MONROE — In this years’ race for the 2nd Congressional District, there will be more than the usual two choices, Republican and Democrat, this time around.
Independent candidate Douglas Alexander, a Madison native, is throwing his hat into the ring for the November general election. And while the former teacher says he would love to win the race and represent the district and its people in congress, he hopes his candidacy will educate voters about the limits of a two-party system in our democracy.
“I’m just one guy trying to make a difference,” he said. “I have no party machine behind me.”
The sprawling Wisconsin 2nd Congressional district includes six counties in the southern part of the state — Dane, Sauk, Iowa, Lafayette, Green, parts of Rock except for Janesville; and a small part of Richland County.
Incumbent Mark Pocan, D-Madison, has represented the district in Congress since 2013.
A recent recount of the primary results was requested by the Charity Barry GOP Campaign and the results were announced on Monday. Prior to the recount, GOP attorney Erik Olsen beat landscaping supervisor Charity Barry by 74 votes. But following the recount, Olsen still kept his narrow lead, ahead by 63 votes out of 43,000 cast.
“Though the recount found that our race was closer than originally thought, it did not change the outcome of this primary, and I would like to congratulate Erik Olsen on becoming the Republican Nominee for the 2022 General Election in Wisconsin’s Second Congressional District,” said Barry in a statement provided to the Times following the recount.
For his part, Alexander is committing most of his campaign to the idea of term limits to prevent politicians from becoming career politicians. He says term limits on Congress is an issue that has bi-partisan appeal. And notably he is not asking for campaign contributions — as he says they contribute to the vicious cycle of politicians becoming beholden to special and monied interests.
The idea of congressional term limits is also supported and emphasized by Olsen’s campaign.
Even the election process is titled toward the people already in power on both sides of the political fence — and that’s the reason he says campaigns shouldn’t be a zero sum game of win or lose.
“Call me naïve if you want, call me idealistic, but the purpose of a campaign should be educational not merely to win the election,” he said. “I’m running as an independent because it allows me to education the voters… about the importance of getting term limits on Congress, and other issues. If I can do that this campaign will be worth it.”