Here & Now

State Senate Control Up For Grabs This November

Zac Schultz:
Far away from the glare of the race for U.S. senate, away from the cameras following the race for president, Republican Tom Tiffany and Democrat Susan Sommer are running an old-fashioned race for the state senate in northern Wisconsin.

Tom Tiffany:
But yeah, I’m running for state senate here in the North, the seat that senator Holperin currently has.

Susan Sommer:
Hi. I’m Susan Sommer. I’m a candidate for the 12th state senate district.

Zac Schultz:
Democrat Jim Holperin is retiring, making the 12th senate an open seat. Tom Tiffany would seem to have the advantage in name recognition. He’s a sitting member of the state assembly from the Minocqua area, so he already represents a third of the district. Plus, he ran for this senate seat in 2008 and 2004, losing both times.

Tom Tiffany:
Name I.D. makes a difference.

Zac Schultz:
The district favors Republicans in terms of voter makeup. All three assembly seats in the district are held by Republicans and redistricting didn’t hurt that.

Tom Tiffany:
You know, redistricting moved it a little bit in the conservative direction.

Zac Schultz:
Finally, Tiffany holds a large money advantage. At one point this summer, he had more than $100,000 in cash on hand while his opponent had less than a thousand.

Tom Tiffany:
It really does make a difference, but in the end, you know, it’s going to be about message, and I really think that the message that I take to the voters fits well for this district.

Zac Schultz:
Tiffany’s message is right in mind for Governor Walker and the Republican party. That’s why Susan Sommer is in this race.

Susan Sommer:
I don’t like the Republican agenda right now in these last two years.

Zac Schultz:
Sommer is a lawyer from Phelps, motivated to run for office by her opposition to the iron ore mining bill championed by Tiffany.

Susan Sommer:
I was really driven because it was Mr. Tiffany, and I knew what he had done in regards to the mining legislation.

Zac Schultz:
Tom Tiffany co-sponsored the mining bill in the assembly and he said it’s winning him voters from the other side of the aisle.

Tom Tiffany:
He said Tom, I have voted Democrat my whole life. I will not vote Democrat this year and it was solely on the mining issue.

Zac Schultz:
Despite all of Tiffany’s advantages, a Democrat has held the 12th senate district for more than two decades, but those men were considered moderate Democrats and Sommer is more progressive.

Susan Sommer:
And I know that what we value here in the 12th state senate district is so directly connected to the land, and I know that one of my heroes is Aldo Leopold. And when he says that the land is not a commodity, that it’s a community to which we belong and so we have to treat it with love and respect, is that considered a progressive value? I suppose it probably would.

Zac Schultz:
While only the voters in northern Wisconsin will decide the race, the whole state is watching. This seat is part of the Democrats 17-16 majority in the state senate.

Mark Miller:
The senate is the hope for folks who want to see some sort of balance, balance of power in the legislature, and not having it all be dictated by one political party or one political philosophy.

Zac Schultz:
Democrats admit they don’t have many options for picking up any republican seats, so to stay in power, they need Sommer to win.

Mark Miller:
If Susan Sommer follows through with what she’s doing right now and knocks on those doors and meets with the community groups, and is just herself, I think she has a really good opportunity to succeed in spite of the money that will be spent against her.

Zac Schultz:
Republicans are convinced they will win in the 12th, and they’re focused on other seats held by the Democrats.

Scott Fitzgerald:
I’m very anxious to make sure that we get those, that 17th seat, and possibly an 18th and 19th seat to give us even more flexibility as a caucus.

Zac Schultz:
17 Republicans would be a majority, but they need the 18th seat to nullify the power of Republican senator Dale Schultz. Last spring, the Republicans only had a one-vote majority in the senate. So when Schultz refused to sign on to the mining bill passed by the assembly, the bill was dead.

Rick Gudex:
I’ve had a lot of people, you know, in discussions telling me that I hope we get the senate back.

Zac Schultz:
The 18th Republican could come from the 18th senate district. Rick Gudex is president of the Fond du Lac city council and a firm believer in Governor Scott Walker’s agenda.

Rick Gudex:
I pretty well believe that the track we’re on right now is the best for me. It’s the best for my family, and it’s the best for the citizens of the state of Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:
He’s challenging Democrat Jess King, who won this seat in the recall elections a year ago.

Jess King:
You know, I have a district that is very much a swing district, very split. We’re a split state. There’s a lot of polarity, and my fundamental belief is I represent almost 160,000 people and when’s the last time you remember 160,000 people agreeing on anything?

Rick Gudex:
This is always, you know, for the most part, been a Republican district.

Zac Schultz:
Many Republicans feel King only won the recall because the Republican she beat had too many personal problems, not because the voters opposed Governor Walker’s agenda.

Rick Gudex:
Look at the recall numbers with Governor Walker, you know, the numbers around here were very favorable in his direction, so I’m hoping some of that momentum carries here.

Zac Schultz:
King has tried to stress her bipartisan voting record.

Jess King:
I have a very good record of saying yes, I can work with my Republican colleagues. Yes, I can work with my Democratic colleagues.

Zac Schultz:
Oddly enough, one of the factors that could swing the race in the 12th, or here in the 18th senate district, is the lack of a race in another senate district. Democrats weren’t able to recruit a candidate against Republican senator Alberta Darling, leaving one of the Republican’s top campaigners free all summer long to travel the state raising money and helping out new Republicans in these battle ground districts.

Albert Darling:
It’s not only money, it’s organization. It’s getting out the vote. It’s building that ground game.

Zac Schultz:
Only half the senate is up for election every two years, and it’s common for senators without a race to help out in their off years. But darling is up for election this year and has no challenger.

Scott Fitzgerald:
I feel that, you know, senator Miller and the Dems fell short. They really didn’t put together any significant challenges to any of our incumbents, which is fine with me, and also left senator Darling and senator Rob Cowles without any opponent at all.

Mark Miller:
We only want to put good candidates in the field.

Zac Schultz:
Senator Miller says they didn’t want to put up a place holder to represent the Democratic party.

Mark Miller:
You want to be able to have somebody that can carry the Democratic message forward in a powerful way.

Zac Schultz:
Even as an overwhelming favorite, senator Darling says an opponent would have forced her to campaign in her own district.

Alberta Darling:
I would not have the time I have now to do what I’m doing.

Zac Schultz:
Rick Gudex says a veteran like Darling could help out with the technical details.

Rick Gudex:
Instead of me trying to go through the process of figuring these things out, they’ve done it, they’ve lived it, they’ve learned from it, so they’re giving us that information which is really helping to run an efficient campaign.

Zac Schultz:
That allows him to focus more on actual campaigning, traveling the district and meeting voters.

Scott Fitzgerald:
There’s a lot to be said for shoe leather, getting out there, doing the door to door.

Mark Miller:
It's something I've always believed in is that that kind of hard work will pay off in the end.

Zac Schultz:
The hard work of these candidates will determine the balance of power in Wisconsin for the next two years.