MADISON, Wis. — It was not just a big Inauguration Day for Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Twelve first-time state assembly members from Southeast Wisconsin were sworn in on Tuesday. Four of them have never dipped their toes into politics before.
This includes three Republicans who touted their background in business: Jerry O’Connor of Fond du Lac, Scott Johnson of Jefferson, and 46-year-old Sheboygan family businesswoman and paralegal Amy Binsfeld.
Binsfeld said, “To be honest, it’s always been a childhood dream.”
Representative Darrin Madison of Milwaukee is just 25 years old. He ran as a Democratic Socialist, hoping to make the cost of public colleges and universities free.
“I'm hoping to help and extend that fight,” Madison said.
Meanwhile, Republican Representative Binsfeld says she hopes to focus on supporting small businesses in her first term. She adds that she would like to improve literacy rates and what is taught in public schools, particularly LGBTQ curriculum.
“I do feel we have to keep holding together traditional family and understanding that's not wrong to do that," Binsfeld said. "I'm afraid our schools may be promoting it as such and I wanna make sure that doesn't happen.”
Despite their differences, the one thing they do have in common is hope they can find common ground to serve all of us.
The term for state assembly members is two years.