Gordon Hintz is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
Representative Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh), the Democratic minority leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly is calling on Republican Speaker Robin Vos to remove several legislators from their positions on the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee following a letter to Vice President Mike Pence to undermine our democracy and refuse to accept the results of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election as certified by all 50 states. The letter was sent January 5, one day before the incident at the Capitol.
“This letter calls for sedition, plain and simple,” says Rep. Hintz. “Making the same refuted claims 63 days after the election, and the day before the well-orchestrated coup led by the President, can only be viewed as part of the same dangerous threat. It should disgust all Wisconsinites that Republican state legislators attached their names to something so false and so dangerous. The words and actions of elected officials matter. The validation of baseless claims that echo President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election to stay in power contributed to the attack on our democracy.”
The letter was signed by these Republican state legislators:
- Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls)
- Rep. Rob Brooks (R-Saukville)
- Rep. Rick Gundrum (R-Slinger)
- Rep. Cody Horlacher (R-Mukwonago)
- Rep. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown)
- Rep. Gae Magnafici (R-Dresser)
- Rep. Dave Murphy (R-Greenville)
- Rep. Jeff Mursau (R-Crivitz)
- Rep. Timothy Ramthun (R-Campbellsport)
- Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin)
- Rep. Michael Schraa (R-Oshkosh)
- Rep. Shae Sortwell (R-Two Rivers)
- Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac)
- Rep. Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego)
- Sen. André Jacque (R-DePere)
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Rep. Hintz is calling for the removal of Reps. Brandtjen, Sanfelippo, Thiesfeldt and Murphy from the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee, as their decision to support overturning democracy disqualifies them from being objective decision makers in any future changes to Wisconsin election law.
“There’s still a market for that rhetoric,” says Hintz. “Even if (Trump) can’t run again, will he use his large following to undermine future democratically elected leaders, like Joe Biden, or disrupt Republicans who want to adhere to traditional democratic principles?”
Not Just a National Issue
This isn’t just an issue with politics on the national stage. Hintz points out the way Wisconsin Republicans handled the lame-duck session before Tony Evers was sworn into office, by stripping the powers of the governor and the attorney general.
“Those actions undermined democracy,” says Hintz. “Voters decided to give those people the powers of the office as they were on election day. The willingness to take steps because those members disagreed with the ones coming into power, is an attack on democracy and demonstrates a lack of respect for the system.” With a robust and honest democracy, sometimes your team wins and sometimes it loses.
Before becoming a member of the legislature, Hintz taught American National Government. One of the things he was always taught was how government is supposed to work, but he says if he taught it again, he would teach how things actually work.
“It would be one thing if it was just the president saying the election was stolen and there’s rampant voter fraud,” says Hintz. “But if you also have members of congress and state legislators echoing that, it reinforces the credibility of those arguments.”
The FBI has said the continued purporting of misinformation and questioning the validity of the election results and lying about fraud are going to lead to continued extremism. The attempted coup at the Capitol last Wednesday is evidence of that.
Looking Forward
Hintz has some insight on what it will take for the political climate to become less polarized in the future, whether that’s from those in power or voters and people in general.
“An honest recognition that our system and the results that it produces have to be more important to uphold than the outcomes,” says Hintz. “Those of us that serve in office are here for a very short time. There has to be more of a recognition by people that know better, where Patriotism and putting the country first is about maintaining rules and how things are supposed to work and not subverting that for political advantage.
This divisive and toxic political climate could be a good lesson for voters in the next election. While there may not be power to remove those contributing to undermining democracy and showing no respect for the political system, the people have the power to vote those members out. Pay attention to the names of the representatives who signed the letter to Mike Pence. Is that the type of leadership that will move Wisconsin forward?
