After sitting down with Democratic candidate Brett Hulsey and Green Party candidate Ben Manski, the top two contenders in what has become an uncommonly contentious race for the District 77 Assembly seat, we have come to the conclusion that would please the environmental-nut Hulsey on any other day of the year besides Election Day:
It is time to go Green.
Besides the inherent pluses that come with voting for a third party – not having to wade through red or blue dogma for one – Manski demonstrates a nuanced grasp of higher education and is just as passionate on environmental issues as Hulsey; the only real leg the Democratic candidate has to stand on.
More importantly, however, a number of disturbing discrepancies have come to light in the waning days of Hulsey’s candidacy. First there was the false Tammy Baldwin endorsement Hulsey claimed to have earned, forcing Baldwin’s office to put out a statement saying she never endorsed Hulsey. Then there was confusion on whether Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, threw his support to Hulsey or not. Finally, current 77th district representative Spencer Black withdrew his endorsement of Hulsey just days before the election after Hulsey misattributed a quote to Black in campaign literature.
“I feel [Hulsey] violated trust … The fact that he’s done this despite [my objections] on the last weekend of the campaign, I do not feel is in keeping with the type of trust I think is necessary for being effective in the Legislature,” Black told the Herald.
And, just as we were finalizing this piece, we found out that yet another state legislator, Rep Kelda Roys, D-Madison, never endorsed Hulsey, despite campaign literature that said otherwise.
Isolated, perhaps these incidents can be excused. Pieced together though, and they make for a very disturbing puzzle. We wonder, why does a major party candidate with the support of Gov. Jim Doyle, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and the Wisconsin State Journal need to cut corners in his campaign?
As for Manski, we trust his oft-radical views will not become obstructionist to actual progress. While his hope for tuition-free higher education will not become a reality any time soon, it should not prevent Manski from pragmatically working with the Assembly to support education in the state. And his hope to cut corrections funding by two-thirds in the next five to ten years is not only fiscally sound, but necessary from a civil rights perspective.
When bidding farewell to Black, an environmental advocate, we trust that Manski – a member of the Green Party, after all – will continue the zeal District 77 is known for on environmental issues.
With Manski and Hulsey taking similar positions on most issues, the endorsement from this board came down to trust.
The choice is Manski.
