| Incumbent | Incumbent Web Page | Personal Web Page | Who funds the incumbent? |
John Lehman (D) |
John Lehman | www.lehman4senate.com | Follow the Money |
To see Kathy Stepp's (the previous legislator's page) go HERE.
A+ - Public funding of judicial campaigns |
 (SB171)
Incumbent voted FOR passage
of public funding of campaigns for judges. In a recent study by Citizen
Action, in 75% of the cases reaching the Supreme Court level there was a
campaign contributor on one side or the other. Campaigns for judges are
being financed by attorneys and business leaders. How's that for
justice? ALL Supreme Court Judges came out in support of this bill.
2/19/08 Sequence No. 200
|
A+ Healthy Wisconsin |
Incumbent
SUPPORTED the Healthy Wisconsin amendment to the state budget. All
Democrats voted for it and all Republicans voted against it. Healthy
Wisconsin was opposed by the insurance industry and business
associations (though not the business members themselves). For more on
the benefits of Healthy Wisconsin see Sen. Joe Leean's article
HERE |
A+ Ethics Reform |
(SB1)
Incumbent voted to pass an Ethics Reform bill (and also supported it in
2006).
|
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.
Project Vote-Smart Rating |
INCUMBENT
REPEATEDLY REFUSED TO
PROVIDE ANY RESPONSES TO CITIZENS ON ISSUES THROUGH THE 2004 NATIONAL
POLITICAL AWARENESS TEST Ratings by Interest Groups: http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=BS040705 Votes by Category: |
Wisconsin Conservation VotersRated Incumbent at 18% acceptance |
Conservation Scorecard on your state
senator
at:
Vote Tracker -- SB1 Ethics Bill Past Scorecards:
|
2006 record below |
Here is how John Lehman responded to the League of Women Voters' questionnaire. Let's see how well he keeps his promises:
| Senate, District 21 | Question 1 | Question 2 | Question 3 | Question 4 | Question 5 | Question 6 |
| John
W. Lehman (Democrat) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Lehman: If elected in the 21st Senate District I would continue with the efforts I have made in my 10 years in the legislature. As the ranking Democrat on the Assembly Education Committee I have stood up strongly for public schools and public school funding. I am also known as a strong advocate for the environment (“Clean 16 legislator) and have a 100% voting record supporting working families. I have been a watchdog of the taxpayer dollars (Miller Park, Gateway tech). I support property tax relief (HOPE) and comprehensive health care reform and ethics and campaign finance reform.
F - Universal Health Care |
Incumbent has not been supportive of universal health care, and receives significant campaign contributions from the health care community. |
A+ Campaign Finance Reform |
Incumbent has supported campaign finance reform (Pocan's AB626 and Risser's SB479). |
A+ Ethics Reform |
Incumbent voted to pass an Ethics Reform bill (SB1). |
| Bill - SB1 (5/2/06 Sequence 662) aD+ | The Issue | How Assembly Voted | Your Representative |
Senate Bill 1 - Establish a Government Accountability BoardIntroduced by Mike Ellis (R) in the Senate and
It was killed by the Assembly Republicans. This was a vote on whether to bring the ethics bill to the floor and allow a complete up-or-down vote. By voting against an open floor vote the legislators effectively killed the bill and did not have to go on record as officially opposing ethics reform. Media coverage at MSP, Milwaukee, Madison, Madison Caveat: Some Republicans were allowed to vote in favor of this reform bill because their vote was not needed to kill it and they were in unsafe seats with a challenger. |
Proponents claim: This bill would establish an independent ethics commission to oversee the state legislature and governor.
See www.wisdc.org
|
Defeated by a vote of 51 to 45 Voting for reform:
Voting to block reform:
See entire assembly roll call vote here and the senate roll call here. |
+ + + + + + + * Incumbent voted FOR bringing SB1 to the floor for a vote (this was the vote preferred by reform advocates) + + + + + + + |
|
Opponents claim: It is too intrusive, requiring the disclosure of personal finances.
(Isn't that what ethics is all about? How can they legitimately vote on an issue without disclosing any conflicts of interest?)
|
|
Republicans voting to pass to the floor for a vote: Almers, Davis, Hines, Lasee, McCormick (sponsor), Ott, and Pettis
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.