He’s going to make it official tonight, but Milwaukee County Supervisor Chris Larson is challenging state Sen. Jeff Plale in the September Democratic primary. The district runs along the lakeshore, from Oak Creek to the UWM campus.
Larson is positioning himself as an accessible, grassroots-supported candidate.
“I’m running because I think the district should be represented by the people, somebody who’s fighting for individuals and not big corporations,” Larson said. “And frankly we need someone who is going to stand up as a leader in Milwaukee.”
He also noted that 80% of Plale’s campaign contributions come from outside the neighborhoods in the district.
Larson is running on a pro-transit, pro-clean energy platform, which mirrors his signature issues on the county board.
“I want to make sure that we get our transit system fixed,” Larson said, noting that the system has been in need of serious help for decades.
The governor and the state Legislature had a chance to provide a dedicated source of funding for local buses via an RTA but blew it when they mangled the original advisory referendum approved by Milwaukee County voters in November 2008, which included funding for parks, transit, cultural assets and EMS, plus property tax relief.
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Larson had helped to organize the Quality of Life Alliance, which had been the galvanizing force behind the referendum.
The bill never made it to the state Senate, so Plale didn’t vote on it.
“But he hasn’t stepped up as a leader on the issue,” Larson said.
As a result of the Legislature’s failure to act, the Milwaukee County Transit System is facing a $10 million hole and the proposed KRM commuter rail line is stalled.
Larson is also promoting the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which also failed in the state Legislature this year. Capitol watchers credit Plale with killing it in the state Senate, saying that it was too expensive (despite the Public Service Commission’s analysis saying it would save ratepayers more than $1 billion in the next decade).
Plale, by the way, was on the governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, which made the recommendations that shaped the eventual bill the bill he didn’t support.
Larson said all incumbents should be on the “the lookout” this year.
“He’s absolutely beatable,” Larson told me. “And I’m going to prove it.”
