The three Republican candidates for the 75th AD primary in western Wisconsin differ on abortion, marijuana and the results of the 2020 election.
Duke Tucker of Grantsburg serves on the Burnett County Board and is the operations manager of Grantsburg Telcom. Neil Kline of Osceola is the executive director of Family Friendly Workplaces and worked for former GOP state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf. Jay Calhoun of Luck works in a small machine shop in Luck.
Tucker, 53, Kline, 28, and Calhoun, 54, spoke to WisPolitics about their platforms.
The winner of the primary will face Dem candidate Jane Kleiss of St. Croix Falls, who is running unopposed. Rep. Gae Magnafici, R-Dresser, currently holds the seat but is not seeking reelection. Instead, Magnafici endorsed Tucker. The 75th AD is 64% GOP and comprises all of Polk County and most of Burnett County.
The three candidates differed on whether they thought Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Calhoun said he did not, while Kline said he did. Tucker said it was “outside the realm” of his expertise.
“He certainly got more votes,” Tucker said. “I can’t tell you whether I think the votes were all valid or not. They certainly had more votes.”
Both Calhoun and Tucker said they support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. Kline was more hesitant, and said he is still in a “listening mode,” specifically to concerns from law enforcement partners.
“I am not saying yes to [medical marijuana legalization] by any means,” Kline said. “I’m predisposed against both, but I’m open to conversations to learn more about what that may look like.”
On recreational marijuana legalization, Tucker said he is open to the idea.
“I think there’s a lot of work to be done there to figure out how to test for people that are operating under the influence and all those sorts of things,” Tucker said.
Calhoun said he is against recreational marijuana legalization because of his personal experience, but it is up to the people in his district to decide.
“I had a lot of friends who got into marijuana when they were in school, and they all kinda just turned really dumb,” Calhoun said. “But like the abortion issue, it is ultimately up to the people in the district.”
Calhoun is in favor of a stricter measure than Wisconsin’s current 20-week ban on abortion, but said the decision is up to his constituents.
“My view is that any abortion is ending a life at any time, so I’m not in favor of abortion at all,” Calhoun said. “I’m 100% pro-life. However, my campaign is based on bringing us back to the founding principles all the way back to how our founders intended our government to run, which means that it’s actually the people who are making the decisions, not me.”
Kline said he would like to see a stricter measure than the 20-week ban.
“I am personally pro-life and believe that we need to reduce the number of abortions in the state,” Kline said. “I think we’re going to have to work out what that looks like.”
Tucker said he would like to make the abortion ban “a little stricter” than 20 weeks.
“When I look at abortion in general, I think there needs to be some exceptions like rape, incest and the life of the mother, those sort of things,” Tucker said.
In addition:
- All candidates support GOP efforts seeking to ban transgender athletes from playing girls sports.
- All three candidates support GOP efforts to reduce or eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion positions in state government, including at the University of Wisconsin.
This is a continuation of a series of WisPolitics interviews with Assembly primary candidates. The primary is Tuesday.
