I had the privilege of attending the 2nd Congressional District Caucus for the Republican Party of Wisconsin earlier today. It was wonderful to see and hear from so many fine candidates in one location. The caucus was well done – candidates for Governor gave their platforms and answered a couple questions, candidates for Lt. Governor participated in a ‘Lightening Round’ where each answered a the same question, and then candidates for Federal offices had a town hall/debate where they each had a chance to speak. In addition several candidates who have unopposed primaries were given a chance to speak and introduce themselves to the group.
One interesting thing from the morning is that I learned a lot about the candidates for Lt. Governor. The race for Governor gets a lot of press and with all that is going on in Washington it seems I’ve heard a lot about the Federal candidates also. Lt. Governor on the other hand is an often overlooked office in the state and this was the first time I personally had the opportunity to hear from all the Republican candidates for that office. My impressions of them (alphabetical order, along with their websites):
Ben Collins (www.votebencollins.com) – Ben is a veteran and former Special Forces officer. Like the others, he handled himself well and made some good points. He spoke especially eloquently about leadership and the role of a leader in not necessarily being the expert but rather as someone who makes the most out of the experts he has.
State Rep. Brett Davis (www.votebrettdavis.com) – Brett is the current representative for District 80 in the State Assembly. That experience and knowledge of current issues was evident. Brett also has experience in the private sector that I don’t mean to downplay but where the other candidates spoke of what they might do or would like to do, in many cases Brett was able to quote specific legislation or similar efforts he’s already spearheading in the State Assembly.
Rebecca Kleefisch (www.rebeccaforreal.com) – As a former newswoman, Rebecca was clearly at ease in front of a group (although to be fair no one looked uncomfortable). In fact it was this experience that she seemed to particularly emphasize as key to her candidacy. She emphasized that the Lt. Governor should promote and market the state and that as a former member of the media she was particularly well suited to handle that role. That however seems at odds with a recent article I read regarding her in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel which doesn’t bode well for her relationship with the media (particularly since information on the Lt. Governor race is so sparse).
Mayor Dave Ross (www.friendsofdaveross.com) – Dave has been the Mayor of Superior since 2003. The theme he drove home was the fact that he has kept campaign promises as Mayor and would keep his campaign promises as Lt. Governor. One thing that impressed me about Dave was that through a fluke in seating he answered every question thrown to the group first and didn’t look the least bit worse for it.