A Libertarian’s View of the WI 43rd Assembly Race: District Overview

Here’s the first, introductory post, of a series on the 2012 race for the 43rd Assembly District. This post describes the new district – a product of a decennial redistricting – with information about election results in the old district. Subsequent posts will offer the candidates biographies’, assess their positions on major issues, and their performances in election debates. (There will have been more than one debate before the election, with an upcoming in Whitewater on October 30th at the university.)

Some of the posts in this series, like this one, will have no particular ideological cast. Others will assess this election from a libertarian’s perspective. Although I’m neither a Republican nor a Democrat, like many independent or third-party voters, I’ve definite opinions on issues that I’ll make plain. Quite candidly, others’ professions of objectivity are often false, and occasionally simply a dodge from stating one’s convictions plainly. Those looking for a majority-party-line defense of one of these candidates will not find it here.

Here’s a map of the new 43rd:

The district stretches from Whitewater and Cold Spring in the east to the Town of Rutland and near Oregon in the west; south to Milton and Edgerton and around the City of Janesville. There are some cities and towns in the district, Whitewater principally among them, but it’s a rural seat. Some of these towns are not within the same orbit at all, but they’re all mostly rural areas.

As for the old district (covering much of the same area as the new 43rd), it was a district of mostly narrow margins between the candidates:

2010
Kim Hixson 9,448 47.5%
Evan Wynn 10,449 52.5%

2008
Kim Hixson 15,303 51.2%
Debi Towns 14,581 48.8%

2006
Kim Hixson 10,330 50.02%
Debi Towns 10,292 49.83%

2004
Matt McIntyre 12,796 44.4%
Debi Towns 15,960 55.4%

Even after redistricting, the new district’s precincts leaned slightly left on June 5th, 2012, despite a comfortable statewide Walker win (even greater than his 2010 win). The new 43rd was on 6.5.12 a near outlier, not a representative of Walker’s statewide results. See, in this regard, Local Implications of the Recall Results for the 43rd Assembly District.

In the end, what residents think about presidential candidates born in Hawaii and Michigan will be critical to the outcome for this Wisconsin District.

But what these candidates believe, and have done while in office, matters independently of those larger political forces.

Tomorrow: The candidates’ biographies.