MONROE - The candidates for the 80th Assembly District, including a two-term alderman from Monroe, are emphasizing their business and city government experience on the campaign trail.
Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, and Dan Henke, R-Monroe, are seeking to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, who chose not to seek another term in the Assembly, running instead for lieutenant governor. His bid for that position ended when he failed to win the Republican primary in September.
Both Ringhand and Henke are familiar with city government.
Ringhand served on the Evansville city council from 1998 to 2002, when she became mayor. She was mayor from 2002 until 2006. In 2008, she was elected to another term on the city council and was re-elected in 2010. She also has served as council president. She also ran for the 80th Assembly seat unsuccessfully in 2004 and 2006.
In addition, she is a member of the Evansville Economic Development Committee, the Stoughton Hospital board of directors, the Brooklyn Sportsman's Club and Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary.
Henke is a two-term alderman from Monroe. He formally served as council president and also served on the St. Victor school board.
Both Ringhand and Henke have served on several council committees during their years of service on their respective city councils.
Henke said he decided to run for the Assembly because of his business experience, and his past work with city budgets. He's owned his own business for 34 years and has built more than 800 homes in the area. He is a member of the Southwest Wisconsin Home Builders Association, and was a member of a task force to help make Monroe and Green County a destination center.
"Brett asked me if I would run," Henke said. "He knew I was involved with my community and that I was a businessman."
Henke said he's learned how much of an impact government can have on small business owners, and that experience has prompted him to call for change.
"I used to spend 80 percent of my time at the job site, but now I spend 80 percent of my time in the office doing paperwork," he said. "That's got to stop."
Henke said government shouldn't get in the way of someone trying to run a successful business.
Ringhand, who for several years was an accountant for family-owned Ringhand Meats, said her varied background and a desire to make a difference led her to seek statewide office.
"With my diversified background, I think I can bring a lot to the table," she said. "I think I can hit the ground running."
The candidates say they know that whoever wins in November will have their work cut out for them. The state is expected to face a deficit as high as $3 billion, and the next legislature will have to deal with it.
As a result, Ringhand and Henke both said difficult choices will have to be made.
"It's not going to be easy," Ringhand said of reducing the deficit. "We're going to have to identify what our priorities are. We're going to have to cut spending."
For his part, Henke says the deficit can be reduced if the assembly "cuts the fat and looks at the budget."
As a council member, Henke said he's gone through city budgets to eliminate wasteful spending in the past. And he said he can do the same thing in Madison.
One thing the Legislature should do, according to Henke, is to quit using money from other areas to balance the budget. For example, he noted, the state uses highway funds to make up for deficits in other areas of the budget. Such practices only lead to more problems.
"You need transparency so you know where the money is going," he said.
Both candidates said most voters are worried about jobs.
Henke also wants to see an end to the prevailing wage law, which was enacted to prevent companies from underbidding contracts. The law can raise construction costs because the prevailing wage is set by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, using average wage amounts from Madison to determine the wages for Green County workers.
Henke said he can put 40 people to work when he builds a house, but the state government has created too many obstacles for businesses trying to hire.
Ringhand said that while the state doesn't create jobs, it can help businesses expand and help people start businesses, whether through low interest loans or tax breaks for hiring the unemployed.
"The state can give businesses the tools they need," she said.
Both candidates say they are willing to work with the other side.
"You have to compromise," Ringhand said. "There are differences, but there has to be some give and take. You have to look at what's best for a majority of the people, and you need to weigh both sides of the issue."
Henke agreed.
"We have to end the bickering," he said. "You have to be able to look at all views before you make a decision."
Janis Ringhand, D-Evansville, and Dan Henke, R-Monroe, are seeking to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, who chose not to seek another term in the Assembly, running instead for lieutenant governor. His bid for that position ended when he failed to win the Republican primary in September.
Both Ringhand and Henke are familiar with city government.
Ringhand served on the Evansville city council from 1998 to 2002, when she became mayor. She was mayor from 2002 until 2006. In 2008, she was elected to another term on the city council and was re-elected in 2010. She also has served as council president. She also ran for the 80th Assembly seat unsuccessfully in 2004 and 2006.
In addition, she is a member of the Evansville Economic Development Committee, the Stoughton Hospital board of directors, the Brooklyn Sportsman's Club and Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary.
Henke is a two-term alderman from Monroe. He formally served as council president and also served on the St. Victor school board.
Both Ringhand and Henke have served on several council committees during their years of service on their respective city councils.
Henke said he decided to run for the Assembly because of his business experience, and his past work with city budgets. He's owned his own business for 34 years and has built more than 800 homes in the area. He is a member of the Southwest Wisconsin Home Builders Association, and was a member of a task force to help make Monroe and Green County a destination center.
"Brett asked me if I would run," Henke said. "He knew I was involved with my community and that I was a businessman."
Henke said he's learned how much of an impact government can have on small business owners, and that experience has prompted him to call for change.
"I used to spend 80 percent of my time at the job site, but now I spend 80 percent of my time in the office doing paperwork," he said. "That's got to stop."
Henke said government shouldn't get in the way of someone trying to run a successful business.
Ringhand, who for several years was an accountant for family-owned Ringhand Meats, said her varied background and a desire to make a difference led her to seek statewide office.
"With my diversified background, I think I can bring a lot to the table," she said. "I think I can hit the ground running."
The candidates say they know that whoever wins in November will have their work cut out for them. The state is expected to face a deficit as high as $3 billion, and the next legislature will have to deal with it.
As a result, Ringhand and Henke both said difficult choices will have to be made.
"It's not going to be easy," Ringhand said of reducing the deficit. "We're going to have to identify what our priorities are. We're going to have to cut spending."
For his part, Henke says the deficit can be reduced if the assembly "cuts the fat and looks at the budget."
As a council member, Henke said he's gone through city budgets to eliminate wasteful spending in the past. And he said he can do the same thing in Madison.
One thing the Legislature should do, according to Henke, is to quit using money from other areas to balance the budget. For example, he noted, the state uses highway funds to make up for deficits in other areas of the budget. Such practices only lead to more problems.
"You need transparency so you know where the money is going," he said.
Both candidates said most voters are worried about jobs.
Henke also wants to see an end to the prevailing wage law, which was enacted to prevent companies from underbidding contracts. The law can raise construction costs because the prevailing wage is set by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, using average wage amounts from Madison to determine the wages for Green County workers.
Henke said he can put 40 people to work when he builds a house, but the state government has created too many obstacles for businesses trying to hire.
Ringhand said that while the state doesn't create jobs, it can help businesses expand and help people start businesses, whether through low interest loans or tax breaks for hiring the unemployed.
"The state can give businesses the tools they need," she said.
Both candidates say they are willing to work with the other side.
"You have to compromise," Ringhand said. "There are differences, but there has to be some give and take. You have to look at what's best for a majority of the people, and you need to weigh both sides of the issue."
Henke agreed.
"We have to end the bickering," he said. "You have to be able to look at all views before you make a decision."