Attend our Facebook/Zoom Candidate Forum
October 19, 6:30 pm
Register Here.
Put your questions to:
- Tom Palzewicz, US Congress, 5th District
- Sara Rodriguez, State Assembly District 13
- Deb Andraca, State Assembly District 23
- Emily Siegrist,State Assembly District 24
- Jacob Malinowski, State Assembly District 82
In an election-year as stressful as this one, some people have begun to turn away from politics, telling themselves they will vote in the election, but they just can’t take the anxiety, divisiveness, and feelings of dread inspired by the 2020 presidential contest.
But where opinions about the presidential contest have completely hardened on either side of an acutely emotional and frustrating divide that makes the two sides feel as though they no longer speak a common language, there is still a lot to be informed about in this election, and some races with the potential to impact environmental and equity decisions in Wisconsin for years to come. After all, some form of “defunding the police,” if and when it happens, will be the result of municipal, not national, decisions.
Eight years of single-party rule in Wisconsin have had an impact on the state’s legendary natural resources. In the Walker era, the Republican Party controlled the legislative and executive branches of government and had a strong impact on the judicial, especially the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Those eight years were followed by the past two of divided government in Wisconsin, with the Republican controlled legislature moving, immediately following the 2018 election, to strip Governor Evers of some of his powers. The Evers DNR is perhaps less toxic for the State’s resources – water, air, and land – than the Walker/Stepp DNR. But any real move to address the state’s environmental issues would have to come from a concerted effort on the part of both the Governor and the state legislature.
According to the 2017-18 Legislative Score Card produced by the WI chapter, the Walker years and beyond, saw “attacks and rollbacks on basic environmental protections, loss of local control, and changes to governmental procedure that will make it more difficult for state government to protect public health and the environment in the future.
Wisconsin’s single-party state legislature continues to define their philosophy and leadership style as “pro-business” and anti-regulation. But in order to enforce environmental protections, some level of regulation is necessary. As the public in Wisconsin has become increasingly pro-environment, looking for governmental action on issues like climate change, the legislature has become less actively anti-environment and more passively so, by simply not allowing any bills that address problems to reach the floor for a vote.
“The GOP leadership in the legislature ensured that no progress was made on environmental legislation by refusing to hold hearings on important bills and the GOP legislators voted lockstep in support of their all-out assault on the environment last session,” concluded Dave Blouin, Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter Political Committee Chair, when announcing the November 2020 endorsements. “Electing strong independent environmental leaders who will work hard for Wisconsin’s environment is a priority for the Club. We will do everything we can to help pro-environment candidates win.”
In 2020, the WI Chapter, under Blouin’s direction, endorsed 8 U.S. congressional candidates, 13 Wisconsin State Senate candidates, and 78 candidates for Wisconsin Assembly. Endorsements were based on the candidate’s record and their answers on a questionnaire on environmental issues. All the endorsed candidates were Democrats, though the questionnaire was offered to Republicans.
Sierra Club Great Waters Group has chosen an outstanding group of candidates to be our campaign focus in 2020: Tom Palzewicz, 5th congressional district (CD); Emily Siegrist, assembly district (AD) 24, the intersection of Washington, Ozaukee, and Waukesha counties including Menomonee Falls; Deb Andraca (AD 23), Thiensville, Grafton, Fox Point, Whitefish Bay, and half of Mequon; Sara Rodriguez (AD 13), New Berlin, West Allis; Jessica Katzenmeyer (AD 15), Waukesha County; and Jacob Malinowski (AD 82), Franklin, Greenfield, Greendale.
We hope to see you at the October 19th Candidate Forum with your questions ready. We’ll be posting more information on each of our 5 focus candidates in this space in the coming weeks.
Register here to join us on Zoom. Or, we will livestream this forum on Facebook, as well. To join on Facebook Live, go to (facebook.com/SierraClubGWG)