In the 2nd District, most residents are familiar with their representative of 12 years, Democrat Tammy Baldwin.

At 27 years of age, Chad Lee is almost half Baldwin’s age, and he’s looking to give her a run for her money this election season based on his business sense and belief in American ideals.

“I have a unique perspective on the American dream because I lived it,” the small business owner from Mt. Horeb told The Badger Herald.

As co-owner with his brother Beau of a commercial and residential cleaning company, Better Butler Cleaning, Lee says his experiences in business working with people from different backgrounds and balancing budgets qualifies him to represent the 2nd District.

Lee decided to run for Congress because he sees recent out-of-control government spending an attack on American Dream.

According to his website, Lee built his business from the ground up – in the beginning, he was the one scrubbing toilets and floors.

It is this small business sense Lee plans to use to represent his constituents, specifically through an idea that has become a familiar campaign slogan to a certain extent: you don’t spend money you don’t have.

“There’s a fine balance between a responsible government and putting too much burden on the people – we’re teetering on irresponsible government spending,” Lee says.

The work ethic that allowed Lee to create his own business comes from his parents, who encouraged him to attend college and graduate but told him he would have to pay his own way.

Lee paid for the first years of college at UW-Madison and Olivet Nazerrane University in Bourbonnais, Ill., on his own, but eventually he had to take out loans.

Before starting his small business, Lee was a member in a popular Christian rock band.

Andrew Welhouse, a spokesperson for the state’s Republican Party, says the 2nd District represents a special challenge for candidates like Lee because of its diversity – the geography covers some of the most liberal areas in the state and the second-most urban center, as well as more rural areas.

“This is a district where you have a lot of people who don’t identify with Republicans, who don’t even identify with Democrats,” Welhouse says. “If Chad Lee wins, he’s going to be responsible for representing their interests as well.”

In that vein, one of the main components of Lee’s campaign has been an attempt to separate himself somewhat from the state GOP. His campaign flyers and posters purposefully do not include party affiliations, Lee says, because he is not running for party ideals.

At the same time, Lee beat out Republican Peter Theron to win the Republican primary in September and is registered for the Nov. 2 election as a Republican.

Still, Lee emphasized the need to look beyond political affiliations when making a decision on Election Day.

“Ignore the letter beside my name. …Take the opportunity to look beyond the letter beside someone’s name and look at their record. Tammy Baldwin has been ineffective, especially in representing our generation,” he says.

Lee has been critical of Baldwin’s refusal to debate him on domestic issues while agreeing instead to only one debate on foreign policy, a subject Lee thinks is not a central issue for most Americans.

Concerning the debate at Grainger Hall at the University of Wisconsin Oct. 17, Lee says Baldwin’s 12 years as a career politician gave her access to information in the debate that was not relevant to most people in Wisconsin.

“A lot of this stuff she talked about went over most people’s heads. It would be like me asking her a question about my business, ‘Hey, where do I get my supplies from?’,” Lee says. “There are a few pieces of information she’s [more] privy to.”

However, Lee maintains his business experience has given him the skills necessary to solve global economic problems as a member of Congress.

Lee’s campaign style comes from a desire to be genuine with these types of everyday voters, he said, and to communicate in a way everyday people understand.

“I try to talk to people in human ways, and sometimes that might get in the way and it might not sound as flashy, but I try to be as real as possible,” he says.

His stance on immigration and border control is influenced by his wife’s experience growing up along the border in southern Texas, whom he married a year and a half ago. Lee’s wife, who is Mexican-American, grew up in Texas before moving out on her own at 17.

Border security is an issue that goes beyond politics in his wife’s family.

“There are Democrats and Republicans in her family that support border security,” Lee says. “If you go down there and you talk to them, like her brothers and sisters and mom, they’re all in agreement that it’s getting absolutely out of control on the border.”

As a result, Lee supports both the building of the border fence as well as the controversial new immigration policy in Arizona, which some argue legalizes racial profiling by requiring police to demand citizenship papers of individuals they believe to be illegal immigrants.

Lee’s age has defined him somewhat in a race where incumbent Baldwin already enjoys a strong support base.

“The media tries to play it as a negative side, but I look at it as an asset,” Lee says. “I come from your generation. We need people that can represent that generation. Tammy is 48 and I don’t see her staying in touch with people our age.”

Baldwin does not address how to fix problems young people will have to face in 50 or 60 years, Lee said.

According to Welhouse, factors such as age make Lee a “very dynamic and young” candidate that personifies the change people are looking for this election season.

Since most people are meeting him for the first time, he represents a fresh start for many voters, Welhouse said.

Nevertheless, if elected, Lee maintains his position in federal office will be a temporary one – evident by the fact that he supports term limits for members of Congress.

“I’ve never had a lifelong dream to be a politician. I didn’t grow up thinking, ‘hey, one day I want to run for Congress’, I never had that,” he says.