At least Assembly Democrats will feel good

The Wisconsin State Assembly passed two bills today, Assembly Bill 1 and Assembly Bill 2, that will do nothing to help the taxpayers of Wisconsin or make Wisconsin government more efficient. But, hey, it will make some legislators feel better.

Assembly Bill 1 would require state and local government "to try to purchase at least 20% of materials and supplies from Wisconsin vendors. The bill also requires that in each fiscal year, the percentage of the total amount spent on Wisconsin-based businesses may not be lower than in the past fiscal year."

Assembly Bill 2 would require almost all services purchased by the state to come from within the United States.

State Representative Bill Kramer issued the following statement to explain his votes against the two bills:

“This afternoon I voted against AB 1 and could not, in good conscience, vote for AB 2. While I support the idea of bolstering Wisconsin’s businesses, AB 1, unfortunately, does not immediately create a single job outside of government. It merely sets a goal that is already being met by local governments. It is fantasy that this bill does anything more than demagogue an issue while people are genuinely feeling the pain of the current recession.

Likewise, AB 2 is nothing more than an opportunity for Democrats who now control the State Assembly to grab headlines while providing no new opportunities to struggling families in Waukesha. It is both technically flawed and poorly targeted legislation.

It is my sincere hope that the next time Democrats make promises to the hard working people of Waukesha that they are more thoughtful and pragmatic about what legislation they propose so as to not sacrifice people’s livelihoods on the altar of political gamesmanship.”

Rep. Wood declines position of Chairman Pot-head (alleged) in legislature

State Representative Jeff Wood, arrested last night for possession of marijuana, marijuana paraphenalia, and driving while intoxicated, has decided to pass on the chairmanship of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee offered to him by the Democrats after his defection from the GOP earlier this year.

...Sheridan said in a statement today that Wood has taken full responsibility for his actions and declined the chairmanship. Sheridan said with "serious charges pending, I believe that to be the right course of action.”

No statement yet on the chairmanship from Wood or his spokesman Tommy Chong. Possibly they got the munchies and were unavailable for comment.

Assembly Republicans choose their team

Assembly Republicans picked their leadership team:

Assembly Republicans today elected Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon as minority leader and Rep. Mark Gottlieb of Port Washington as assistant minority leader.

"Our focus is going to be getting back in the majority," Fitzgerald told his colleagues.

Fitzgerald defeated Rep. Scott Newcomer of Hartland; Gottlieb beat Rep. Leah Vukmir of Wauwatosa.

Of Gottlieb, one lobbyist is said to have remarked, "No Republican should win the League of Municipalities Outstanding Legislator Award." You know, everyone liked Congressman Bob Michel, too. He spent his whole career in the minority. 38 years.

Meanwhile,

Members also elected Rep. Scott Suder of Abbotsford as caucus chairman. He defeated Rep. Mark Honadel, who made an unsuccessful run to stay on as caucus chairman.

Joel Kleefisch of Oconomowoc was voted caucus vice chairman.

And now for some really depressing news from Madison

You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you!
God damn you all to hell!
- Planet of the Apes, 1968

I eschewed the above quote for something a little more family-friendly for my column this week in the Waukesha Freeman (even under The Obama you can afford the fifty cents).

Spending Tuesday evening among the Republicans gathered at the Country Springs Hotel, I had an old song written by Freddie Mercury running through my head. "Another party’s over / and I’m left here cold sober / my baby left me for somebody new." Tuesday night was definitely a night for Republicans to be singing "My Melancholy Blues."

Somebody new. In Madison, that meant the Democrats. Voters have decided to leave the Republicans to take a walk on the liberal side (apologies to Lou Reed) and are about to experience the host of plagues I described at length, from higher taxes on everything to the dismantling of school choice. But I put the blame where it belongs.

But we can blame Republicans in part for all that is about to happen. If they had passed a constitutional amendment to limit state spending four years ago when they had the chance, much of the Democratic agenda would be impossible now. More importantly, because Republicans threw away their brand identity four years ago by not passing "TABOR" as a constitutional amendment, voters had no reason to believe there was a difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Voters are about to learn differently. But will Republicans?

Bastards.

Election night party blogging

Just a reminder. If you are home Tuesday night and following the election results, don't forget to Rep. Leah Vukmir, Todd Lohenry, some Owen guy, and me at 8:00 PM as we watch the results unfold. Should be a lot of fun tomorrow night, even as the election results might not be. I'll be at the Republican gathering at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee.

Aside from the McCain-Obama race and it's implications, the number one topic will be the control of the state assembly.

Democrats worry about healthy electoral chances instead

Remember "Healthy Wisconsin?" Even Democrat Ruth Page Jones in the 97th Assembly district is not campaigning on it. In their latest newsletter, Wisconsin Club for Growth tries to explain what happened to Healthy Wisconsin.

Jumping Ship

Healthy Wisconsin was supposed to be the centerpiece of the 2008 election. That’s why Democrats, public employee unions and other liberal special interests banded together last year to advocate for the $15 billion government run health care plan. They promoted the plan at public forums statewide and organized a campaign to get advisory referenda in support of government guaranteed healthcare on the ballot in 20 Wisconsin communities.

Healthy Wisconsin passed the Democratic State Senate on a strict party line vote last year, but as details of the plan came to light, State Senators in swing districts started backing away from the plan which was ultimately stripped from the budget by the Republican Assembly.

Both the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and The Wisconsin Legislative Council issued memoranda stating that the plan would cover illegal immigrants. People who do not work or live in Wisconsin would also qualify for coverage in many cases.

In recent weeks, candidates who previously expressed support for Healthy Wisconsin are now jumping off the bandwagon like rats from a sinking ship. As their opponents and independent issue groups educate the public about their support for the plan, these candidates have engaged in an all out effort to deny facts, destroy evidence, and discredit their critics. To that end, candidates have gone as far as to remove or alter information posted on their campaign websites, complained bitterly to the mainstream media about untrue attack ads, and tried to intimidate television and radio stations into pulling advertising from the airwaves.

See some recent examples of Assembly Democrats distancing themselves from the plan here.

It’s quite obvious Assembly candidates are jumping off the Healthy Wisconsin bandwagon in the final weeks of the election. The real question is why Assembly leaders ever allowed them to get on board in the first place. Perhaps this is why the Democrats’ buddies on the Government Accountability Board are looking to silence political speech – telling the truth about candidates’ positions on Healthy Wisconsin hurts the cause of a Democratic majority in the Assembly. Maybe issue advocacy really does affect, um, issues.

Buckel up taxpayers

The Wisconsin Club for Growth has a special report on Chris Buckel, assembly candidate in the 29th district. You might want to take a special interest in his campaign. After all, you're paying for it.

Chris Buckel repeatedly used his taxpayer-funded email account to coordinate campaign activities even after he acknowledged that using the account would likely get him in trouble.

The first series of emails is between Buckel and his campaign consultants Joey & Donny Brunner. Buckel's finance report lists a payment to Joey Brunner for website and video development.

In the second series of emails, Buckel and fellow teacher Rhonda Malecek discuss Buckel's campaign website video, clearly using their taxpayer-funded computers and internet access to view campaign videos on Youtube. Buckel indicates that he placed a call to his consultant, Joey Brunner while viewing the political material from work.

There's plenty more at the Club for Growth site.

WFA launching radio campaign to highlight out-of-state contributions

Wisconsin Family Action is launching a radio campaign to highlight the targeted out-of-state contributions first exposed here on the Wigderson Library & Pub:

Wisconsin Family Action (WCA) announced its radio ad campaign exposing significant out-of-state campaign contributions from homosexual activist donors with motives to push a pro-homosexual agenda. The radio launch targets three assembly seats which have received large sums of special interest donations that could have significant impacts on the outcome of these seats.

“When half of a candidate’s donations are coming from San Francisco, Massachusetts or Denver and the donors are strong gay rights activists, Wisconsin voters have the right to know the real values behind a candidate and question that candidate,” said Julaine K. Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action.

The three seats with the most out-of-state, pro-homosexual special interest donations are from the 57th (City of Appleton), 68th (Eau Claire), and 96th (Crawford and Vernon Counties) assembly districts in which nearly $24,500 has been given through a “virtual conduit” of out-of-state donors driven by homosexual millionaire and Quark founder Tim Gill, from Colorado.

Are out-of-state donors going to buy the Assembly for the Democrats?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the amount of out-of-state money pouring into Wisconsin's Assembly races. But what may surprise you is the source, and how Wisconsin is probably not alone in the 2008 election.

The March 2007 Atlantic Monthly told the story of Tim Gill, founder of Quark Inc., who teamed up with other wealthy homosexuals in his state of Colorado to take the legislature there after Colorado passed a law preventing special status be given to homosexuals in the law. After achieving success in Colorado, Gill's "universe of donors" expanded their giving to other states.

In 2000, he gave $300,000 in political donations, which grew to $800,000 in 2002, $5 million in 2004, and a staggering $15 million last year, almost all of it to state and local campaigns. Gill, who considers himself a “pathological introvert,” normally shuns media attention, but he agreed to meet with me in his Denver office last November, on the eve of the election, to explain what he is trying to accomplish.

“My goal is to see that all Americans are treated equally regardless of sexuality,” he told me when we met.

Gill works with Ted Trimpa, whom The Atlantic called Colorado's answer to Karl Rove.

Together, Gill and Trimpa decided to eschew national races in favor of state and local ones, which could be influenced in large batches and for much less money. Most antigay measures, they discovered, originate in state legislatures. Operating at that level gave them a chance to “punish the wicked,” as Gill puts it—to snuff out rising politicians who were building their careers on antigay policies, before they could achieve national influence. Their chief cautionary example of such a villain is Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who once compared homosexuality to “man on dog” sex (and was finally defeated last year, at a cost of more than $20 million). Santorum got his start working in the state legislature. As Gill and Trimpa looked at their evolving plan, it seemed realistic. “The strategic piece of the puzzle we’d been missing—consistent across almost every legislature we examined—is that it’s often just a handful of people, two or three, who introduce the most outrageous legislation and force the rest of their colleagues to vote on it,” Gill explained. “If you could reach these few people or neutralize them by flipping the chamber to leaders who would block bad legislation, you’d have a dramatic effect.”

Gill’s idea was to identify vulnerable candidates like Danny Carroll and move quickly to eliminate them without the burden of first having to win the consent of some risk-averse large organization or board of directors. Another element of this strategy is stealth. Revealing targets only after an election makes it impossible for them to fight back and sends a message to other politicians that attacking gays could put them in the crosshairs.

We may be seeing that effort in Wisconsin in 2008. In the 80th Assembly District, Democrat Kris Wisnefske is taking on Republican incumbent Brett Davis. Wisnefske received a substantial portion of his $500 donations (maximum allowed) from out-of-state donors, most identified with gay activism. They include:

Mel Heifetz,$500, PA Real Estate, Gay activist ; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2003_March_4/ai_98172202

·        Paul Albert, $500, previous donor to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund (http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/committees/gay-and-lesbian-victory-fund.asp?cycle )

·        Bill Lewis, $500, previous donor to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.  ("")

·        Richard Underwood, $500, previous donor to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund ("")

·        Adam Rose, $500, ("")

·        Roberta Conroy, $500, "" http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/roberta-conroy.asp?cycle   

·        William Resnick, $500, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/william-resnick.asp?cycle  

·        Weston Milliken, $500, Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/weston-milliken.asp?cycle  

·        Jared Polis, $500, openly gay candidate for congress in Colorado, IT-background, founder of Blue Mountain e-cards, as well as other companies.  http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7739308

·        Esmond Harmsworth, $500, previous donor to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund; http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/esmond-harmsworth.asp?cycle

• Mona Pittenger, $500, former advisor to Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Tulsa, Ok http://www.gillfoundation.org/usr_doc/glft_final_report_2004v1.pdf

Using those names and others, other assembly races were revealed as targeted races: 96, 94, 68, and 57.

The 96th, 94th and 68th are all in Western Wisconsin. The 57th is in Appleton, an open seat. The 80th district is in south central Wisconsin. All five races are away from the Milwaukee media market, away from talk radio and most of the state's conservative bloggers.

Penny Bernard Schaber is the Democrat in the 57th district, waiting to see who wins the three-way Republican primary.  Esmond Harmsworth not only gave $500 to her campaign, but also $500 to each of the other target races.

5/11/2008	Harmsworth, Esmond	Boston	MA	$500.00	Klemme, Dale
5/1/2008	Harmsworth, Esmond	Boston	MA	$500.00	Hancock, Cheryl
5/6/2008	Harmsworth, Esmond	Boston	MA	$500.00	Kristin Wisnefske
5/5/2008	Harmsworth, Esmond	Boston	MA	$500.00	Kristen Dexter
5/9/2008	Harmsworth, Esmond	Boston	MA	$500.00	Penny Bernard Schraber

The donors tend to stick out when all of the campaign finance reports for the state assembly are compared, provided someone is looking for the pattern. Here's the complete list of large donors that occur to more than one of the five candidates, including local contributor Leonard Sobczak.

In addition to Schraber in the 57th and Wisnefske in the 80th, Dale Klemme is taking on Lee Nerison in the 96th, Cheryl Hancock is taking on Speaker Mike Huebsch in the 94th, and Kristen Dexter is taking on Terry Mouton in the 68th.

The questions remain: why were those seats targeted, was anyone in Wisconsin working to coordinate the effort, and what actions were promised to the donors for when the Democrats get the majority in the assembly?

Assembly candidate Mike Hahn called upon by country

Republican assembly candidate Mike Hahn (45th district) will find his campaigning cut short when he is deployed to active duty on September 7th. However, he remains a candidate in the race. From the press release:

“I want to assure everyone that my campaign will continue so that after I have finished serving my country overseas, I can come home and serve the people of this district with the same commitment to duty,” Hahn said.

Hahn also announced his intention to continue campaigning until his deployment. “To highlight the issues facing our area, I will participate in at least two Town Hall Meetings in the District before I leave in September. I have sent a letter inviting Dr. Benedict to join me,” said Hahn, “In these meetings I look forward to hearing more of the concerns of the people of the Stateline Area as well as providing my vision for bringing positive change to Madison in service to the people of the 45th Assembly District.”

When asked why his campaign would continue given the current circumstances, Hahn was clear: “This summer I have talked with thousands of people in the 45th Assembly District, and their concerns must be addressed now with new ideas and common sense. The people of this district are ready for a change to dynamic and forceful representation in Madison.”

Good luck to Mike Hahn and God bless him.

Oh Sondy

The easiest way to knock off an incumbent is to face one that is not on the ballot.

"Secret Plan" Sondy Pope-Roberts only got 207 signatures (200 minimum needed). Just thought I would mention that to anyone in the Republican offices in Madison who might be reading this. No particular reason. I'm sure all 207 signatures are perfectly legible and are from residents in the district who will remember signing her papers.

7/10/08 See: Update.

At least he lives in the district

State Representative Rich Zipperer's Democratic opponent in the 98th Assembly district may live in the district, but I wonder if Zipperer's people will challenge his place on the ballot. Victor Weers only gathered 213 nomination signatures for his candidacy. The minimum needed is 200. Given the zigs and zags of the of the district line near Weers' home, I suspect it would not take much to find 14 people who signed Weers nomination papers that do not live in the district.

Two years ago Zipperer won the Republican Primary in a crowded field and then faced Democrat Sterling Lynk who did not live in the district.

see Update: 7/10/08

How many members of the League of Women Voters does it take to create a permanent Democratic majority?

Christian Schneider over at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute Blog catches the "reformers" of trying to give the Democrats an eight-seat head-start.

Translation: All districts have to be competitive, except for the ones that are majority-minority, which (rightfully) can't be touched. If you consider the six Assembly districts currently represented by minorities, then add in a couple more that could very easily be represented by minorities, you're essentially giving Assembly Democrats an eight-seat handicap going into every election. (Kessler's district probably should have a minority representative, but he was helped by his guest spot on rapper Jay-Z's last album.) The bill does nothing but rig elections to favor Democrats, pure and simple.

The first rule in studying any election system is see whom it benefits. There is no politically neutral election law.

Andrea Kaminsky at the League of Women Voters admits she doesn't understand golf, doesn't have a sense of humor, and questions Schneider's workload.

We had asked candidates if they would support and vote for legislative measures making electoral competitiveness a legal or constitutional standard for establishing state legislative and congressional district boundaries following the next census. We also asked them if they would support the creation of an independent commission to handle the task of redrawing districts after each census beginning in 2011. The alternative would be to continue to have our current legislative leaders negotiate behind closed doors, a process which ultimately costs us millions just to maintain safe districts for incumbents.

But never mind the second question, it was the question about competitive districts that grabbed Mr. Schneider’s attention. He said it was answered with the introduction of a constitutional amendment (AJR 63), which ironically none of our groups supported and which never even had a hearing. From there he concluded that the League of Women Voters does not support the Voting Rights Act, something we lobbied very hard for at the national, state and local levels. It’s confusing, but so is golf for me.

In a couple of weeks the League will again partner with Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause in Wisconsin to ask candidates to state their positions on issues that get at how to maintain a government that is honest, accountable, transparent and responsive to its citizens. We hope all candidates will respond to our questionnaire, so voters will know how where they stand on these issues and so Christian Schneider will have something to write about.

In other words, shut up until we tell the public how we're going to do this.

Christian Schneider responds by speaking slower so Kaminski understands,

...they don’t seem to make any point that refutes anything I said in the column. For the sake of clarity, let me boil it down:

When you make electoral competitiveness a standard for legislative redistricting, it is impossible to make inner-city districts competitive. Doing so would require diluting the African-American vote, a strategy of segregationists.

As a result, there are at least eight Assembly districts (and at least two Senate districts) that will be exempt from the competitiveness standard. This gives Democrats an eight-seat head start in legislative elections.

Ms. Kaminski reiterates her support for having an “independent” board drawing district lines, since the Legislature can’t be trusted to do so. In fact, the courts actually set the boundaries every decade. The Legislature generally writes their plan, then it goes to court, where judges eventually draw the lines. It has been this way in every redistricting since at least 1974.

I think Schneider got the best of the argument, even without his rebuttal. The questions Schneider didn't ask and I will, how does an unelected panel creating legislative districts an improvement over having elected representatives (you know, our voice in government) creating legislative districts? And given the volatile nature of the control of the two bodies, surely we are in an age of already competitive elections?

Of course he's keeping the money

Governor Jim Doyle is keeping the money from his fundraiser held at the height of the Wisconsin flooding crisis rather than donate the proceeds to flood victimes. Of course he would. Keeping tainted money has never been a problem for Doyle, even when he's declared the money to be tainted.

In other news, the Speaker of the Assembly will no longer introduce the Governor when he gives his "State of the State" speech in January. Instead the Speaker will just yell, "FORE!"

The governor's priorities

Does this mean that the governor's people are more afraid of losing the state senate than they are hopeful of gaining control of the state assembly?

Shouldn't the governor being mining for Republican legislators in the Assembly to create more vacancies there?

Zipperer announces

From the press release:

State Representative Rich Zipperer (R-Pewaukee) announced today that he is seeking re-election to the state Assembly from the 98th Assembly District. He was first elected to the seat in 2006 with 71% of the vote.

In making the announcement, Rep. Zipperer stated, “Two years ago I ran for the Assembly because I believed that the people of our great state, and our state’s economy, were being held back by high taxes and out-of-control government spending.” Zipperer continued, “With our state’s economy continuing to falter and the tax burden growing worse, that belief is stronger today than it was then.”

In his two years in the Assembly, Zipperer authored or coauthored a number of bills to reduce taxes and grow the economy, including retirement income tax relief, the Higher Education Tax Credit, and an across-the-board income tax cut. Zipperer took the lead on controlling wasteful spending by authoring the Earmark Transparency Act, landmark legislation that will force politicians to be accountable for their spending proposals and make it easier to stop wasteful pet projects before taxpayer money is spent. Zipperer also authored one of the few tax relief measures that became law last year, an increase in the college tuition income tax deduction.

“While I’m pleased to be able to say that I was the author of one of the only tax relief measures that became law this session, providing tax relief to families dealing with the ever increasing cost of higher education, far more needs to be done to help create jobs, grow our economy, and encourage our seniors and younger families to stay right here in Wisconsin. That will be my top priority in the next session,” concluded Zipperer.

Let me get this straight, part duh

Because the Democratic governor cut the state budget too much with his veto power, the Goldilocks in the Republican Assembly Caucus decided to attempt to override the vetoes to make the cuts just right. However, they didn't have the votes for even one veto override?

So not only is the Democratic Governor more fiscally responsible than the Assembly Republicans, now the Assembly Democrats are more responsible, too?

My head hurts.

Let me get this straight

The Republicans in the Assembly are going to try to override some of the Democratic governor's vetoes because he cut some areas of the budget too deep.

Lawmakers passed a bill earlier this month that would solve the state’s $527 million shortfall in part by ordering state agencies to cut $69 million. The bill specified school aid, the state’s road fund and the SeniorCare discount prescription drug program could not be cut.

But Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle used vetoes to increase those cuts to $270 million and make schools, roads and SeniorCare fair game for reductions.

Republican Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch says the chamber will try to override those vetoes to again protect those three areas from cuts.

Are they sniffing road tar?

Is Appleton ready for this?

While Jo Egelhoff is off campaigning for the state assembly (did I mention she's a fantastic candidate?) I'll be playing guest-blogger on Thursdays for her at FoxPolitics.net. I'm honored that she would even ask as I really admire her work and her website.

In exchange I think I'll ask Jo to support a state-wide ban on outdoor firepit regulations.

Egelhoff for Assembly

This should be fun. Blogger, FoxPolitics.net editor and former Alderman Jo Egelhoff is running for state assembly in the 57th Assembly District.

“This race is about experience; this race is about courage,” said Jo Egelhoff, 57, who announced her candidacy late Thursday. She will face Peter Stueck, an Appleton Alderman and Outagamie County supervisor, in a Sept. 9 primary. The general election is Nov. 4.

Democrat Penny Bernard Schaber, of Appleton, also is seeking the seat, which has been held by Republican Steve Wieckert since 1996. Wieckert recently announced that he is not running for re-election.

Egelhoff is no stranger to politics and government, she served on the Appleton Common Council from 1993-2003. She has been a member of the Outagamie County Republican party and has served as county chairwoman and has worked on many campaigns, including helping Wieckert win election.

And here is Jo's press release:

Jo Egelhoff Announces Intent to Run For Wisconsin Assembly District 57

Appleton, WI - "With the cost of everyday living going up as never before, jobs being lost on a daily basis, and health care and drug prices almost out of control, many of our politicians continue to spend our tax monies as if there is no problem. Well there is a problem, a serious problem, and the only way it can be solved is by having citizens step forward and run for political office and apply common sense fiscal responsibility to government spending. It really comes down to people keeping what's left of their paychecks – or continuing to turn their hard-earned dollars over to government with increased taxes, fees and assessments. One of my top priorities will be to stop the insane raiding of our pocketbooks. That's why I'm running – to represent the people and the pocketbooks of the 57th District in the Wisconsin Assembly." So said Jo Egelhoff in announcing her intention to run for the seat that will be vacated by Rep. Steve Wieckert.

Egelhoff is the owner and operator of FoxPolitics.net, a policy and politics news site for the Fox Valley and Wisconsin. She is a graduate of Iowa State University and holds a Masters degree in Finance from Claremont Graduate School. She spent 10 years on the Appleton Common Council where she spearheaded tax levy controls in Appleton - the only Wisconsin municipality to have such a spending control.

Egelhoff has served a wide variety of community groups, and currently serves on the Greater Fox Cities Habitat for Humanity and USA Youth boards.

Politically, Egelhoff has worked on many campaigns over the years, including Rep. Wieckert’s campaigns; she is considered by Wieckert to be a competent advisor and he appreciates her excellent grasp of the issues. The newly-announced candidate was a former Chairperson of the Outagamie County Republican Party and has been a member for 15 years.

Egelhoff’s husband is a Portfolio Manager with Associated Bank. They live in Appleton and have two children.

Good luck to Jo. She's a very informed and capable individual, and Appleton would do very well to pick her to represent them in Madison.

Update! Just received a note from Jo Egelhoff concerning her residency in the district:
Dave and I are now empty nesters; we moved recently to a smaller place that is closer to his work in Green Bay. And indeed, it's in the 57th.

The lesson is to ask before jumping to conclusions.

I really would have hated to bring out the moving van cartoons again.

Update 2!Blog post questioning