LETTER: LaFollette has proven election track record

To the Telegram:

Come this May, the state will participate in a re-call election of our Governor, Lt. Governor and a handful of state senators. This is a great opportunity to change the direction the state of Wisconsin is heading. There is only one candidate, in my humble opinion, that can lead Wisconsin forward. That candidate is Doug LaFollette, our current Secretary of State. Doug has proven that he can get elected statewide - numerous times, something the other Democratic candidates challenging Governor Walker have not accomplished. Mayor Barrett lost the Democratic primary for Governor in 2002 and the general election in 2010. Kathleen Falk lost the Democratic primary for Governor in 2002 and lost the Attorney General’s race in 2006. Mayor Barrett and Kathleen Falk are not bad people - they simply cannot win a statewide election. Doug has served with distinction and honor in his role as Secretary of State. Doug also comes from one of Wisconsin’s legendary families - the LaFollettes.

I served the community of Superior, on your local School Board for three years. During that time, public education has taken cuts, year after year. It is to the point where one has to examine ‘where can we cut?’ when we are to the bare bones. Let us not destroy Wisconsin’s fine public education system. Another issue that one should examine - especially in the Northland - is the mining issue from Mellen to Hurley. I will be up front, I am personally against the mining, for the simple reason it is in my family’s ‘backyard.’ My parents retired to Mellen and it is a beautiful place. I have spent many a summer vacation in and around Mellen. One cannot forget the beautiful Copper Falls State Park. My grandfather was born and raised in Mellen and my grandmother was a teacher in the Mellen School District - I fear the health impact the mining will have on residents, as well as, their wells for drinking water. Doug LaFollette, in my opinion, is the only candidate that has proven he is an environmental leader. Just visit Doug’s website and you will learn that, ‘Doug started Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade, now Clean Wisconsin, and has been fighting for local, renewable energy since the 1970’s. He helped the late Gaylord Nelson organize the first Earth Day in 1970 and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter as the assistant director to the Mid-American Solar Energy Complex.’ If the residents of Wisconsin want to keep our educational legacy intact, as well as our environmental standards in tact - than I hope you will vote for Doug LaFollette.

Joshua Christie,

Oliver

Tags: opinion, letters