Four-term state Rep. Joel Kitchens is facing a rematch as he seeks to retain his seat for Wisconsin's 1st Assembly district seat in the Nov. 8 election.
Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, is being challenged by Roberta Thelen, a Baileys Harbor town supervisor who ran as an independent candidate as Kitchens' only registered opponent in the 2018 election but is running as a Democrat this year. Kitchens defeated Thelen with 68.4% of the vote in that 2018 race.
Kitchens beat Milt Swagel with more than 77% of the vote to win a GOP primary race for the Assembly in August. It was the district's first primary since 2014, when Kitchens won his first term.
The Advocate and Star-News asked each candidate to fill out a questionnaire before the primary explaining why they are running and their positions on issues. Some responses were lightly edited for clarity.
Terms in the State Assembly are for two yearsDistrict 1 covers all of Door and Kewaunee counties and the towns of Scott, Humboldt, Eaton and Green Bay in northeastern Brown County. For information about registering to vote and polling locations, contact your local municipal clerk or visit the MyVote Wisconsin website at myvote.wi.gov/en-us.
Address: 1117 Cove Road, Sturgeon Bay
Current occupation: Legislator; retired large animal veterinarian
Highest education level: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; Bachelor of Science degree
Political and public service experience: State Assembly representative for 8 years; Sturgeon Bay School Board for 14 years, 13 as president; board member, Door County Medical Center.
How can people contact you? 920-743-7990; joelkitchens1@gmail.com
Address: 7817 Red Cherry Road, Baileys Harbor
Current occupation: Registered Nurse, Care Coordinator at Scandia Village in Sister Bay
Highest education level: Bachelor of Science degree in bioagricultural science
Political and public service experience: Town Supervisor in Baileys Harbor for the past 14 years, where I have been instrumental in establishing the Green Site for recycling, a community garden project, and various projects with the Baileys Harbor Historical Society and the Baileys Harbor Community Association. In the community I have supported Door County Relay for Life, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, Habitat for Humanity, The Ridges Sanctuary, and many outreach programs through St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay.
How can people contact you? 920-495-0890; robertaliskathelen@gmail.com
Kitchens: I am running for reelection because it is an opportunity to repay my community for its kindness. I believe I have been very effective in addressing the issues that are important to this area in Madison, but there is more that I would like to accomplish.
Thelen: I am running for office because I care deeply about the future of the 1st Assembly District and the State of Wisconsin. To protect the integrity of the vote and to preserve democracy, voters deserve the opportunity to choose between two candidates with different ideas and priorities for our future. Also, I love living in Baileys Harbor and knowing I have ancestors in the area going back to my great-grandparents, who had a farm in West Kewaunee.
Kitchens: My broad background and intellectual curiosity make me well qualified for this position. I am a business owner with extensive experience in education, agriculture and environmental issues. I have the communication skills necessary to effectively advocate for our area and to discuss issues with people on both sides.
Thelen: As a legislator, I would immediately work to address climate change and global warming, defend women’s rights to make their own health care decisions, and support our agriculture and manufacturing to become more sustainable, environmentally and financially. I would also fight for universal health care and excellence in education.
Kitchens: The most pressing issue facing our state is inflation. It was caused primarily by federal government overspending and policies on both the state and federal levels that exacerbated the worker shortage by encouraging people to not return to the workplace after the pandemic.
I support the ideas in the Stronger Workforce Initiative, which was vetoed by the governor. Adopting legislation such as this is vital to make easier for people to reenter the workforce while reducing fraud in the unemployment system.
Thelen: We need to protect our environment. We’re arguing about whether we really want clean air and water. What must our children think of us? We could do so much more to generate power in clean and renewable ways. We could revolutionize our agricultural systems, securing a sustainable food supply while ensuring future generations have clean water to drink and air to breathe. And meeting these challenges would only benefit our economy, creating new jobs in the industries of the future.
Kitchens: I believe that we should amend our law to include exceptions for rape and incest.
My focus in the Legislature has been on preventing women from having to face the decision to abort. I plan to reintroduce my bill to allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control, which has been proven to reduce unplanned pregnancy and abortions. Furthermore, it is overwhelmingly supported by the medical community.
Additionally, I supported spending some of our federal ARPA money to improve services at pregnancy resource centers.
Thelen: Absolutely. Women should have the right to control their own bodies and make their own health care decisions. Full stop.
Kitchens: I support further research into the precise impacts of climate change in Wisconsin and what can be done to mitigate those impacts. Clearly, we have no choice but to deal with it.
In the long term, I support policies that encourage the transition to renewable energy, so long as they do not cripple our businesses or put an undue burden on taxpayers. It is important that our federal government works to build worldwide agreements. It does no good if we unilaterally put restrictions on our businesses and they then simply move their plants to countries with more lax regulations.
Thelen: Climate change is a global problem that requires global solutions. That said, we can do plenty at the state level to secure a healthy and safe future for our children and grandchildren. We can support clean and sustainable agriculture that reduces the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. We can expand our use of renewable energy sources. We can promote the development of green industries. All of this would boost our economy and improve our quality of life, both now and in the future.
Kitchens: This crisis was caused by government overspending on the federal level and the most important thing we can do to help our residents combat inflation is to allow them to keep as much of their money as possible. Last session, I rejected Gov. Evers’ proposed budget that would have massively increased our spending and raised taxes. Instead, we delivered a middle-class tax cut and a surplus. I will continue to fight for fiscal responsibility and lower taxes.
Thelen: We need to promote a healthy, strong, sustainable economy. We need that now, with rising inflation, and we’ll need that in the future. And we can do that by creating well-paying jobs and supporting sustainable industries.
Kitchens: Whether or not you believe there was outright fraud in the last election, there were clearly election laws that were broken. I believe it is vital that we address the problems identified in the previous election without restricting voter access so that we can restore faith in our democracy.
The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau outlined these problem areas in their report. Among other things, we need to enforce our current rules for voting in nursing homes and fixing errors on absentee ballots while also eliminating third-party funding of elections. I believe this is common sense and should not devolve into partisan battles.
Thelen: I’m running because we need competitive elections where voters have a real choice when they head to the polls. Without that, there is no democratic process and voters have no say in the future of our state.
Kitchens: Our local schools are well funded, but they rely too heavily on passing referendums. The major problem with our school funding formula is in how it treats districts with declining enrollment, which is nearly every district in rural Wisconsin. I plan to introduce legislation next session that will address this flaw and make our formula fairer.
In addition, it will be necessary to put more money than normal into our schools next session, due to the disappearance of federal relief money and the effects of inflation.
Thelen: Not a chance. Our teachers do a great job, but they’re not getting anywhere near the support they need and deserve. Our schools also need major capital improvements. Investing in our future is always the right decision.
Kitchens: We have seen an unprecedented rise in violent crime in our metropolitan areas over the last two years. The current administration has made a priority of lowering prison populations at the expense of public safety. Additionally, dwindling support for our police has contributed to a severe shortage in officers.
I’m a proponent of the policies that were included in the Back the Badge legislation, previously vetoed by the governor, which would help with the hiring and retaining police officers. I also strongly support the proposed constitutional amendment that would allow judges to consider public safety in determining bail for accused criminals.
Thelen: We could do so much more to promote gun safety. The goal is not to take guns away from our hunters and law-abiding citizens. But we need adequate background checks to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands. And nobody needs access to assault weapons. We could also do more to make sure guns are safely handled and stored.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@doorcountyadvocate.com.
FOR MORE DOOR COUNTY NEWS:Check out our homepage
FOR MORE KEWAUNEE COUNTY NEWS:Check out our homepage