The Republican Party of Clark County held their annual Lincoln Day Dinner on Sunday, March 8. Board member Mike Marsch served as emcee for the event. There were around 40 people in attendance. Lt. Governor candidate David Varnum, Secretary of State candidate Nathan Pollnow and Brady Penfield from Turning Points USA were no shows. Michael Alfonso, a candidate for the 7th Congressional District didn’t attend lunch or speak, but did take time during the social hour to visit with those in attendance. More information on him can be found at AlfonsoForWisconsin.com.
Everyone was welcomed by Chair Rose Marie LaBarbera. Marsch said that some things that need to be dealt with were Daylight Saving Time, voter turnout, flipping the Governor to a Republican, and a liberal Supreme Court.
The first speaker of the afternoon was 69th Assembly District Representative Karen Hurd. She said the Assembly was currently out of session, but she would report on a couple of things from the Capitol. She felt that they would probably be holding an Extraordinary Session in a few weeks. Hurd serves on the Joint Finance Committee and said they spent every single penny they have. They can’t spend more than they take in, unlike the federal government. They also set up about a half a billion dollar structural deficit as they don’t know what the federal government is going to do with Medicaid. Hurd feels that incredible things have happened in Wisconsin since July. President Donald Trump has done incredible things with the economy and the Wisconsin economy has grown under President Trump. The fiscal bureau has told Joint Finance that the economy has grown, capital gains are strong, corporate taxes are strong, income taxes are strong and sales taxes will increase 2-3%. They didn’t have to raise income taxes; they actually lowered them. Even with lower taxes, they are still expecting an extra $2.5 billion in revenues and they are negotiating with the governor on how to spend that money.
Hurd said the other thing she wanted to talk about was maintaining a Republican majority in the legislature. She said the executive branch and Supreme Court are held by Democrats. Hurd said, “It is the legislature that is keeping horrible, rotten, no good things from happening.” That is why they have to stay in the majority and why she and Senator James have to be reelected. James won’t be running in this district but he is running in a Democrat leaning district. He is the only Republican that can beat Senator Jeff Smith, who is also an incumbent. She said we have to pray for James as it will be an incumbent running against an incumbent. Romaine Quinn will be the senator in the 23rd District.
Hurd said these issues are all happening because of redistricting. The liberal Supreme Court made the decision on those maps which are gerrymandered in favor of the Democrats. She said the Republicans also need to get Tom Tiffany elected as governor. Hurd said the Supreme Court has four liberal justices right now and three conservative justices. They have said the legislature has no authority to oversee the administrative rules set by the bureaucracy. This includes the DNR, DATCAP, Dept. of Administration and Dept. of Revenue. They have been overseen by the legislature in the past, but the Supreme Court has now said the legislature has no authority over the rules. Those rules carry the weight of law, but they are created by bureaucrats who were not elected. Hurd said the Assembly has put forward a constitutional amendment. It is in the Senate now. It would put that oversight back in the legislature’s hands. Hurd said, “It’s a balance of power. You can’t just have unelected bureaucrats making up all kinds of rules, that’s wrong.” She says that is what legislators are elected to do.
Senator Jesse James spoke next. He said he likes working for the people and being a legislator. But he never wants to serve on Joint Finance. James said his office has put out about 10% of all the bills in the Senate this session. James said, “I’m more for fighting alongside and protecting my brothers and sisters in blue, protecting law enforcement, working on the mental health stuff, substance use disorder stuff, stuff that’s impacting our families, impacting our children.” The grooming bill is passed and the governor signed it. They asked for a signing ceremony but learned the governor had signed the bill in a press release. James said it is about protecting our kids. He also worked on a sextortion bill. He said sextortion is where a kid, mostly teen boys, are being preyed upon by fake nude images of women. He said that is the kind of legislation he works on.
James said he will be leaving the 23rd Senate District and will miss it. He will be running for the 31st Senate District. He said, “The Chippewa Valley is worth the fight and the state of Wisconsin is worth the fight.” He said it wouldn’t be easy, but “My faith in God and me being obedient to what he has in store for me and following the path, whatever trajectory and path that comes to be, as long as I’m obedient, I can never go wrong. And that’s what it comes down to.” James said he has been proud to serve the area. He asked those in attendance who had friends in the 31st to ask them to vote for him.
Paul Wassgren is running for the 7th Congressional District. He was born in Ashland County. He plans to use his resources in combination with the Republican Party of Wisconsin to turn that area red again. He has re-founded the Republican Party of Ashland County. They now have nine members. They are doing what they can to get statewide Republican candidates elected. His grandparents owned a cheese factory. He graduated from Ashland County Public Schools and went on to Oxford University. He has spent the last 20 years as a corporate attorney advising business owners on creating jobs and creating wealth. He served on the Finance Committee during Trump’s first term where he advocated for the Qualified Opportunity Zone Program. He said it was President Trump’s greatest achievement during his first term. His clients invested billions into distressed communities like those in northern Wisconsin to create jobs and wealth. Wassgren said that is what we need in northern Wisconsin.
He said he will be 50 this year and as he travels around the 26 counties in the 7th District, he sees lack of economic opportunity and lack of job opportunities for young people. He said our young people are our largest export from Wisconsin. We need to keep them here. Before he decided to run, he met with Ron Johnson. He asked Senator Johnson what we need in northern Wisconsin. Johnson’s response was, “We need more people with common sense and a business background, because that’s exactly how we’re going to make Wisconsin great again. We have to make Wisconsin, first, competitive again.” Jobs that used to exist in Wisconsin are now in Latin America or Asia because of Democrat led policies. Wassgren said, “We have over regulation, we have over taxation, and we have over litigation. Until we fix those three things, we’re not going to be able to make Wisconsin competitive again.” He said he will be a fierce advocate if elected. He plans to be on the Judiciary Committee and reform the legal system so it won’t chase away jobs. He also talked about the cost of insurance. His campaign manager has a family of four and are paying almost $2,500 a month for health insurance. He said that is the biggest line item in the family budget in Wisconsin. If elected and on the Judiciary Committee, he plans to work to end frivolous lawsuits. He said they also have to work with the legislators in Madison. They have a lot of work to do. You can learn more about him at www. PaulWassgren.com.
The next speaker was Jessi Ebben, who is also a candidate for the 7th Congressional District. She said, “I am a Trump Republican, a Christian conservative, and a 7th generation Wisconsinite who’s going to work to get the government out of the way so that we can flourish right here in rural Wisconsin.” She lives in Stanley just a few miles from the original Ebben family farm that is almost 100 years old. She has worked in rural healthcare setting up clinics in small towns. She currently works in manufacturing tackling burdensome regulations. She plans to take that work to Congress “to make sure the government is working for us and not against us.” She said Washington bureaucrats and lifelong politicians have failed us with their policies, regulation, and open borders. We have also negotiated trade deals that sent good paying jobs from Wisconsin to foreign countries. Ebben then talked about Biden’s energy policies and allowing solar panels and windmills on farmland. There were vaccine mandates. And allowing biological men in women’s sports. Ebben said we have to enact President Trump’s agenda into law. If elected, she plans to work to secure the southern border. We have to support law enforcement and back the badge. Ebben has been endorsed by a number of sheriffs in the district. She also has endorsements from members of Congress. Ebben said that as mothers we have a responsibility to protect our children, to stand and defend them. She said that issues with men in women’s sports, girls’ bathrooms and girl’s locker rooms is an issue close to home in New Richmond right now. She said there is a lot of work to do and she is committed to doing that. Ebben said she loves this state. She grew up in the country, amongst farms, where neighbors had each others backs, where problems were solved with common sense and the resources available. The values of faith, family and freedom were prevalent. Ebben said that is what she wants for her son and all Wisconsinites. Ebben said if you work hard and have a good job, you should be able to afford a home for your family. She feels there is an opportunity to solidify conservative principles and policies, but it is going to take work. Ebben said her mission is serving us.
The final speaker for the day was Clark County Sheriff Kerry Kirn. He is from the Willard area. He started working for the Sheriff’s office in 1991 and went full-time in 1993. He has worked in communications, corrections, patrol, and became a detective in 1998. He said that was the true passion of his career outside of what he is doing now. He became Captain of Detectives in 2019 and has been sheriff for about a year. He said there were things he wanted to correct when he became sheriff: staffing issues, recruitment, and retention. They were 11 positions short, which went up to 16. Currently there are only five open positions and he is hoping that will soon be down to two. During recruitment, they now mentor the applicant with someone to help them through the process. He wants them and their families to feel like they are welcome here. He also wanted to build staff as one of the biggest complaints he has heard is that they get ordered in because they are short staffed. He has pushed for officer wellness. He has done some realignment in the department, especially the patrol division to help with that. They had two deputies assigned full-time to recreation. There were also two cars to do transports and fill in on patrol. They also had a car covering Dorchester. They were able to add a car without adding a position. They moved a recreation deputy to patrol and then the utility cars to patrol and then the Dorchester car to patrol. They rewrote the contract with Dorchester and it is working better than before. Instead of having someone there full-time, they stagger people going there during their shift and keep track of the hours. They also supplement that with part-time people. They are going to supplement the second recreation deputy position with full-time staff who are interested. They have reduced overtime. He has also made an effort to be out in the community and at events. Kirn said he believes the Sheriff’s Office is an extension of the community. He said, “I love Clark County and I love every community in it.”
The program ended with emcee Marsch allowing for questions. Pam Jaffke asked when we were going to see ads from Maria Lazar who is running for Supreme Court. The answer was that there are ads on YouTube and Facebook and there will be a debate on March 25. Marsch said Lazar doesn’t have the resources to do a lot of advertising. They will be paying for some ads in the TRG and Clark County Press for her.