Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, September 06, 2008
Beseler aims to be first independent state legislator
Paul Beseler hopes to buck the two-party system. Without the support of a party, it won’t be easy.
The Ettrick resident is one of only seven independents among the 268 candidates seeking 105 seats in the Wisconsin Legislature this fall.
“It’s very difficult” for an independent to win, said Joe Heim, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “The two parties have pretty well established themselves statutorily as well as in people’s minds. ... They’ve got little road blocks out there that make it difficult to get on the ballot.”
It has been more than 60 years since Wisconsin had a state legislator who wasn’t a Republican or Democrat. That was Sen. Fred Risser, a member of the Progressive Party and father of current Democratic lawmaker Fred A. Risser, who has represented the Madison area since 1956.
The Legislature’s history includes a smattering of Independent Party and Independent Democrat party legislators, but never an independent as we know them today, said Lauren Jackson, a research analyst for the Legislature.
That could change this year, as the list of candidates includes an incumbent who is running as an independent.
Jeffrey Wood, a three-term Assembly representative from Chetek, split with the Republican party this summer. So far he faces no opposition, although there are rumors of a write-in campaign.
Wood, who said he left his party in part because it hasn’t lived up to its promise of fiscal conservatism, said his first campaign as an independent has gone better than those as a major party candidate.
“The comments I get from people have been 100 percent positive,” he said. “I never got any kind of support like this as a Republican.”
He has the advantage of being an unchallenged incumbent, but as an independent, he doesn’t have the campaign funding he did as a party member and would have a hard time qualifying for up to $7,763 in public financing because of a rule that requires a candidate to get 6 percent of the total vote in the primary election.
Without opposition in Tuesday’s primary, Wood and Beseler are guaranteed a spot on the November ballot, but they have little chance of meeting that vote threshold.
Wisconsin residents can vote in any party primary — but they are restricted to one party. So anyone voting for an independent in one race would forego the chance to vote in a contested race.
“Nobody’s going to waste their vote on a guy who’s unopposed in the primary,” Wood said.
Major party candidates benefit from top placement on the ballot — a proven advantage, Heim said — and from an option that allows people to automatically vote a straight party line.
Beseler said restricting primary voters to a single party is unfair and something he would work to change if elected. Wood said he would push for reform as well but admits it’s nearly impossible.
Heim said Democrats and Republicans “talk a good game, but the reality is they are very comfortable with the current situation.”
Beseler applied for public campaign financing but said this week he would not seek it after learning that he could not use his own money to meet the $1,725 fundraising threshold. He said he has tried to fund his own campaign and avoided contributions from corporations.
“With that comes obligations,” he said.
The 47-year-old is a former Marine who has worked as a printer, security guard and most recently as a grocer. Like the other candidates, he lists health care, jobs and education as major issues facing the rural district, which includes Buffalo and Trempealeau counties and the town of Springfield in Jackson County. He also lists tax reform, jobs and immigration.
He said he is running to represent “people issues, not party issues"
If elected, Beseler said he would work with either party — “whoever wants to get the job done.”
Beseler will join the winners of the Democratic and Republican primary races on the November ballot, as well as Libertarian Ted Burleson, who is also unopposed in the primary.
“I have a long road ahead of me to get to Madison,” he said.
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