certainly justice for the small farmers in our district.

Zac Schultz:

Dale says his biggest concerns include the threat from mining operations and industrial farms.

Lawrence Dale:

As your Congressman, what I’m going to do is present legislation that will put a moratorium on CAFOs.

Zac Schultz:

Dale says he’s not impressed with Zunker as a candidate.

Lawrence Dale:

She talks a lot about herself. That turns me off right away. She went on and on. It just about drove me nuts. So I waited for the second half of her presentation and there was nothing of substance.

Zac Schultz:

For her part, Zunker has nothing to say about Lawrence Dale.

Tricia Zunker:

I’m not really focused on my — any opponent in the primary. I’m focused on this campaign, getting out, hearing from the voters, listening to their concerns.

Zac Schultz:

The February spring primary doesn’t usually have big races on the ballot and turnout is often quite low. Add in one of the largest districts east of the Mississippi and campaigning in winter and you have a lot of unknowns.

Tom Tiffany:

A winter campaign is a whole different animal. There’s no doubt about it.

Jason Church:

It’s a lot of ground to cover. A lot of roads to traverse. It’s eight hours round trip from where I live in Hudson to the other end and back.

Lawrence Dale:

It’s going to be difficult as it always is. Usually the candidate that outspends the other by a significant amount wins.

Tricia Zunker:

This is a 26-county district, one-third of the state of Wisconsin, and we have to just try all different things throughout the district.

Zac Schultz:

Reporting from Wausau, I’m Zac Schultz.

Frederica Freyberg:

The special primary election in the 7th Congressional district is next Tuesday, February 18. As we reported last week, for absentee voters in that district, there are two ballots for that election. One for the federal election and another for state Supreme Court and local races. This week, however, the Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously to send only one ballot to most absentee voters for the April 7 presidential primary and Supreme Court general. Commissioners worried two ballots could cause chaos.

Meagan Wolfe:

For a regular voter in Wisconsin that’s not overseas, that’s not serving in the military, you will just be receiving one ballot and that ballot will contain the presidential preference election as well as the state and local contest that you will return to your clerk by election day.