PLATTEVILLE — Almost one year from now, voters will reduce the number of Democrats running for U.S. Senate from, as of now, 11 to one.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) has not said whether he plans on running for reelection next year. Johnson was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2016 saying he didn’t plan on serving more than two terms, but he has not said he’s not running.

One of the 11 who are running to face Johnson or another Republican is Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, a former Democratic state representative. 

Stop number 53 of Nelson’s “Full Nelson” tour of all the state’s 72 counties came to Driftless Market in Platteville Saturday afternoon, after Puempel’s Olde Tavern in New Glarus Saturday morning, and before Lady Dawn’s in Blanchardville and Centennial Park in Dodgeville afterward.

Nelson believes he should be the Democratic nominee because “I’m the only one from a red part of the state who has won election and reelection six times, three as a legislator, three as a county executive. So, one, I can win. And number two I have a history of being able to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done. If I did not work with the other side of the aisle I would have not been elected six times.

“I have committed the last 17 years of my life fighting for working families, for the family farmers, folks all around this state. I have a blue-collar background; I grew up in a neighborhood where all the dads worked at paper mills. My dad was a Lutheran pastor, so I learned two important lessons — number one from my dad the importance of serving your neighbor, serving your community, and the other one, the importance of standing up for folks that don’t have a voice, who are overpowered by corporations and big money and Wall Street.

“I have the best perspective of both urban and rural issues, because my county is both a rural and urban county, and I’ve worked on these issues for the last 17 years. … I hear a lot of the issues that I worked on as a county executive and before that as a state legislator. So I have the combination of executive experience — if you want the government to work, you’ve got to know how to do that … and then as a legislator, knowing how to pass legislation.”

Nelson said he has had 10 Outagamie County budgets approved, with four of the last five unanimous. “There are both Democrats and Republicans on the county board, so you can work with Republicans and Democrats; you can find common interests and common goals,” he said. “It is a big budget, covering 23 different service areas.”

Nelson also believes he stands out in the field — which includes Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state treasurer Sarah Godlewski, and Alex Lasry, son of Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry — because of his background.

“I’m one of the few non-millionaires; I’m going up against two millionaires and a billionaire, and I’m just a pastor’s kid from Outagamie County,” he said. “That’s another reason why I’m touring 72 counties; this is the people’s campaign.”

Outagamie County is receiving $36 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, which he said changes the usual dynamics of dealing with the federal government.

“I think we have an incredible opportunity with the opportunity coming from the ARPA program,” said Nelson “Usually we have requirements; you have laws that say you have to do X, Y, Z. In this case they’re giving you $36 million with a couple of parameters, but it’s up to us to be able to spend that wisely.”

Nelson said his priorities are “helping those who were hurt the most by COVID, and then to position all of us for success, that God forbid we have another existential crisis, we’re prepared. So it’s kind of the reverse of what we’ve had to deal with; instead of having the strings attached — you have to do this, you have to do that — we have the opposite.”

Nelson touted UW—Platteville’s engineering partnership with UW—Oshkosh Fox Cities in Menasha. Outagamie County is one of two counties in charge of the two-year campus’ assets. 

Nelson believes eliminating gerrymandering is important; he favors the federal For the People Act, which would require states to use independent commissions to draw congressional district lines, “to make sure that we have fair maps and that Democrats or Republicans have a fair shot at running for office.” 

“We have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We have income inequality that affects rural Wisconsin, urban Wisconsin, so we need things like a $15 minimum wage, we need to have the Family and Medical Leave Act, the child tax credits, investments that will go into working families instead of corporate subsidies. And climate change — I hear in rural counties as much as urban counties the issue of climate change, and you see the effects all over.”

He also opposes Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, which he said as a political issue are “absolutely huge. If I were to go back two months ago when I first started this, if I were to find out that CAFOs are one of the top issues; I never would have guessed that.”

Nelson believes he can get through the poisonous atmosphere in Washington because of his accomplishments.

“As a U.S. senator, you have to have the credibility that you can make it better,” he said. “And coming from a red county, where I had to work with both Democrats and Republicans, and can point to real results — we have a triple A bond rating, we have a declining tax rate, I was able to double the economic value of an international airport to $700 million — if you can show you can work with Democrats and Republicans and produce real results, I think that you will have a lot of credibility and a lot of opportunity to improve the political environment.”