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District #89 - John Gard (R)

Wisconsin State Representative

Gard ran for Mark Green's old seat as US Representative and lost to Steve Kagen (D)

As Assembly speaker, Gard has significant control over what bills get voted on. He cannot single-handedly decide, but he has a lot of pull. The majority leader, Mike Huebsch, also plays a major role in deciding what gets voted on and what doesn't. Anyway, Gard is running for Congress so he is leaving the legislature. His departure alone won't change how the Assembly operates. Huebsch is Gard's likely replacement as speaker, and he is probably worse than Gard.

Challenger	Challenger Web Page	Occupation	Contact
Randy Koehn (D)	www.votekoehn.com Also see: www.actblue.com/page/votekoehn and www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=1289	Teacher	PO Box 114 Marinette WI 54143-0114 715-735-7609 or 715-735-5210 rkoehn1@mac.com randy@votekoehn.com
John Nygren (R)			Nygren for Assembly PO Box 552 Marinette, WI 54143 Treasurer Paul Miller 715-732-8326 or 715-732-4296

For a list of all candidates for state office go the State Elections Board and click on "All Candidates Registered."

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Who won the Fall 2006 Government Ethics Voter Guide Questionnaire distributed by League of Women Voters, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause? See all survey questions at the WDC web site. (I) = Incumbent

(Many of those who did not reply simply do not want to go on record as supporting reforms they know they will vote against, and do not want to be held to their word. Others will say Yes and not mean it, or will vote as dictated by their party. It is up to constituents to hold their representatives to their word.)

Assembly, District 89	Question 1	Question 2	Question 3	Question 4	Question 5	Question 6
Randy Koehn (Democrat)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
John Nygren (Republican)	No Reply	No Reply	No Reply	No Reply	No Reply	No Reply

Koehn:

1. Yes, SB 1 is a good starting point for real reform, there is no way legislators should be exempted from attending ethics seminars.
2. Yes, the voice of the people has been pushed out of government as special interests have gained more power.
3. Yes, McCain-Feingold has its flaws, but it is a good starting point.
4. Yes, boundaries should not be drawn simply to benefit a party or office holder.
5. Yes
6. Yes, at least one year.
7. As an advocate for the working families of Wisconsin, I would promote: Major health care reform to provide affordable healthcare to all families; Passage of the HOPE Plan to restore fairness to taxation; Protection of our environment; Equalization of educational funding throughout the state; Protection of women’s choice; Opposition to the death penalty, “marriage protection” and concealed carry proposals; Enforcement and strengthening equal pay legislation As a teacher in Northeastern Wisconsin the past 15 years, I have suffered as the Assembly failed to address these concerns. I explicitly understand the problems my voters face.

On the issues

Note that during this same week, the majority and in some cases all, legislators voted yes on three no-brainer minor ethics bills -- and some even sent out newsletters proclaiming how great the act was. But what really mattered was SB1, the mother of all ethics reform which would have established an ethics commission independent of the state legislature it would be overseeing. Your representative voted AGAINST this more conclusive bill, which meant that even violations of the three no-brainers would not have faced tough scrutiny. Those voting against SB1 like things just as they are, requiring virtually zero accountability on the part of politicians.

In another action, the Assembly approved by a 96-0 vote identical measures to [shorten] the legislative session -- to July 12, from December. The end of the session is significant because state law bars lawmakers from accepting donations during the session. Lawmakers also cannot ask lobbyists to bundle donations from their clients during that period. Now they can do both beginning July 13.  

 

Incumbent's record on Ethics Reform: Bad

From WDC: What's most notable about the three roll call votes is that several Republican members – including two considered politically vulnerable and likely facing tough reelection fights, Brett Davis of Monroe and Mark Pettis of Hertel, who originally voted to take up SB 1 – voted three times against making SB 1 part of the GOP "ethics reform" bills. Pettis is one of the Jensen 10 who were implicated during the former Assembly speaker's trial. All of the Jensen 10 voted consistently to block approval of SB 1.

Many politicians refuse to answer the questions in the Project Vote-Smart solicitation because they don't want voters knowing where they stand on the issues! They like being able to fudge and evade when being asked about an issue, and having it on record and posted on the web is the last thing they want. Especially when it can be compared to their voting record while in session.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters Rated Incumbent at 18% acceptance

Conservation Scorecard on your state representative at: http://www.conservationvoters.org/scorecard/sc04_asm_name.shtml    See also incumbent's committee scorecard at: http://www.conservationvoters.org/votetracker/