Shirley Hinze’s first try to defeat Rep. Elijah Behnke for the 6th Assembly District seat ended with a loss, but she believes the current state of matters in Wisconsin and the United States requires someone with her sensibilities in the state capitol, so she’s trying again to make it happen.
Hinze, a Democrat from Shawano, will face off against Behnke in the Nov. 3 general election to represent a district that includes most of Shawano County, all of Menominee County, the southwest segment of Oconto County and slivers of Waupaca and Outagamie counties. In an interview with NEW Media, Hinze said she sees higher prices on food, gasoline, healthcare and more making it difficult for friends, neighbors and complete strangers to live happily.
“This isn’t just politics anymore,” Hinze said. “People are being hurt. Lives are shifting. That’s why I’m running again at my age.”
Being a Democrat and 70 years old might seem like a steep hill to climb in an area that has two hard-red counties, but Hinze believes the woes aren’t just limited to independents and people in her own party, noting that she’s heard from Republicans who are unhappy with everything costing more.
“I’m looking at the future generations of this community and the country as a whole,” Hinze said. “I’m seeing people in my age group having to struggle financially when it should be their golden years. We’re back to families now having to juggle with aging parents because that retirement income for mom and dad has been reduced while paying for college tuition and seeing a reduction in your own wages.”
Affordable housing is a key issue Hinze wants to address if elected to office. She noted the matter has been brought up by aldermen in Shawano, and she believes the problem can be linked to state laws about requirements with communities having to allot for a percentage of greenspace in the municipal boundaries, a percentage for residential property and a percentage for businesses.
“What’s happening is we have corporate real state buying up land around our communities and putting in development where there’s a limited amount of space to put up affordable housing,” Hinze said. “What I can do, once elected, is have communities approach the state to waive the greenspace allowance to use for affordable housing. There are different programs that can be utilized.”
Hinze noted tax increment districts are helping municipalities to bring developers for residential and business infrastructure, but it results in local governments paying to promote subdivisions where housing is out of the price range for many residents. She said the matter isn’t just a crisis in the 6th Assembly District, but all over.
“Affordable housing is something that can be done, but it only can happen if you get me elected so I can, on the floor, bring this matter up and have the state waive certain mandates,” Hinze said. “Every community in this state is hurting for affordable housing.”
Cost-of-living is another matter that has people in the district all fired up, according to Hinze. Shawano County is an aging county, as is Oconto County, she noted, and said the tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump have destroyed farming communities, and current plans to import beef from other countries cuts into farmers’ income.
“This undercuts even our dairy herds,” Hinze said. “A dairy farmer rotates non-productive milking cows into the beef market that goes into the slaughterhouses and produces ground beef, etc. Now, Mr. Trump is bringing all this beef in. What is that going to do for that mega-farmer’s profit?”
Hinze claimed that her opponent, Behnke, has made little effort to appear before people in the district, unless they are events orchestrated by the Republican Party, she said.
“Mr. Behnke only shows up for a photo op,” Hinze said. “I am a constituent, first and foremost. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him here for two years doing local speaking events unless it’s controlled by the local Republican party.”
The budget surplus, which has sat idle for years, needs to be drawn down, in Hinze’s view. She noted that the state should have a board that manages it through grants to communities for assorted projects.
Hinze also vowed to take on the school voucher program that allows families to enroll in private and parochial schools, with some of the school taxes going to pay children’s tuition. She said the program siphons public school money away, making it difficult to provide education for the children who remain in the public system.
“Those voucher programs pay the school to educate your kid, but they don’t pay for busing and transportation,” Hinze said. “If you’re a voucher parent, you have to get that kid to the school.”
Hinze said she plans to make laws through compassion and empathy by pushing her constituents’ agenda through the Assembly, not strictly what the Democratic Party wants done. She said she would say no to her party to items that go against her constituents’ wishes.
“This isn’t just a job,” she said. “This isn’t my agenda, and it’s not my agenda when I am elected and representing the people in Madison. The only agenda to present is that of the people of this community. Period.”
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
