Magnafici retires, Duke and Kline announce

Republican Gae Magnafici (R-Dresser) represented Polk County and parts of Burnett and St. Croix Counties. Magnafici announced her decision to retire from the Wisconsin State Assembly. The district she represented did slightly adjust under the new maps. She went from representing Assembly District 28 to living in Assembly District 75. This new assembly district 75 is a safe place for a Republican.

Magnafici had a great deal to say in a 2018 candidate interview about cannabis reform. In the spring of 2019 after overwhelming support in the Wisconsin public marijuana referendums the previous fall, many of the Assembly GOP members held a spring survey which was posted online and sent in the email to people on their mailing list.

The results of Assembly Representative Gae Magnafici (R-Dresser) spring survey are not surprising as 69% of this district supported medical marijuana. Wisconsin’s 28th Assembly District then encompassed Polk and Burnett County areas including Siren, Frederic, Luck, Centuria, St. Croix Falls, Dresser, Osceola, Balsam Lake, Grantsburg and Amery areas bordering Minnesota.

Enough about Magnafici. She really did not advance cannabis reform while in office and constituent activists in her area felt like she did not care. About the only thing she did was co-sponsor a bill (AB 236) in 2019 that prohibits DOJ, when conducting a search to determine if a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm, from considering if the person participates in a medical marijuana program that is legal under state or federal law. That was an early sign from Republicans that they were going to try to pass a medical cannabis law.

The new district lines draw in some immediate contenders for the seat. The assembly district 75 is projected to be a 62.5% favor for the GOP. Republicans Duke Tucker and Neil Kline have the early bird itch to lock in this seat and the primary battle is set for August 13th, 2024.

Neil Kline (R)

Kline is familiar and back in July of 2020, WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters interviewed Neil Kline (R-New Richmond) who is running for the an Assembly District seat.

Neil Kline said “open to medical” adding plenty of people who could benefit and plenty of states have done it for data; recreational also open to talking about that, especially about criminal justice reform which has huge impacts on minorities. He would like to get law enforcement input, like to see testing for impairment strategies, like alcohol.

In a recent interview on 8/9 Kline was even more hesitant on medical marijuana, and said he is still in a “listening mode,” specifically to concerns from law enforcement partners.

“I am not saying yes to [medical marijuana legalization] by any means,” Kline said. “I’m predisposed against both, but I’m open to conversations to learn more about what that may look like.”

Duke Tucker (R)

When asked about marijuana reform, Duke Tucker had this to say “I’ll be listening and learning about many issues. But no I have not developed a stance on that issue.”

On August 9th he did an interview and said on recreational marijuana legalization, he is open to the idea.

“I think there’s a lot of work to be done there to figure out how to test for people that are operating under the influence and all those sorts of things,” Tucker said.

Jay Calhoun (R)

Jay Calhoun of Luck works in a small machine shop in Luck

Calhoun said he is against recreational marijuana legalization because of his personal experience, but it is up to the people in his district to decide.

“I had a lot of friends who got into marijuana when they were in school, and they all kinda just turned really dumb,” Calhoun said.

The Democrat

Jane Kleiss of St. Croix Falls is running unopposed.

When asked about her stance on marijuana reform she replied: I support legalizing cannabis for adult use and keeping those tax dollars in Wisconsin.

Website; campaign Facebook page

75th Assembly District Info

Wisconsin’s 75th Assembly District includes all of Polk County and portions of Burnett County. The district’s western boundaries follow the beautiful St. Croix River and hold some of the most breathtaking river views.

The 75th Assembly District has approximately 60,058 people living in approximately 24,000 households.

Cities:
Amery, St. Croix Falls.

Villages (Polk & Burnett):
Balsam Lake, Centuria, Clayton, Clear Lake, Dresser, Frederic, Grantsburg, Luck, Milltown, Osceola, Siren, and Webster, and part of the Village of Turtle Lake.

Towns (Polk):
Alden, Apple River, Balsam Lake, Beaver, Black Brook, Bone Lake, Clam Falls, Clayton, Clear Lake, Eureka, Farmington, Garfield, Georgetown, Johnstown, Laketown, Lincoln, Lorain, Luck, McKinley, Milltown, Osceola, St. Croix Falls, Sterling, and West Sweden.

Towns (Burnett):
Anderson, Daniels, Dewey, Grantsburg, Jackson, La Follette, Lincoln, Meenon, Oakland, Roosevelt, Rusk, Sand Lake, Scott, Siren, Trade Lake, Union, West Marshland, and Wood River.

The district also contains the St. Croix Chippewa reservation, the Wisconsin portion of Interstate Park, and a significant portion of the Wisconsin side of the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway.

The 75th Assembly District is located within Wisconsin’s 25th Senate district, along with the 73rd and 74th Assembly districts.

Stay tuned and get active!

I will provide you additional 2024 Wisconsin State Election coverage throughout the campaign season. This next election is extremely important for marijuana reform and I will continue to bring you information as more candidates make their political moves.

In the event that we end up with divided government in the 2024-25 legislation session, the official formation of The Wisconsin Cannabis Caucus would be a must first step towards reform. The official establishment of this Caucus will represent the growing, bipartisan support in Wisconsin.

Although session as ended we still urge you to contact your elected officials. The top four action alerts are still functionable on The Wisconsin Cannabis Activist Action Network for you immediate use.

Sources: CNanalysis, WisPolitics, Davesredistircing, PeoplesMaps, WEC Candidate Tracking