Three vie to follow Bernier in 23rd

Jul. 29—EAU CLAIRE — Three Republicans are competing to fill the seat for the state's 23rd Senate District being left open by the departure of Kathy Bernier.

Current state Rep. Jesse James of Altoona, longtime Republican Party official Brian Westrate from Fall Creek and a political newcomer from Chippewa Falls, Sandra Scholz, are competing in the Aug. 9 primary.

Without any Democrats registering in time — Dan Hardy of Chippewa Falls is mounting a write-in campaign now to get his name on the Nov. 8 ballot, forcing a two-party race for the 23rd — next month's Republican primary will very likely decide who will be elected.

Incumbent Bernier, who has served the 23rd for four years after six years in the state Assembly, declared earlier this year that she would not seek reelection. The district includes all of Chippewa County, the eastern two-thirds of Eau Claire County, much of Dunn County, almost all of Clark County, and small portions of Trempealeau, Jackson, Marathon and Wood counties.

James, who went from Altoona's police chief to a state representative in 2018, cited his experience and the relationships he's made in the state Legislature as a reasons why he'd be good in the Senate.

"The formed relationships that I have created in Madison are going to be a huge benefit as I transition into the Senate," he said.

Westrate, who has campaigned for many others and held leadership positions in the county, district and state levels of the Republican Party, counted his passion for politics since the age of 10 among his biggest assets.

"I have been studying political history, American history and government literally my whole life," he said.

Scholz comes into the race without experience campaigning before, but is choosing to run first and foremost with the goal of invalidating Wisconsin's results of the 2020 presidential election.

"I am a supporter of decertifying the past election, and I feel its the right thing to do," she said.

Furthermore she believes the 2020 election should be redone in Wisconsin. Scholz acknowledges that would be a big undertaking, but feels it would get rid of fraud she believes tainted the 2020 vote.

While it wouldn't unseat President Joe Biden, Scholz said, redoing the state's election could convince other states to also take action.

James and Westrate though don't want to revisit the 2020 election, looking to move ahead while still considering ways to improve election integrity.

"Obviously it's time to move on, time to move forward," James said.

The representative said he believes there were issues with the 2020 election — which was complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic — but he has the utmost confidence that local election clerks did an amazing job under those circumstances.

There were 69 pieces of legislation introduced last session regarding election reforms, James said, and he'll continue to look at ways to improve election integrity.

Westrate acknowledges Biden as president, but also called the 2020 election "messy." The state Republican Party official accuses the political left of being behind practices including using outside money to help run elections and ballot drop boxes, which have since been struck down.

While Westrate doesn't have any specific election policy proposal, he said he opposes long periods of earlier voting, instead preferring people to vote on Election Day.

"I don't know if the convenience factor is greater than confidence in the results," he said.

Beyond their thoughts on the last presidential election, the three candidates all have signature issues that tie into their Republican beliefs and personal backgrounds.

James references his career in law enforcement — he still works part-time as a police officer in Cadott — in his drive to address drug abuse and mental health issues in the state.

Among those efforts was successfully decriminalizing fentanyl test strips used to detect the deadly drug, a bipartisan bill that he'd led. He'd also worked with the UW System to get anti-overdose medication Narcan into college dormitories, which he hopes to see expand to high schools.

Alcohol and other drug abuse often stems from emotional, behavioral and mental health issues, James said, which is also something he's been working to address through the state Legislature.

"We need to address mental health," James said.

Along with Bernier, James helped bring more state funding for mental health beds in west-central Wisconsin and he'd like to see similar services elsewhere as he believes that drug use and mental health problems affect most families.

A cornerstone of Westrate's candidacy is a belief in limited government often espoused by Republicans.

"I am a constitutional conservative — meaning the government should do the very few things the people have asked it to do because they can't do it themselves," he said. "Otherwise leave the power and money with the people so they can address their community problems within the community."

Law enforcement, building and maintaining roads, fire protection and education are among the services that Westrate sees as crucial for government to do. In other areas though, he'd rather see less government in people's lives and taking less of their money in taxes.

He listed four state departments — agriculture, public instruction, licensing and natural resources — that he feels could all be reduced and their powers scaled back.

Westrate also contends the government spent too much during the pandemic, contributing to inflation that has been especially painful to families in higher fuel and grocery costs.

"The economic malaise brought about by government intervention in the marketplace during the pandemic continues to severely harm the people," he said.

The pandemic and Scholz's background as a registered nurse — she's worked in intensive care, pre- and post-surgery and with transplant patients, but not currently practicing — helped mold her stance on freedom in health care.

"We need to let the doctors and patients come back to their own decisions on how they want to take care of themselves," she said.

A specific example of that is her opposition to hospitals' use of antiviral medication remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients, due to reports of side effects.

For Scholz, she says her belief as a Christian stands above politics and she'll ultimately look to the Bible to guide her actions in the state Legislature.

"I believe in the Lord and I'm going to do what the Bible says," she said.