As the November election is getting closer, the essential stepping stone for the candidates who will represent Wisconsin in Congress is almost upon us. The partisan primaries will take place on Tuesday, Aug. 11 to determine who will be the candidates facing off in November.
For voters who care about cannabis reform, here is a guide of each candidate’s expressed views on marijuana in districts where there will be a primary race.
First Congressional District
In the first district, there is only one Republican candidate, incumbent Bryan Steil, who is not an advocate for cannabis reform. The primary will oppose Democratic candidates Josh Pade and Roger Polack. Both are Wisconsin attorneys with little political experience, which makes it impossible to study their past voting records to determine their stances.
Pade does not give any indication about his stance on this issue on his website. Thankfully, Pade was a candidate in the Democratic primary for governor, during which he did talk about his position on marijuana. He said, “I’ve come out for full legalization. [...] I’ve actually talked to the governor of Colorado about this, you know, legalize it, regulate it and tax it.”
Polack, on the other hand, did not comment on marijuana at any point. When contacted by the Shepherd Express, Polack’s campaign did not answer the question.
Third Congressional District
The incumbent, Rep. Ronald “Ron” Kind, will be defending his seat against Democratic newcomer Mark Neumann in the primary.
Ron Kind commented on the topic as early as 2014, when he said, “I support legalizing medical marijuana but oppose the full legalization of recreational marijuana. As a former prosecutor, I’ve seen the negative impact that drug and alcohol addiction can have on individuals, families and communities. Colorado and Washington State have taken the lead to decriminalize marijuana. We should watch those experiments closely before deciding to legalize recreational marijuana nationally.” He also said that he believes that “using marijuana makes people dumber.” Since then, he has voted consistently in favor of cannabis reform as the current representative of the Third District.
Neumann wants total legalization. “I believe that the use and possession of marijuana should be decriminalized completely. Non-violent offenders of marijuana-related laws should be pardoned completely,” he told the Shepherd Express. He adds that the War on Drugs has been “a disaster,” drawing from his experience as a medical practitioner: “The misuse of substances that can be unhealthy for people should be addressed within the individual and public health frame, not as issues of moral depravation.” He believes that regulations such as age limits, standards for purity and quality, as well as taxation to fund substance abuse treatment, are the way forward to avoid repeating the mistakes of alcohol Prohibition.
The Republicans have two candidates in the Third District: Jessi Ebben and Derrick Van Orden. Neither of them commented on cannabis reform so far, and both declined to clarify their stance when contacted for this article. Ebben has made supporting agriculture her key promise, which probably includes hemp farming, now federally legal. However, she declared wanting to “model [her] work as a representative and legislator after Rep. Jim Jordan,” who virulently opposed marijuana at every opportunity.
Fourth Congressional District
The Fourth District might be the most difficult district to draw information from. Democratic incumbent Rep. Gwen Moore, who is running unopposed in her own party, has been a regular ally of cannabis reform. She will face one of two Republican candidates, Tim Rogers and Cindy Werner.
Rogers and Werner did not broach the topic of marijuana so far, and neither replied when asked about their stance. This is a common thread with many Republican candidates, not just in Wisconsin but across the nation, as cannabis reform is not part of the Republican platform as it is in the Democratic one. The official Republican line considers the fact that “marijuana is virtually legalized despite its illegality under federal law” to be an erosion of “the progress made over the last three decades against drug abuse.”
Fifth Congressional District
Ironically, the race in the Fifth District contradicts the point made earlier about Republican candidates opposing cannabis reform. The only Democrat in the race, Tom Palzewicz, who supports marijuana, will face one of two Republicans, Scott Fitzgerald and Clifford DeTemple.
DeTemple is outspoken about his position on marijuana: He wants to deschedule marijuana, end federal prohibition and legalize medical use. “I support the states’ rights to decide and want the federal government out. I believe that, just like alcohol, marijuana can be used responsibly, creating legal employment and reducing crime,” DeTemple told the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “I do not support automatic [expungement], but I do support review expungement comparing just possession and possession with intent to sell.”
Fitzgerald has a far more traditional position than his opponent, as he consistently opposed any attempt at reform, even using his position as state Senate Majority Leader to snuff out a bill seeking to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin a few months ago. NORML, which grade politicians on their “weed-friendliness,” gave Fitzgerald the worst possible grade, about which the organization commented, “If we could give him a worse grade, we would.”
Sixth Congressional District
The Sixth District’s incumbent representative, Rep. Glenn Grothman, is running unopposed in the Republican Party. Grothman is one of Wisconsin’s most rabid anti-marijuana politicians, known for co-sponsoring the “No Welfare for Weed Act” and for wrongly claiming that legal marijuana causes homelessness. Facing him are three Democrats who all came out in support of cannabis reform: Jessica King, Michael Beardsley and Matthew Boor.
King includes descheduling cannabis as an important part of her platform, and she wants to legalize medical marijuana. “I believe states should be able to craft the legislation that allows for personal possession and private use for those over the age of 21. I believe states should have the ability to tax and regulate cultivators,” she declared.
Beardsley goes significantly farther than King by supporting full legalization for recreational use, as well as the automatic expungement of past marijuana convictions. He dedicates an entire section of his program to cannabis reform, pledging to join the Congressional Cannabis Caucus if elected.
Of the three Democrats in the race, Matthew Boor might be the most dedicated to cannabis reform, going so far as to make the federal and total legalization of marijuana one of the three key priorities of his campaign. Like Beardsley, he pledged to immediately join the Cannabis Caucus and to go above and beyond to champion reform.
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