Grothman in 3-person race to keep job

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman faces two challengers in the Nov. 8 election who disagree with him on issues facing Congress, such as how to boost revenue for the Social Security trust fund and keep it solvent beyond 2034.

Grothman is seeking re-election to a second two-year term representing the 6th Congressional District in east-central Wisconsin.

Sarah Lloyd, a Democrat from Wisconsin Dells, won a partisan primary election in August and served two terms on the Columbia County Board from 2004 to 2007.

Lloyd said she is confident district voters will elect her because the economy is out of balance. "Too many people are working harder than ever and still not making ends meet," she said. Grothman is vulnerable, too, due to his allegiance to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, according to Lloyd.

Jeff Dahlke is an independent from Mequon in his first campaign for public office.

Dahlke said he has a chance to win because many voters he talked with in recent months said they agree with him that the two-party system is broken. Congress can be fixed only by an infusion of independents and third-party representatives, he said.

Grothman, 61, is a resident of the Town of Osceola in Fond du Lac County. He represented the 20th Senate District from 2004 until his 2014 election toCongress, and previously represented the West Bend area in the Assembly.

This congressional district is generally conservative and he is "in tune with the people" living there, he said. Residents know him and are familiar with his priorities, according to Grothman.

His views can be summarized in short quotes from an interview: "You don't need government involved in everything" and "I've always been for reduced spending." A core belief about welfare programs: "We're encouraging people not to work."

Lloyd, 44, works with her husband, Nels Nelson, on the family's dairy farm in the Town of Newport in Columbia County. During the campaign, she is on a leave of absence from a job with the Wisconsin Farmers Union.

Lloyd served on the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board from 2008 to 2014. In 2013, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack appointed Lloyd to a three-year term on the National Dairy Board, where she represents Wisconsin dairy farmers.

Congress needs to boost local economies by investing more federal dollars in rebuilding basic infrastructure of roads, bridges and rails, she said. That is a foundation that helps businesses, she said. More federal dollars should go to solar power and other renewable energy sources, as well as broadband internet access for households and businesses in villages and rural areas, said Lloyd.

Dahlke, 50, is employed by Guntert and Zimmerman, a California-based manufacturer of concrete paving equipment.

He favors term limits — six terms for the House and two terms for the Senate — along with legislation to create a flat income tax that would eliminate all loopholes and increase tax payments by wealthy individuals.

Online state court records show that Dahlke paid two separate delinquent tax warrants filed in Brown County by the state Department of Revenue, one in 2007 and another in 2010, worth a total of $7,408. The delinquent taxes stemmed from a period of several years where he worked out of state for a different employer while he maintained a residence in Wisconsin. Dahlke said he was not aware at the time that he also owed income taxes to Wisconsin.

He also paid a 1998 court judgment in Brown County involving $36,975 he owed at that time to Pioneer Credit Union for vehicle purchases. The judgment was related to a personal bankruptcy that came after a divorce, he said.

Both Lloyd and Dahlke said they would protect Social Security benefits. Grothman said he "does not want any change in benefits."

Lloyd and Dahlke suggest raising the maximum annual earnings subject to the Social Security tax as one way to keep the program's trust funds afloat. That earnings limit is scheduled to rise to $127,200 in 2017.

They suggested $200,000 or more as the earnings limit subject to the tax.

Grothman said he does not favor higher taxes. "The answer to more revenue lies with a stronger economy and more people paying Social Security taxes," he said.

For additional information on their views, WisconsinEye interviews with each candidate can be viewed online at www.wiseye.org.