ENDORSEMENTS Assembly

Sandra Pasch Is the Best Choice on the North Shore

The 22nd Assembly District, which encompasses the North Shore suburbs and some of Milwaukee, is for tunate to have the choice of four top-notch candidates to represent them in the next leg islative session. But one candidate stands out from the rest. The Shepherd Express strongly endorses Sandra Pasch for the 22nd District. 

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Pasch, a nurse and assistant professor at Columbia College of Nursing, is a tireless advocate for those who are marginalized and misunderstood: the mentally ill. Pasch is a founding member of the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force and established the Crisis Intervention Team program in Milwaukee, which has trained more than 300 members of law enforcement to deal with those in a crisis situation due to mental illness. This has earned Pasch respect not only from the health care community and families of the mentally ill, but from law enforcement as well. It’s this sort of innova tive thinking and compassion that will make Pasch an effective progressive legisla tor in Madison.

Pasch’s background in health care makes her a fitting successor to state Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, who is now running for state Senate. The combined expertise of Wasserman, an OB/GYN, and Pasch is much needed in the Legislature, where the most critical issue in the next legislative ses sion will be health care reform. Even as a first-term legislator, Pasch can play a key role in help ing to craft the health care legislation since she under stands it from the inside and is truly concerned with its impact on consumers.

We also admire Pasch for her fighting spirit. When she slipped on ice and fractured her pelvis while knocking on doors campaigning earlier this year, she didn’t quit. While still in a wheelchair, Pasch enlisted volunteers and kids who needed summer jobs to help her canvass the district. A less-determined candidate would have called it quits, but Pasch never consid ered that an option.

While we feel that Pasch is the best choice for the 22nd District, her three Democratic challengers are also well qualified. Andy Feldman has shown a lot of enthusiasm for public policy and he has a bright future ahead of him. Guy Johnson has served Shorewood as village president very well, and his ideas about the realities of the state budget, mass transit and environmental protection are progressive and pragmatic. Dan Kohl has a strong background in business and educational reform, and he’s to be com mended for wanting to give back to the community by serving the public as a legislator. But we feel that Pasch is the best choice for the 22nd District.

To read the candidates’ responses to the Shepherd’s issue questionnaire, go to www.expressmilwaukee.com.

Leon Young for State Assembly

State Rep. Leon Young has served in the state Assembly for 16 years, but none of it while Democrats have controlled the house. Now, though, the Democrats have a good chance to gain the majority, and Young can have the opportunity to move his leg islative ideas forward. The Shepherd endorses Young and urges him to make good on the promises he’s made to his district, promises to build jobs in the com munity and increase safety. Once in the majority,

Young can use his experience as a Milwaukee police officer to develop innovative strategies to reduce crime in the city and build bridges between the com- munity and law enforcement.

Young faces some worthy challengers in the Democratic primary, but none share his support of the public schools, restrictions on building new nuclear power plants and women’s repro ductive freedom.

To read the candidates’ responses to the Shepherd’s issue questionnaire, go to www.expressmilwaukee.com.

Return Pedro Colon to the State Assembly

The South Side of Milwaukee faces many crit ical issues that can be helped by progres-sive state legislation and an effective repre sentative.

That’s why the Shepherd endors es state Rep. Pedro Colon in the 8th District. He is currently a member of the Joint Finance Committee, and as a member of that powerful committee he has helped to send Milwaukee state aid for education and law enforcement—aid that Republicans opposed. In this way, Colon has delivered for the city. In the next legislative session, with the state facing a highly strained budget, Colon will need to work even hard er to deliver on education, safety, job training and health care. His experience will be an asset to his constituents.

Colon is opposed by Laura Manriquez, a licensed practi cal nurse, and Jose Guzman. Manriquez, who serves as chairwoman of Esperanza Unida’s board of directors, has a strong passion for solving the issues of her neighbors and would-be constituents and has raised a lot of pertinent ques tions about Colon in this campaign. (Guzman did not respond to our requests to fill out our candidate question naire; he has been helped by former state Sen. Tom Reynolds’ conservative PAC.) Although Manriquez has potential as an advocate for her district, we feel that Colon is a better choice.

To read the candidates’ responses to the Shepherd’s issue ques tionnaire, go to www.expressmilwaukee.com.

Christine Sinicki Has Earned Another Term

Legislator Christine Sinicki, who currently represents the city’s South Side, St. Francis and Cudahy, should be returned to the state Assembly. Of the three candidates in the Democratic primary, Sinicki most close ly matches the 20th District’s values and positions on the main issues facing Milwaukee and the rest of the state. Sinicki’s strong stand on public edu cation and her desire to make the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program more accountable—and fairer to city tax payers—are in the city’s best interest. She will continue to advocate for more mass transit solutions, the preservation of Seminary Woods and property tax relief. Sinicki has also been a strong voice for women in the state and we expect her to push for comprehensive health care for all in the coming years.

Peter Barca Is Best for Kenosha

The Shepherd endorses longtime public servant Peter Barca for the Kenosha-based 64th Assembly District. Barca represented this dis trict with distinction between 1985 and 1993 before serving in Congress in the 1990s. As a legislator, Barca was viewed as someone with very high integrity. He has advocated for educa tion, the disabled, economic development and other issues that are important to Kenosha. If voters send Barca back to the Assembly, they would have a strong voice for the Kenosha Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) commuter rail line, business devel- opment, improved health care, affordable education and a fair er taxation system. Barca has proven that he can deliver in the past, and we’re confident that he’ll represent the district well in the future.

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