6th District candidates share their priorities
SHEBOYGAN - Voters in the 6th Congressional District will choose between incumbent Rep. Glenn Grothman (RGlenbuelah) and challenger Jessica King, a Democrat, on Nov. 3.
The district encompasses Columbia, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Manitowoc, Marquette, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, and Waushara counties and parts of Dodge, Milwaukee and Winnebago counties.
King, an attorney and vice president of a company representing hospitals and patients against health insurance companies, will face Grothman, who has been in office since 2015.
Name: Glenn Grothman
Address: Town of Greenbush in Sheboygan County
Age: 65
Occupation and highest education level: J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School
Relevant experience: While serving as a member of Congress, Grothman has prided himself on being accessible to his constituents both to hear their concerns and to provide assistance with federal agencies. He has worked hard to stand up to the drug companies and fight for lower drug costs. He has supported greater access to generics and introduced legislation allow more lower cost insulin products be brought to market. He has been a leader on securing our border, being promoted to serve as ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on National Security, the chief Republican on that subcommittee.
Name: Jessica King
Address: 1217 Harney Ave., Oshkosh, WI 54901
Age: 45
Occupation and highest education level: Vice president of Clinical Denials at RSource Healthcare, J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Relevant experience: I served two terms on the Oshkosh Common Council. I served in the Wisconsin Legislature from 2011 to 2013, representing Senate District 18, including parts of Winnebago,
Dodge and Fond du Lac counties. We asked both candidates to answer the following questions, limiting their responses to 100 words. Here is what they told us.
Why are you running for office?
Grothman: We need to get the federal government working to protect our rights, ensure our safety from foreign and domestic threats, and allow us to financially prosper. I am working to keep workers on the job here in Wisconsin, so that Americans — rather than the Chinese — make more of the vital products, medicines and technologies we need. I want to help protect our students against the pressures of student loans and taking on burdensome debt. And I’m fighting to lower drug costs and ensure people with pre-existing conditions have access to the health care they need. Finally, I will oppose any effort to defund our local law enforcement.
King: I’m running for office because I believe my current representative is out of touch with the needs of the people who live in this district. I miss having a representative like Tom Petri, one that wanted to make this district the best it could be and worked across the aisle.
I have lived experience. I’m a working mom, the daughter of disabled parents, who was incredibly grateful for the services provided to me while I was in foster care. I understand the balance between opportunity, hard work and accountability better than most people in Congress. It’s time for change.
What makes you the better candidate in this race?
Grothman: I have a proven history of defending and protecting our values and am not afraid of challenging the status quo. I’ve taken on the Republicans, I’ve taken on the Democrats and I’ve taken on the special interests. I also believe I’m one of the most accessible members of Congress, something people constantly tell me they look for in their elected officials. I am the employee of every resident of the 6th Congressional District — I work for them.
King: We need to send an experienced problem-solver to Washington to make informed decisions to ensure we survive this pandemic, economically recover from the recession and build an economy with living-wage jobs. I have local and state elected experience, and a track record for collaborating to achieve results.
Wisconsin, in particular, needs federal resources to enhance water quality, complete its broadband infrastructure, attract workforce to stabilize our population decline and diversify our regional food economy to support rural businesses.
More than ever, we need a representative who can advance solutions and build coalitions in the House of Representatives.
What are residents telling you are their most important issues, and how would you address them?
Grothman: Getting people back to work safely. Ensuring our communities are secure. Protecting the elderly and most vulnerable in our communities. And holding elected officials accountable to the people they serve.
King: People are facing many complex challenges: the pandemic, recession, unemployment, lack of access to health care, high prescription drug prices, and inability to afford or access child care. The last few months have really exposed the fragility of our federal government’s ability to provide leadership. I believe that now is the time to propose bold solutions to ensure our economic recovery. We need federal investment in our local roads, bridges, transit systems and schools. We need to expand our early childhood education pathways and expand our support of working families. It’s time to build a sustainable economy with living-wage jobs.
What are the top two issues Congress should address?
Grothman: Creating the economic conditions so that anyone who wants a job can find a good-paying one. Ensuring we take the necessary steps with respect to COVID-19 to return to normal as safely and quickly as possible.
King: We need a health care system working families and small employers can afford. U.S. citizens should not have to pay the highest prices in the world for basic medications. Let’s negotiate a fair price for every American. For seven years, I have represented hospitals and their patients against health insurance companies to overturn wrongfully denied medical claims. Let’s hold health insurance companies accountable. Reimbursement rates for services should acknowledge the need for services in our local communities. Twenty of Wisconsin’s 72 counties do not have an OBGYN. We must protect and expand access to health providers in small and mid-sized communities.
What should Congress be doing to help address the COVID-19 pandemic?
Grothman: Congress should be promoting treatments that have proven results that help prevent and minimize the effects of COVID-19. I am constantly bringing up Vitamin D and the multiple studies that have shown the clear correlation between Vitamin D deficiency and increased severity and mortality rate of COVID-19. Speeding up our testing capabilities is another important step.
King: Our response must put people and communities above party politics. I support the SMART Act, which provides $500 billion in direct aid to state and local governments impacted by the pandemic. The SMART Act would eliminate the 500,000-population threshold required for aid under the CARES Act so our local municipalities would qualify for relief. I support the manufacturing and distribution of rapid coronavirus tests that do not require clinical lab processing, so asymptomatic carriers could use this knowledge to be heroes by staying home and saving lives. Let’s work together and preserve our country’s wealth, health and economic functioning.
What can Congress do to help those affected by the pandemic?
Grothman: As well as what I mentioned above, the federal government needs to do more to ensure to help small businesses and workers are going to those who truly need it. We need to restrict payments to businesses that are suffering because of the pandemic, as some previous payments have gone to those who didn’t need the assistance.
King: Congress should support homeowners and renters by offering rent assistance to landlords on behalf of renters to protect them from eviction. Congress should offer counterpart relief and mortgage modifications to out-of-work homeowners to protect them from foreclosure. Congress must support frontline workers, including teachers, childcare and family care workers. Without permanent support of these essential workers, our recession will deepen. We must support working families, and make sure they have the ability to participate in the economy to their fullest knowing their loved ones are receiving quality care. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the Great Recession.
In your view, how big of a problem is racial injustice and discrimination and what should be done about it?
Grothman: Discrimination, in any form, should never be tolerated. We need to fix what’s wrong and improve what’s right in our civil institutions. America is the most diverse country on Earth, and people continue to come from all over the world to be here. Our strength lies in our ability to have all of us work together to form a more perfect union.
King: As a lawyer, I believe that justice can only be achieved with equal treatment under our nation’s laws. Justice denied to one of us, is justice denied to all of us. We must restore checks and balances to heal our country. We must remove corruption and bias in our legal processes to restore trust. Congress must fund special prosecutors to investigate officer-involved deaths and excessive force cases. Such investigations must be independent and free of local special interests. I support the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 to combat police misconduct, excessive force and bias in policing.