Wisconsin State Senate

Robert Cowles(R)

Lena Taylor(D)

Spencer Coggs(D)

Alberta Darling(R)

Sheldon Wasserman(D)

Sen. Darling was a co-author of SB150.

Sheldon Wasserman was part of the Assembly last session and was a co-sponsor of AB834.

Sheila Harsdorf(R)

Alison Page(D)*

Sheila flipped on us, and according to somebody who spoke with her face-to-face recently, she still supports the ban. I finally received a form-letter correspondence from her where she claims to support the ban on health and level playing field principles.

Jim Holperin(D)

I spoke with Mr. Tiffany about this issue directly, as he is in the position to take over Sen. Breske's seat and he said the magic words. He says that opposing the ban is the right thing to do. We agree.

Jim Holperin, on the other hand, was quoted in the newspapers as saying that he would support the ban.

Mark Miller(D)

 Robert Wirch(D)

Ben Bakke(R)

 Julie Lassa(D)

Fred Risser(D)

Chad Fradette(R)

Dave Hansen(D)

Dan Kapanke(R)

(on the fence)

(Who's your nanny?)

 Comments

* = contacted but no response

no * = still need to contact

Wisconsin State Assembly

Christopher Baeb(D)

Dick Skare(D)

Garey Bies(R)*

Christopher gets out two thumbs up, as he supports individual and business rights. I spoke with his campaign and was nothing but impressed with their stance. Christopher also had this to say:

"I support the organization Ban the Ban Wisconsin, and their mission of protecting the right of businesses and individuals to choose their own smoking policies. I do not advocate smoking, but I believe that government intervention on this matter will not be as beneficial as having citizens making their own decisions. I would rather educate people on the dangers of smoking than telling them what to do on private property. Many of the businesses in District 1 are small, privately-owned establishments that may be negatively affected by a smoking ban."

Dick Skare owns a restaurant and tells me it has been smoke-free since 1987 and as such he supports it state-wide. Free market? I think not.

Frank Lasee(R)

 Lee Brocher(D), Ted Zigmunt(D)

Kevin R. Garthwaite(D)

Ted supports a ban, but is more interested in a restaurant ban than a total ban. A better answer, but not perfect yet.

Lee doesn't support a ban but would support a ban if it had overwhelming support. Change his mind on this!

Kevin believes "the right to breathe clean air trumps all."

Jim Steineke(R)

Tom Nelson(D)*

Jim supports business owners' rights to run their own business as they see fit.

Gary Tauchen(R)

Leah Vukmir(R)

Tamara D. Grigsby(D)

Tim contacted us to tell us that as a bar owner Fond du Lac he is vehemently opposed to a smoking ban! According to his website, he is very pro-small business and supports less taxes and regulation of small businesses. Thumbs up!

While I don't have an "official" statement from Tamara, she lamented not passing a ban in her Spring 2008 newsletter, so we can make a logical assumption on her position.

Jon Richards(D) 

Sheldon Wasserman(D), Andy Feldman(D)

Kent Muschinske (R)

Ann Hraychuck(D)

Lauren Stephens(R)

Something to keep in mind is that Kent Muschinske actually championed a Party Resolution against the statewide ban which then became a Wisconsin GOP party platform.  He will be taking the resolution all the way to the RNC.  That's what we call ACTION!

Chris Buckel(D)

Sarah A. Bruch(D)

Kitty Rhoades(R)*

Sarah believes that a ban "promotes the 'common good for all.'"

Steve Nass(R) 

Jerome E. Schmelling(D)

Donald Friske(R)

Jerome (Jay) looks at worker safety as his number one priority.

Andy Jorgensen(D)

Brian A. Peters(R)

Tom Luetzow(R), Kent Koebke(R)

Brian believes secondhand smoke is a violation of rights. Hmm...

 Aaron Onsrud(D)

Jeff Fitzgerald(R)

Aaron wants a "level playing field" and believes that since MN and IL "successfully" passed a ban, we should too. We give him the Lemming Award.

 Joan Ballweg(R)

J A Hines(R) 

Chuck Benedict(D)

Tim McCumber(R)

Trish O'Neil(D)

Paul Fisk(D)*, Jonathon M Kelley(D), John Keating(R), Steven Pate(R), Keith Ripp(R), Erich Ruth(R), Dennis E. Hruby(I)

Trish is an RN and supports a ban for health reasons.

Tim has some great things to say! He gets two thumbs up on the issue.

Dennis Lundell(R)

Travis Tranel(R)

Phil Garthwaite(D)*, Kopp Kathy(R), David E Kuhle(R)*

Dennis has a wonderful take on the issue: "I would rather see a prohibition against smoking in Wi. if people believe that cigarettes are that harmful to people."

Travis is a firm believer in the free market and believes that the market will decide on smoking issues. Outstanding!

Tom Crofton(D)

Todd Allbaugh(R)

Darryl Teske(D)*

Craig Buswell(R)

Ed Brooks(R)

Anthony Carver(R)

Tom would sees bans as a conflict of rights and would like to see things handled at the local level and not that state.

Todd has proclaimed to the news media that he is "absolutely against" a state-wide smoking ban in Wisconsin's taverns and restaurants.

Nathan R Russell(R)

Steve Hilgenberg(D)

Nate has provided us with perhaps the best response yet! Other candidates should take note of Nate's stance and learn a thing or two!

Cecil Streeter(R)

Mike Hatch(R), Richard J Spanbauer(R)

Jeff contacted us to tell us of his campaign and that he stands FIRMLY against a ban. He has a very smart perspective on the ban and smoking, which we commend!

Gordon Hintz(D)

Steve Wieckert(R)

Penny Bernard Schaber(D)

Jo Egelhoff(R), Peter Stueck(R)

Penny supports a state-wide ban on the "level playing field" argument as well as the "reduced state health care costs" canard.

Perry Duman(D)

Mark Gottlieb(R) 

Carol J. Fischer(D), Peter W. Barca(D)

Jeff opposes the state-wide ban as well as any local bans. He believes in business owners' rights. Great!

Jeffery Cassity(R) has withdrawn.

Alex Tiahnybok(R)

John P. Steinbrink(D)

Alex does not support a ban of any kind and believes that, in general, the government should stay out of people's lives. 

Terry Moulton(R) 

Marlin Schneider(D)

Jeffrey L. Monaghan(I)

Vern Johnson(D)

Nick Milroy(D)

Bruce Meyers(D)

Mary Tripp(D)

Gary Sherman(D)

Spencer Black(D) 

John Waelti(D)

Brett Davis(R)*, Kristin Ann Wisnefske(D)

John doesn't care for smoking but supports a tavern's right to choose. We agree!

Kelda Helen Roys(D)

Justin Sargent(D)

Tim Kiefer(D)

Eric Englund(D), Peng Her(D), Michael P Ryan(D)

Justin has had family die from smoking and as such supports a ban. He also wants a "level playing field."

Tim supports a "level playing field" so everything is fair. He also wants NO exemptions.

Kelda supports a ban for the usual reasons, but also claims to be open to discussion as she claims to be a civil libertarian. Maybe somebody down there can change her mind?

Randy Koehn(D)

John Nygren(R)

Randy does not think that a ban will ever come to pass in Wisconsin.

John contacted us directly to inform us that he has always stood against a ban and will continue to do so on the basis of the impact on business and individual rights.

Dave Anderson(R)

Ted Burleson(L)

Margaret Baecker(D), Chris Danou(D)*, Jeff Hauser(D), James K Kraft(D), Tim Bice(R), Dave Hegenbarth(R)

Dave supports the free market approach and wants to allow the bar owners to make the decisions for themselves.

Ted says that "the State (or any other) government has no business telling a business owner how to run their own business! It is absolutely WRONG for one group of people to use the government as a mechanism to force their will on another group of people!"

Jeff Smith(D)

John Schiess(R), Darcy Fields(D)

Jeff has made it abundantly clear since the enactment of the Eau Claire ban that he supports a state-wide ban to level that old playing field.