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2010 Wisconsin Candidate Ratings Released

| October 28, 2010 | 2 Comments

A Few Questions…

What if politicians could be objectively evaluated on their views of guns and gun issues and on their actual votes, without the usual bias associated with gun lobbies trying to get — and keep — a seat at the politician’s table?

What if the gun lobby could honestly rank a candidate based on his or her actual performance, rather than using rankings as favors or the proverbial carrot-in-front-of-the-nose as is the case by so many establishment groups — groups who believe heaping praise on a candidate before they’ve earned it will “lure” a politician into favoring a group or its issues?

What if the gun lobby could publish these ratings without fear of angering politicians — because it’s our view that the politicians work for us, not the other way around?

About These Ratings

These ratings do not imply endorsement of or opposition to candidates. Those candidates who earned “A” ratings  may be downgraded over time if they become obstinate — or upgraded if there is improvement, though the path down is much faster than the path up. These ratings are not designed to be a “voter’s guide.” All candidates for the Wisconsin legislature and congress are surveyed in July following the registration deadline, giving every candidate, regardless of party, equal opportunity and time to respond. All candidates are informed in writing that a failure to respond results in an automatic failing grade (F). However, completing the candidate survey satisfactorily will not guarantee the candidate a favorable ranking. Voting record and attitude are also taken into account and duly punished where applicable.

Click here to download the 2010 Candidate Survey

Why Are We So Harsh?

We’re not any more harsh in our grading curve than second-grade teachers who fail students who don’t turn in their homework. Politicians are behaving badly, like spoiled children. Over time, they’ve learned they can get away with playing both sides and still garner gun owner support. This misbehavior has become normalized because the groups who rely on these politicians for fund-raising feel they need to provide political cover, which creates a vicious cycle (How many times have we seen a politician pull out the “I’m NRA A-Rated!” excuse?). The proper question to ask is, Why is the institutional gun lobby using ratings to buy access — versus as a measurable standard? Furthermore, why is the status quo so lax in rating candidates, given how these very same candidates have ravished our gun rights over time with impunity? The WGO Candidate Survey and Ratings solve these issues at the root of the problem by bringing accountability to the underlying causes. Not hindered by the pressure of trying to please candidates for favors (crumbs, actually), WGO’s inherent posture gives gun owners a powerful platform from which to begin accurately evaluating performance. If you don’t know how anti-gun politicians really are, you simply won’t react as if anything’s wrong. Now you can.

Action

If your representative earned an F, or didn’t return their survey, we urge you to click on your candidate’s name, which will take you to their webpage where you can find contact information. Call and write your representative and ask them why they couldn’t fill out a simple questionnaire about their views on the Second Amendment. Ask them what excuse they have for not returning the WGO Survey.

Who Are My Legislators? Click Here

2010 Wisconsin Candidate Ratings

Office District Name Party Rating Survey
Attorney General WI Scott Hassett D F Yes
Attorney General WI J.B. Van Holland R F No
Governor WI Tom Barrett D F No
Governor WI James James I F No
Governor WI Jim Langer I F No
Governor WI Scott Walker R F No
Lieutenant Governor WI Tom Nelson D F No
Lieutenant Governor WI Terry Virgil L A Yes
Lieutenant Governor WI Rebecca Kleefisch R F No
Secretary of State WI Doug La Follette D F No
Secretary of State WI David D King R F No
State Treasurer WI Dawn Marie Sass D F No
State Treasurer WI Kurt Schuller R F No
US Senate WI Russ Feingold D F No
US Senate WI Rob Taylor I A Yes
US Senate WI Ron Johnson R F No
US Representative 1 John Heckenlively D F No
US Representative 1 Joseph Kexel L F No
US Representative 1 Paul Ryan R F No
US Representative 2 Tammy Baldwin D F No
US Representative 2 Chad Lee R F No
US Representative 3 Ron Kind D F No
US Representative 3 Michael Krsiean I F No
US Representative 3 Dan Kapanke R F No
US Representative 4 Gwen Moore D F No
US Representative 4 Eddie Ahmad Ayyash I F No
US Representative 4 Dan Sebring R F Yes
US Representative 5 Todd Kolossso D F No
US Representative 5 Robert R. Raymond I F No
US Representative 5 James Sensenbrenner Jr. R F No
US Representative 6 Joseph Kallas D F No
US Representative 6 Tom Petri R F No
US Representative 7 Julie M. Lassa D F No
US Representative 7 Gary Kauther I A Yes
US Representative 7 Sean Duffy R F No
US Representative 8 Steve Kagen D F No
US Representative 8 Reid J. Ribble R A Yes
State Senate 1 Monk Elmer D F No
State Senate 1 Frank Lasee R F No
State Senate 3 Tim Carpenter D F No
State Senate 3 Annette Krznarich R F No
State Senate 5 Jim Sullivan D F No
State Senate 5 Leah Vukmir R F No
State Senate 7 Chris Larson D F No
State Senate 7 Jess Ripp R F No
State Senate 9 Jason Borden D F No
State Senate 9 Joseph Leibham R F No
State Senate 11 LD Rockwell D F No
State Senate 11 Neal Kedzie R F No
State Senate 13 Dwayne Block D F No
State Senate 13 Vittorio Spadaro I F Yes
State Senate 13 Scott Fitzgerald R F No
State Senate 15 Tim Cullen D F No
State Senate 15 Rick Richard R F No
State Senate 17 Carol Beals D F No
State Senate 17 Dale Schultz R F No
State Senate 19 Michael Ellis R F No
State Senate 21 John Lehman D F No
State Senate 21 Van Wanggaard R F No
State Senate 23 Pat Kreitlow D F No
State Senate 23 Terry Moulton R F No
State Senate 25 Robert Jauch D F No
State Senate 25 Dane Deutsch R F No
State Senate 27 Jon Erpanbach D F No
State Senate 27 Kurt Schlicht R F No
State Senate 29 Russ Decker D F No
State Senate 29 Pam Galloway R B No
State Senate 31 Kathleen Vinehout D F No
State Senate 31 Ed Thompson R F No
State Senate 32 Rich Zipperer R F No
Assembly 1 Richard Skare D F No
Assembly 1 Garey D Bies R F No
Assembly 2 Ted Zigmundt D F No
Assembly 2 Andre Jacque R F No
Assembly 3 Al Ott R F No
Assembly 4 Sam Dunlop D F No
Assembly 4 Brad Sauer I F No
Assembly 4 Chad Weininger R F No
Assembly 5 Mert Summers D F No
Assembly 5 Jim Steineke R F No
Assembly 6 Gary Tauchen R F No
Assembly 7 Peggy Krusick D F No
Assembly 7 Brad Sponholz R A Yes
Assembly 8 JoCasta Zamarripa D F No
Assembly 8 Ramona Rivas I F No
Assembly 9 Josh Zepnick D F No
Assembly 10 Elizabeth Coggs D F No
Assembly 10 Ieshuh Griffin I F Yes
Assembly 11 Jason Fields D F No
Assembly 12 Frederick P. Kessler D F No
Assembly 12 Sam Hagedorn R F Yes
Assembly 13 Lisa R. Becker C A Yes
Assembly 13 David Cullen D F No
Assembly 14 Dale Kooyenga R F No
Assembly 15 Tony Staskunas D F No
Assembly 15 Ronald Reiboldt R F No
Assembly 16 Leon D. Young D F No
Assembly 17 Barbara L.Toles D F No
Assembly 18 Tamara D. Grigsby D F No
Assembly 19 Jon Richards D F No
Assembly 19 Krista Burns R F Yes
Assembly 20 Christine M. Sinicki D F No
Assembly 20 Molly McGartland R F No
Assembly 21 Tom Michalski D F No
Assembly 21 Mark Honadel R F No
Assembly 22 Sandy Pasch D F No
Assembly 22 Paul Pedersen R F No
Assembly 23 Jim Ott R F No
Assembly 24 Dustin James Klein D F No
Assembly 24 Dan Knodl R F No
Assembly 25 Kerry Trask D F No
Assembly 25 Andrew Wisniewski R F No
Assembly 25 Bob Zeigelbauer I F No
Assembly 26 Terry Van Akkeren D F No
Assembly 26 Job Hou-Seye I B Yes
Assembly 26 Mike Endsley R F No
Assembly 27 Jack Lechler I F No
Assembly 27 Steve Kestell R F No
Assembly 28 Amy Hraychuck D F No
Assembly 28 Erik Severson R F No
Assembly 29 Liz Jones D F No
Assembly 29 John Murtha R F No
Assembly 30 Matt Borup D F No
Assembly 30 Dean Knudson R B Yes
Assembly 31 Leroy Watson L A Yes
Assembly 31 Steve Nass R F No
Assembly 32 Doug A. Harrod D F Yes
Assembly 32 Rick Pappas I F No
Assembly 32 Tyler August R B Yes
Assembly 32 Daniel Kilkenny I F No
Assembly 33 Chris Kapenga R F No
Assembly 34 Merlin Van Buren D F No
Assembly 34 Wil Losch L F No
Assembly 34 Dan Meyer R F No
Assembly 35 Jay Schmelling D F No
Assembly 35 Tom Tiffany R F No
Assembly 36 Anne Woznicki D F No
Assembly 36 Jeffrey Mursau R F No
Assembly 37 Andy Jorgensen D F No
Assembly 37 Vicki Milbrath R F No
Assembly 38 Dick Pas D F No
Assembly 38 Joel Kleefisch R F No
Assembly 39 Jeff Fitzgerald R F No
Assembly 40 Kevin David Petersen R F No
Assembly 40 Jon Baltmanis D F No
Assembly 41 Scott Milheiser D F No
Assembly 41 Jay Selthofner I F No
Assembly 41 Joan A. Ballweg R F No
Assembly 42 Fred Clark D F No
Assembly 42 Jack Cummings R F Yes
Assembly 43 Kim Hixson D F No
Assembly 43 Evan Wynn R F No
Assembly 44 Mike Sheridan D F No
Assembly 44 Joe Knilans R F No
Assembly 45 Roger Anclam D F No
Assembly 45 Amy Loudenbeck R F No
Assembly 46 Gary Hebl D F No
Assembly 46 Kathy Maves R F No
Assembly 47 Trish O’Neil D F No
Assembly 47 Kieth Ripp R F No
Assembly 48 Joseph T. Parisi D F No
Assembly 48 Grant Gilbertson I F No
Assembly 48 Spencer Zimmerman R F No
Assembly 49 Phil Garthwaite D F No
Assembly 49 Travis Tranel R F No
Assembly 50 Sarah Shanahan D F No
Assembly 50 Ben Olson III L A Yes
Assembly 50 Ed Brooks R F No
Assembly 51 John Simonson D F No
Assembly 51 Howard Marklein R F No
Assembly 52 Paul Czisny D F No
Assembly 52 Jeremy Theisfeldt R F No
Assembly 53 Richard J. Spanbauer D F No
Assembly 54 Gordon Hintz D F No
Assembly 54 Jonathan Krause R F No
Assembly 55 Dean R. Kaufert R F No
Assembly 56 Michelle Litjens R A Yes
Assembly 57 Penny Bernard Schaber D F No
Assembly 57 Chris Hansen R F Yes
Assembly 58 Pat Strachota R F No
Assembly 59 Daniel R. LeMahieu R F No
Assembly 60 Mark Gottlieb R F No
Assembly 61 Robert Turner D F No
Assembly 61 George Meyers L F No
Assembly 62 Cory Mason D F No
Assembly 62 Chris Wright R F No
Assembly 62 Tony Decubellis L F No
Assembly 63 Robin J. Vos R F No
Assembly 64 Peter W. Barca D F No
Assembly 64 Daane Hoffman L F No
Assembly 65 John Steinbrink D F No
Assembly 66 Steven Brown D F Yes
Assembly 66 Samantha Kerkman R F No
Assembly 67 C.W. King D F No
Assembly 67 Thomas Lange I F No
Assembly 67 Tom Larson R F No
Assembly 68 Kristen Dexter D F No
Assembly 68 Kathy Bernier R F No
Assembly 69 Scott Suder R F No
Assembly 70 Amy Sue Vruwink D F No
Assembly 70 John Spiros R F No
Assembly 71 Louis Molepske Jr. D F No
Assembly 71 Bob Scovil R F No
Assembly 72 Marlin D. Schneider D F No
Assembly 72 Thad Kubisak I F Yes
Assembly 72 Scott Krug R A Yes
Assembly 73 Nick Milroy D F No
Assembly 73 Bonnie Baker R F No
Assembly 74 Janet Bewley D F No
Assembly 74 Shril LaBarre R F No
Assembly 75 Steve Perala D F No
Assembly 75 Roger Rivard R F No
Assembly 76 Terese Berceau D F No
Assembly 76 Torrey Jaeckle I F No
Assembly 77 Brett Hulsey D F No
Assembly 77 David Olsen I F No
Assembly 77 David Redick R A Yes
Assembly 77 Ben Manski W F No
Assembly 78 Mark Pocan D F No
Assembly 79 Sondy Pope Roberts D F No
Assembly 79 Tom Clauder R F No
Assembly 80 Janis Ringhand D F No
Assembly 80 Dan Henke R F No
Assembly 81 Kelda Helen Roys D F No
Assembly 82 Jeff Stone R F No
Assembly 83 Aaron Robertson D F Yes
Assembly 83 Scott Gunderson R F No
Assembly 84 Don Vanpool D F No
Assembly 84 Mike Kuglitsch R F No
Assembly 85 Donna Seidel D F No
Assembly 85 Jim Mass L A Yes
Assembly 85 Charles Eno R F Yes
Assembly 86 Todd Punke D F No
Assembly 86 Frederick Melms I F No
Assembly 86 Jerry Petrowski R F No
Assembly 87 Dana Schultz D F No
Assembly 87 Frank Rutherford I F Yes
Assembly 87 Mary Williams R F No
Assembly 88 Jim Soletski D F No
Assembly 88 John Klenke R F No
Assembly 89 Bob Orwig D F No
Assembly 89 John Nygren R F No
Assembly 90 Lou Ann Weix D F No
Assembly 90 Karl Van Roy R F No
Assembly 91 Chris Danou D F No
Assembly 91 Bill Ingram R F No
Assembly 92 Mark A. Radcliffe D F No
Assembly 92 Dennis Clinard R F No
Assembly 93 Jeff Smith D F No
Assembly 93 Warren Petryk R F No
Assembly 94 Cheryl Hancock D F No
Assembly 94 Mike Huebsch R F No
Assembly 95 Jennifer Shilling D F No
Assembly 95 Nick Charles R F No
Assembly 96 Brian Murphy D F No
Assembly 96 Lee Nerison R F No
Assembly 97 Dawn Caruss D F No
Assembly 97 Bill Kramer R F Yes
Assembly 98 Victor Weers D F No
Assembly 98 Paul Farrow R F No
Assembly 99 Tom Hibbard D F No
Assembly 99 Don Pridemore R B No

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Category: Featured, News & Alerts, Past Candidate Surveys

About the Author ()

Corey Graff is the executive director of Wisconsin Gun Owners, Inc. (WGO), a pro-gun activist, and a lifelong gun owner from Wisconsin.

Comments (2)

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  1. Glad to be included with an “A” Rating in the Primary, wish I had been the nominee, there is much we need to do, and much we will still do come what may tomorrow. Glad to see Scott Krug and Michelle Litjens get “A” ratings too, proud of them and Jim Maas too and Tyler August and my friend Job Hou-Seye and Lisa and Brad too, all of you Few and Brave.

  2. Scott Ide says:

    I voted republican this year,with the expectation we would see a concealed carry permit in this state,My wife and i both carry Fla.permits and at 75 yrs old,one can travel in those states where legal,with some peace of mind,the shame is this state where i was born and still live is one of the last 2 hold outs,ive heard all the arguements,they don’t fly in the face of statistics,PASS ONE,Scott Ide

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