The following
offices are up for election in November 2014:
•
The Governor and Lieutenant Governor
•
Every State Representative
•
State Senators from odd-numbered districts
•
The State Treasurer, Attorney General and Secretary of State
•
Every member of the U.S. House of Representatives
Many of these races will have primaries, which will be held on Tuesday, August 12.
While every race is important, WEMTA is especially interested in the Secretary of State and State Treasurer races due to the important roles they play on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and recent efforts to abolish the positions.
Secretary of State
Incumbent Secretary of State Doug La Follette (D) is being challenged by State Representative Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay) and Republican Julian Bradley. Bies appears to favor abolishing the position but says he will "facilitate whichever way the legislature wants to go," which he believes will ultimately result in the office's elimination. While Bradley wants to keep and restore the duties of the office and says he would like to also move oversight of the Government Accountability Board to the Secretary of State's Office.
Bies and Bradley will face off in the August 12 Republican Primary, the winner of which will challenge Secretary of State Doug La Follette on November 4. To learn more about both Republican candidates, you can view their interviews with Wisconsin Eye below (La Follette does not have a candidate interview available at this time):
State Treasurer
Incumbent State Treasurer Kurt Schuller is not seeking re-election. As a result, the race to fill the vacant seat will have both Republican and Democratic primaries on August 12.
Democrats David Sartori and Dave Leeper will square off in the August 12 primary, as will Republicans Matt Adamczyk and Randall Melchert. A third-party candidate, Andrew Zuelke of the Constitution Party is also running for the office, but he does not appear to have a campaign website at this time.
Sartori and Leeper both support maintaining the Office of the State Treasurer. Leeper is also campaigning to create a state bank, something that Sartori does not support.
Adamczyk and Melchert disagree on the issue of eliminating the Office of the State Treasurer. The focus of Adamczyk's campaign is to eliminate the Office, which he describes as a prime example of government waste. Adamczyk promises to "work tirelessly to actually get the office eliminated." Melchert, however, believes that the position should be kept due to its ability to return money to taxpayers through the unclaimed property program and promote financial transparency within state government. Melchert would also like the management of the EdVest program to be returned to the Office of the State Treasurer.
You can view their interviews with Wisconsin Eye below:
