The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
For those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting out on the campaign trail, my name is Mark Becker, and I’m running to represent you in the Wisconsin State Senate. I am a small business owner, husband, father, and lifelong resident of Northeast Wisconsin. I’m also the former chairman of the Brown County Republican Party.
My family’s roots here run deep. My family was among the first settlers in Thiry Daems. One of my ancestors was the first postmaster in the area. My grandfather taught band at Luxemburg-Casco Middle School for decades and founded the Luxemburg-Casco Community Band. Years later, I had the privilege of playing in that same band myself. Service to this community has been part of my family’s story for generations. I’d like to continue it.
I’m running as an independent for the Wisconsin State Senate because I have always believed that there is more that unites us than divides us, and that our elected leaders should reflect that fact. Yet, somewhere along the way, politics became a blood sport where our elected leaders spend all of their time fighting for attention and dominating their opponents instead of improving the lives of their constituents. Instead of building community and focusing on the issues that are most important to our state, today’s politicians are focused on dividing us for their own political gain. That’s not how we live our lives here in Northeast Wisconsin.
We’re independent people. We think for ourselves. We can disagree with someone without hating them. We help our neighbors. And when there’s a problem, we care a lot more about fixing it than we do about which side gets the credit. If you asked me, our state government could use a whole lot more of that type of leadership.
Our campaign motto is “People over Politics.” It isn’t something we came up with because it looked good on a yard sign or a bracelet (although we do have those), but because it encapsulates my entire approach to governance. I believe that we should ground all of our decisions in how they will affect the lives of the people of Northeast Wisconsin, because that’s the job.
That message has been important to me long before I ever thought about running for the State Senate. For almost two decades in my service to our community in so many different ways, I’ve put people first. As a community business leader, my shop paid for see-through backpacks when the Green Bay School District mandated them in 2025. As a former Brown County supervisor, I fought to pass the ‘ban the box’ initiative that held back so many formerly incarcerated individuals from finding meaningful employment. As a local political leader, I’ve fought against the idea that everything must be viewed through a political lens. And I’ve watched the extremes push us further apart. I’ve seen us lose sight of the humanity in each other, and it is tragic.
Meanwhile, people are getting squeezed in just about every part of their lives. It’s the price of a home. The utility bill. A tank of gas. Groceries for the family. Insurance. Diesel for the farm equipment. Even something as simple as figuring out which streaming services your family can afford to keep every month. It feels like everybody wants another piece of your paycheck, and there’s less and less left when the month is over. People need some help.
But we aren’t going to get it from two political parties that spend more time fighting each other than they do actually solving problems. While they’re busy trying to score political points, regular people are trying to figure out how to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on and still have enough left to give their kids a good life. We can do better than that.
I’m running as an independent because, as I so often say, I don’t care where a good idea comes from, as long as it helps people. If Republicans have a good idea, I’ll work with them. If Democrats have a good idea, I’ll work with them. And when I think either side is wrong, I’ll say so. That shouldn’t be a radical idea. Around here, it really isn’t. If elected, I would be the first Independent to serve in the Wisconsin State Senate in more than 135 years. That’s something I’d be incredibly proud of. But making history isn’t why I’m doing this. I’m doing it because this is home. My family has served this community for generations. And I want to do my part to leave this place a little better than I found it.
It’s time to build a government that acts a little more like the people of Northeast Wisconsin: work together, think for ourselves, and do whatever we can to improve the lives of our neighbors.
People over Politics. Forward.
Mark Becker is an independent candidate for Wisconsin’s 1st Senate District.
