Summer actions seemed to make Wisconsin politics a tale of two states.
Two conservative state senators seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress in the Sixth District refused to participate in candidate forums conducted by the League of Wisconsin Women Voters.
The pair, Glenn Grothman of West Bend and Joe Leibham of Sheboygan, suggested their announced boycott of the forum was due to the League’s participation in a federal court challenge to the GOP-enacted law requiring voters to show photo identification before casting ballots.
A different Wisconsin was reflected in a “civility summit” on the farm of former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. Others attending the session were State Sens. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville); Bob Jauch (D-Poplar); and Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center). All three veteran legislators have decided not to seek re-election this year.
Thompson described the event as an afternoon of “beef, beer and bull. We all have a passion, an excitement, for the state we so deeply love, and I always have been a doer. To accomplish great things you have to work together.”
All three veteran senators have served in leadership roles in the Legislature. The idea of the meeting came from Thompson, who was elected four times by Wisconsin voters. The men recalled they had had differences but expressed concern about what one called the “seemingly fractured political environment.”
“The three of us have each been around state government in some capacity for over 30 years,” Cullen said. “We’ve each had a working and personal relationship with Tommy, and we kind of said, ‘Gee, if we could find ways to work together despite being from different parties over the years, there’s got to be a way to apply that to what’s happening today.”
The three senators said they would speak across the state, encouraging candidates to engage in a more civil debate.
Matt Pommer is a veteran correspondent covering the Capitol in Madison. His columns are published with permission from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
