MONROE — The past 12 months has been a nonstop life-shifting change for Monroe’s Joshua Mittness. First, he and his fiancé, Tashona, starting joining — and then organizing — rallies in downtown with the Monroe 50501 movement. Now, he’s ready to join the fight at the state level.
“I’m just a regular working-class guy that understands the challenges the families of the 50th District face — because I face them every day,” Mittness said.
At the moment, Mittness, of Monroe, is the only candidate for the 50th Assembly District seat. Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) is the incumbent, but she is one of a handful of candidates challenging for the 17th Senate District.
Mittness has some background in local politics, though he is not a career politician. In 2006 as an 18-year-old senior at Janesville Parker High School, he ran for Rock County Board — and lost by 18 votes. Also, his grandfather, Lew Mittness, once served in the state assembly.
Joshua and his sister were raised by grandparents Lew and Ruth Mittness after their mother was killed by a drunk driver.
“They already raised their children. They had just bought a house in Arizona, and then when my mom died, they had to come back here and raise me and my sister. They had to give up on their retirement, and I feel guilty about that to this day,” Joshua said. “The last 18-25 years of their life should have been spent relaxing and enjoying their retirement, but instead, they had to be parents all over again.”
Even still, he said they loved every minute of raising Joshua and his sister. He said his grandparents instilled the values of civic duty, integrity and compassion in him. “That shaped me into the man I am today,” Joshua said.
Lew Mittness died when Joshua was a senior in high school. Later, Joshua dropped out of college to care for his ailing grandmother, who had mobility issues and suffered from dementia-like symptoms, though was untreated and undiagnosed. Going to school full time, working full time and care giving full time became too much to handle at that young age, he said.
Almost two decades later, he works for US Cellular. On Friday, Jan. 16, Joshua and his young 22-month-old son Lew, named after his grandfather, stopped by Christina’s Day Care in Monroe. While young Lew played with the other children, Josh sat at the dining room table to listen to Tom and Christina Becker discuss the plight of child care funding, heath care restrictions, higher school taxes and affordable housing, among other topics.
“True individual freedom comes from economic security. This means freedom from hunger, the right to decent and affordable housing, a livable wage, affordable and available childcare, bodily autonomy for all, and properly funded education,” Mittness said. “The people of Wisconsin should not be struggling to make ends meet. They should be able to have a vision for the future that lies beyond the next paycheck.”
Mittness said he understands a lot of these hardships first hand, not just because of his young family, but because he grew up with his grandparents.
“I’m familiar with the struggles many older Wisconsinites face in retirement, from living on a fixed income to increased costs for medication, housing, and everyday essentials,” Mittness said. “The people of Wisconsin should not be struggling to make ends meet. They should be able to have a vision for the future that lies beyond the next paycheck.”
He said he is committed to delivering real solutions that make a real difference for the citizens of Wisconsin. He is running on a platform focused on dignity, opportunity, and equality for every Wisconsinite, regardless of race, gender identity, religion, or political affiliation.
“We want the best for our kids, which means making sure that the people who take care of our kids while we’re at work are being paid properly and able to survive,” Mittness said.
In Monroe, like most school districts across the Wisconsin, a lack of state funding has directly led to a surge in operating referendums. Meanwhile, the state has been sitting on billions of dollars in revenue over the past three years.
“I’ll always vote for the kids, because if we didn’t, then why are we doing day care?” Tom Becker said.
Mittness said the biggest issue is the state is not paying its fair share, which effects smaller communities, like those in the 50th Assembly District, which covers all of Green County and a southern portion of Dane County.
“We don’t have as big of a tax base as say Madison or Milwaukee, and we end up footing the bill and our kids are still getting the bare minimum,” Mittness said. “In my opinion, when it comes to children, whether it’s education or childcare, it’s the last place we should be cutting spending. We’re a democracy, and education is the safeguard to democracy. We vote leaders into office, and if you’re going to be choosing who is running the country, you need to be well educated, because that’s an important choice to be able to make.”
Tom Becker added that with more of the current state funding going to voucher and private school systems, even less is left for the public schools.
“They can recruit, they can charge what they want. Most of the people going to those private schools can afford it,” Tom said.
When the conversation turned to the rising costs of home mortgages, rent, insurance and taxes, everyone agreed that times are tougher now for both 20-somethings out of college as well as retired senior citizens — even those who have paid off their mortgages.
“All these problems that were created can be easily fixed. We just have to have people who are brave enough to lead and to stand up, get out there and speak the truth,” Mittness said. “Why do we look to take money out of our children’s mouths and take education out of their brain, just so that we can give larger tax breaks to the wealthy — the wealthiest in both this state and in the country? I will never understand.”
For more information, go to https://mittness4assembly.com/.
