Madison Ald. Nasra Wehelie is challenging incumbent state Rep. Mike Bare in the 80th AD Dem primary, but she’ll have to overcome endorsements of the freshman lawmaker from top state officeholders.
Bare, D-Verona, is the current representative for the 80th AD and is the owner of The Biergarten at Olbrich Park. Bare worked as an aide for former Dem U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and is endorsed by Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, among others.
Wehelie has been the District 4 alder since 2020. Wehelie is endorsed by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Fitchburg Mayor Julia Arata-Fratta and former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, among others. Wehelie would be the first female Somali and Muslim state representative in Wisconsin.
Bare, 53, and Wehelie, 54, spoke to WisPolitics about their platforms.
The winner of the primary will face GOP candidate Robert Relph of Cross Plains, who is running unopposed. Bare was drawn into the 80th AD with Rep. Alex Joers, D-Middleton, but Joers is moving to the neighboring 81st to run in that open seat. Joers endorsed Bare for the 80th AD seat. The 80th AD is 73% Dem and includes the city of Verona and village of Cross Plains, as well as parts of west Madison.
On managing the projected $3 billion in state surplus funds at the end of the 2023-25 budget period Wehelie said she would like to see the money go toward funding public education.
“One of the key things in my experience as an immigrant is we look up to America,” Wehelie said. “But our education system is lacking behind because we’re not putting in the resources that we need. I think putting more resources in our public schools is very critical. And I’m sure taxpayers will understand that putting money into education is a very important sacrifice.”
Wehelie added she would like to see more funding go toward the Universities of Wisconsin so it can be a “competitive, world-class university.”
Bare said the money could be used for more than one thing, considering there is so much of it.
Bare said Republicans have been set on tax cuts and shrinking the brackets to benefit the very rich, but he would like to think beyond that. Bare was the lead author of bills to increase the earned income tax credit and to increase the homestead tax credit, which have both seen bipartisan support in the past.
Bare also said voters in his district will have referendums on their ballots this fall to increase their property taxes to support schools and local government.
“It just doesn’t necessarily make sense that they’re being asked to do that when someone’s already sitting on their tax dollars that could be used for the purposes that they’re going to be asked to raise their taxes for,” Bare said.
The GOP-controlled Legislature has passed several bills seeking to ban transgender athletes from playing girls sports, but Evers has vetoed those efforts. Bare said he supports Evers and the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Transgender Participation Policy.
“No one’s been able to show me any examples of competition that’s gone awry because we don’t know who’s competing in what lane,” Bare said. “I don’t see this as an issue that is something that is real beyond it being the wedge that Republicans are trying to use to drive between voters.”
Wehelie said she also supports Evers’ vetoes.
“The government should not have a place in terms of imposing religious beliefs onto the individual,” Wehelie said.
In addition:
- Both candidates support eliminating Wisconsin’s 20-week abortion ban. Bare is also a member of Men4Choice, a group for men advocating for abortion access, and is endorsed by Planned Parenthood.
- Both candidates support full legalization of marijuana.
- Neither candidate supports 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.
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