Two Democratic candidates, both former congressional candidates, are running in a primary for the heavily Dem 44th Assembly District seat in the Janesville area.
Ann Roe of Janesville is a small business owner and former instructor at UW-Whitewater who ran for Wisconsin’s 1st CD in 2022, but lost to U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville.
Catherine Myers is a former teacher and has served on the Janesville School Board since 2013. She ran for Wisconsin’s 1st CD in 2018, but lost in the primary.
Roe, 58, and Myers, 62, both spoke to WisPolitics.com this week about their platforms.
The winner of the primary will face Republican candidate Bruce Danielson, R-Janesville. The seat is currently held by Sue Conley, D-Janesville, but she announced she would not be seeking another term earlier this year after holding the seat since 2021.
On managing the projected $3 billion in state surplus funds at the end of the 2023-25 budget period, Roe and Myers — both with backgrounds in teaching — would like to see portions of that money go towards education.
“I would like to see portions of that surplus be redirected on a sustainable, perpetual basis to our public education system,” Roe said. “As a retired teacher and as someone who works with students today, I see the gaps in the curriculum that has been forced to adapt to such drastic underfunding.”
Roe also added she would like to see funding that was set aside in the budget to address PFAS contamination be enacted.
Myers said along with education, housing in Wisconsin is a priority for her, suggesting some of the surplus be directed there.
“We have a housing crisis in this state, and we need to be a partner with our municipalities, helping them solve that problem,” Myers said. “Helping them update zoning codes and things like that, which is costly and would help alleviate this [problem.]”
Both candidates expressed support for legalizing marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. Myers and Roe both pointed out revenue lost to Wisconsin’s neighboring states of Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan from Wisconsinites traveling outside state lines to buy marijuana. In 2023, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated Illinois collected $36 million in tax revenue from Wisconsin residents purchasing marijuana.
Roe pointed to support from Wisconsinites for marijuana legalization — this January, polling from the Marquette Law School showed 63% of Wisconsinites favored full legalization of marijuana, and 29% opposed. She also added that she believes in the health benefits of marijuana.
“I think all of us have at least one friend or relative that could really benefit from the medicinal use of marijuana,” Roe said. “At my age now, sadly, I have a whole bunch of friends suffering with chemotherapies and chronic and acute illnesses that could really benefit from access to such things.”
Myers said she would also like to see proper laws put in place to regulate marijuana in the state.
“We need to legalize it. We need to regulate it. And we also need to tax it,” Myers said. “Because we can help fund those things that are important.”
This is the first in a series of WisPolitics primary race profiles in the run-up to the Aug. 13 primary.
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