Christmas came almost 11 months early on January 20, when Donald Trump took his second oath of office. I gotta tell you, January 20, I shot out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. I rushed to the living room, turned on the TV, watching it from start to finish.”

Senator Patrick Testin

Neillsville Legion Hall
6 Boon Blvd
Neillsville, WI 54456
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The Clark County Republicans held their annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Neillsville Legion Hall on Sunday, March 16. Vice-chair Tony Horvath acted as the emcee for the event, which began with a welcome from chair Rose Marie LaBarbera. Horvath said that if Brad Schimel doesn’t win the legislature can stay home as everything will be done from the bench.
The first speaker of the day was Senator Patrick Testin. He was there to speak on behalf of electing Brad Schimel to the State Supreme Court. Testin said he was from the 24th Senate District. He is Senate President Pro Tempore and Co-Vice Chair of Joint Finance. He thanked the Clark County Republican Party for the work they do, noting that Clark County is a solid red county. Testin said, “Christmas came almost 11 months early on January 20, when Donald Trump took his second oath of office. I gotta tell you, January 20, I shot out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. I rushed to the living room, turned on the TV, watching it from start to finish.” But Wisconsin is still dealing with Democrat Tony Evers. He feels that Evers wants to make Wisconsin the next Minnesota, but said that wouldn’t happen as Republicans have the majority in both houses of the state legislature. Testin said, “We are going to do our very best to keep the governor on a short leash.”
He referred to them being up against a four-headed monster. He said they send great bills to Tony Evers and he vetoes them. They send him tax cuts and he vetoes them. The second thing they are up against is attorney general, Josh Kaul. Testin said that Kaul’s job is to defend the laws that are passed but he spends more time suing the legislature than doing his job. The third is Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly. He feels she is as bad as her predecessor and said that Evers wouldn’t even endorse her for re-election. Testin said, “She hasn’t just lowered the bar, she has buried it completely. She got caught lowering the standard for our students and cooking the books on test scores.” He said that they needed to get Brittany Kinser elected. He has worked with her in the past and said that she helped out a number of charter schools in southeast Wisconsin. Testin added, “If it hadn't been for her, we would not have seen the largest expansion of the school choice and charter programs in our last budget that we were able to get a liberal governor, Tony Evers, who hates school choice, to sign into law.” He feels that electing Kinser will result in more choice and opportunity, raising standards for students, and giving parents more control in the education system. But he said he was there to talk about the most dangerous of the four, the current Supreme Court, which has laid an outright assault against the legislature. He said if these four had their way, there wouldn’t be a legislative branch, that there are a number of lawsuits going after the legislature’s ability to function as a co-equal branch of government. Laws settled in previous court cases could also be eliminated. He gave examples of voter ID, concealed carry, Act 10, right to work, and school choice. Testin said that is why it is so important that Schimel be elected. He went on to talk about Schimel’s background as a prosecutor, district attorney, attorney general and circuit court judge. He feels that Schimel will not legislate from the bench and that Crawford should be running for the legislature. He said she is letting us know how she will rule on cases even before there is a court case. He said that 50% of her contributions come from outside of Wisconsin. He feels the reason for that is because these people know that this race doesn’t just impact what happens in Wisconsin, it impacts what happens nationally. Testin said, “Everything runs through Wisconsin.” He said that the Democrats in Wisconsin are saying if they win the race in April, they will be able to flip two U.S. House seats in Wisconsin. He believes that litigation will be filed within 48 hours of the election to redraw congressional maps if Crawford wins. That would possibly mean Derek Van Orden and Bryan Steil could lose their seats. He said, “Our backs are up against the wall, but we know how to fight back. We know how to win. We have the best grassroots organization in the entire country.” But April elections have low turnout, so he told those in attendance that it was important for them to contact the people they know and get them to vote. That will save Wisconsin and continue to keep the U.S. moving in the right direction.
The next speaker was 69th Assembly District Representative Karen Hurd. She also serves on the Joint Finance Committee. She said the budget sent to them by Governor Evers will increase taxes by 20% or $18 billion. He is also creating a fifth tax bracket. She said the reason for this is Wisconsin requires a balanced budget. She said that will be removed. They are going to throw out the governor’s budget, look at current funding and go from there. Hurd said that the governor also includes a lot of policy in his budget, like legalizing marijuana. She also talked about language changes that refer to mothers as inseminated persons. Hurd said she is also working on some items that her constituents have contacted her about, including wind and solar companies wanting to build in the 69th district. She has co-authored a bill that would allow for local control so that the townships can make the decisions about what they want to allow. She said even if it passes, Governor Ever will veto the bill. Hurd said there is still hope as Congressman Tom Tiffany has introduced a bill on the federal level to take away the subsidies that these companies get, effectively shutting them down. There has been some success in regard to lawsuits filed by townships against one of the wind companies. She said these companies aren’t even U.S. companies and are only coming here because of the subsidies. She will also be going to Washington, D.C. in early April to talk about chemtrails, chemicals that are put in the air to change the climate. She will be meeting with Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy while there.
Senator Jesse James stepped up to the podium next. He has had to move from Altoona to Thorp because of the way the lines were drawn on the new legislative maps, but his wife and daughter still live in their home in Altoona. He said he misses his family. He refers to the current state of things as being in the Twilight Zone, that so much is in limbo right now. He was asked to serve on Joint Finance and turned them down because he wants to continue working on his priorities which are mental health, substance use disorders, and protecting children and families. James said he is still the only active law enforcement officer in the state legislature, that working part-time in Cadott keeps him grounded. The reason for this, according to James, is, “It keeps me in tune with what's going on within our communities, because what happens in the village of Cadott happens in the city of Milwaukee as well. So bringing that perspective down to the capital is extremely important to me, because I get to share the realities of what's going on back home in the rural environments.” He said the rural perspective needs to be heard in Madison and he feels the current governor just doesn’t get it. James said he has some decisions to make on the future. Currently his plan is to stay in Thorp but he will have some decisions to make in the next year. He feels this will be a slow session, but hopes that some good things will happen. He doesn’t believe the state will have a new budget by July 1. He is waiting for the April 1 election and said, “It's scary, people. If Brad does not win, we're screwed.” He believes that attempts to change the congressional maps will happen even faster than 48 hours if Schimel isn’t elected. James said everyone needs to do their part, even if that is only making one phone call about the election. He said his office is always open for ideas, criticisms and concerns. He is willing to listen. He feels that some of the best ideas that come to him as a legislator come from the people he represents.
Clark County Sheriff Kerry Kirn was introduced next. He said he is from Willard and went to college in Eau Claire. He started with the Sheriff’s Department in 1991 and became full-time in 1993. In December 1998 he became a detective. Kirn said, “I spent over 20 years as a detective, and that was my pride and joy, and I just loved that particular profession.” In 2019 he became Captain of Detectives. Kirn said it has been a learning experience since Governor Evers appointed him to fill out Scott Haines’ term as sheriff, but he is enjoying it. He spoke about the difficulty in filling positions in the Sheriff’s Department, saying he is trying to simplify the application process. He also wants to appoint a mentor for each applicant so they have a contact in the department. He would like to apply the protocols for the Child Abduction Response Team to all the major case investigations in the department. He would like to get Memorandums of Understanding with neighboring counties to help them work together. He also talked about the opioid crisis and the need for a lot of involvement with that. Another program he talked about was a Pathways Home program that would help integrate people back into their community after incarceration. They are also doing counseling in the jail to help with addiction issues. Kirn also talked about the SANE program and how it does victim examss, but he said they need to look more at doing suspect exams to collect evidence. They are working on protocols for that. He also said that he will be running for Sheriff when the time comes.
Neillsville Chief of Police Jim Mankowski was the next speaker. He has just joined the board for the Clark County Republicans. He spoke about being a small town chief of police and how most law enforcement agencies have less than 25 officers, but the big city chiefs make most of the decisions. He mentioned a shooting in Ferguson, MO. Mankowski said that four years later President Obama came out with a 21st century policy that has six pillars. He said small town cops get it right every day. He said they don’t need to be policed. He said what they need is more money to pay and retain officers. They need more equipment and more training. He said that media plays on the 1% of cops who are bad. He said that small town officers get it right and when they don’t, they take care of it. He said they have a recruiting problem and a retention problem. Mankowski believes this has happened because the government has allowed it to happen. He thinks there will be fewer issues under President Trump but that they are still digging themselves out of the hole created by the “Ferguson Effect.” The way to change that according to Mankowski is by doing what they do every single day and allowing local people to say how well they are doing it right.
The last speaker was Brady Penfield from Turning Point. He was not scheduled to speak but was there handing out information, so was invited to take a turn at the podium. He is currently a senior at UW-River Falls. He has been active in politics for about two years. Turning Point is involved in both college activism and direct political work. He said that Donald Trump won the Gen Z vote getting 50% of the vote from that age group. He said the youngest age voting block in Wisconsin is conservative. They are shifting to the right because they see how bad the economy is. Penfield said when he graduates, he wants to be able to buy a house and have financial security. He said that Turning Point does grassroots activism. They focus on getting Republican voters out to vote, especially those who don’t vote in every election. Penfield said they use a formula to identify those voters and quite literally chase their ballot. They go to their house, talk to them, and build a relationship, and get them out to vote. He said that he believes there are more than enough Republicans in Wisconsin, but a lot of them think their vote doesn’t count because they live in a blue county. Penfield said the reality is there are more than enough Republican votes to win Wisconsin. He said that Republicans should be winning every statewide election. They just need to get those Republicans who don’t vote to head to the ballot box. He talked about an app called TP Action that will identify the 15 closest Republicans to you wherever you are standing. He said that Wisconsin has national coverage right now and the implications of these races can’t be understated. Everyone needs to work to get out the vote. He ended by saying he believes the future is bright.