NEWS

Johnson, Feingold fight for upper Wisconsin

Nora G. Hertel

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WAUSAU - Recent political swings in central and northern Wisconsin make this part of the state a key battle ground in the rematch election between Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, a Democrat.

Both candidates are touring the state extensively and make regular campaign stops in Wausau. Johnson has been busy up north exploring the timber industry and listening to complaints about wolves preying on livestock. And Feingold's heard complaints of slow internet and calls for more workforce development in this part of the state.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin met with both candidates this summer to talk about their campaign efforts in north central Wisconsin.

"What we're trying to do is really build on what the governor has done in terms of the strong grass-roots effort here," Johnson said. "It's really a person-to-person type of contact, talking about the challenges facing this nation, challenges facing upper Wisconsin."

In 2010 Johnson beat three-term incumbent Feingold. The most recent Marquette University Law School Poll gives Feingold an edge.

It's a close race. And this region is politically divided, said Eric Giordano, director of the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service and an associate professor of political science for the University of Wisconsin Colleges. It's a red region surrounding pockets of blue, he said.

"Before the (congressional) redistricting in 2010, the more progressive-leaning population centers of central and northern Wisconsin, combined with 'independent' voters was enough to secure (Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave) Obey and Feingold many years of incumbency," Giordano wrote in an email to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. "The economic woes and the rise of the Tea Party saw the region swing favorably towards the right."

North central Wisconsin isn't the only key area in this contentious race, said Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of political science and director of the new Elections Research Center. Polls show Feingold's got a grip in Madison and Milwaukee, while Johnson has a comfortable lead in the Green Bay and Appleton markets, Burden said.

"The 'rest of the state' outside the major media markets is actually the most competitive," Burden wrote in an email. "That would include most of northern Wisconsin."

Forest, Lincoln, and Price counties in northern Wisconsin went for Johnson in 2010 and Obama in 2012, Burden said. But they aren't as heavily populated as Marathon County.

"Even though (Marathon County) has a tendency to vote Republican, there is a large enough population that both campaigns need to take it seriously," Burden said.

The candidates have heard concerns of north central Wisconsin residents and have offered policy ideas to address them. The two men have opposing views on how to expand high-speed internet to the rural corners of the state. And they have different ideas on how to manage the Great Lakes' growing population of wolves.

Here's where they stand on those issues.

Wolves

As the wolf population grows in northern Wisconsin and across the Great Lakes region, the canine predators are increasingly unpopular with ranchers and hunters who've lost livestock and dogs and with Republican lawmakers advocating for those groups.

There are roughly 900 wolves in the state. They are considered an endangered species by the federal government.

In 2012 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the wolf population had recovered and removed it from the endangered species list. Wisconsin then held three wolf-hunting seasons to reduce the population, until 2014, when a federal judge ruled that the animal should still be considered endangered. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal conservation groupsbrought the lawsuit that put wolves back under protected status.

"This is one unelected judge who's overruling the science and the experts that delisted the wolf," Johnson said. "The wolf population is growing and it is strong."

He wants wolves off the endangered species list and under state control. And he drafted a bill to do so, and it's been added to a larger Senate bill called the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2016. Congress will likely consider that bill after the election, and the wolf provision may not make it through the editing process.

Feingold wants to respect the federal judge's ruling on wolves.

"Species don't know about state lines," he said. "The idea that you would have an endangered species law state by state shows frankly no understanding of how species operate and how they live."

OPINION: Internet access: A right not a privilege

Internet monopolies?

Johnson and Feingold want high-speed internet in the far reaches of the state, but they have different ideas about how to make it happen. It's one of the biggest differences between the candidates, Feingold said.

Feingold supports the creation of internet utilities, run by municipalities if they so choose. Johnson doesn't want municipalities to get in that business, because they would limit the free market, he said.

"When a municipality starts having total control over a particular internet you start losing the benefits of a free-market competitive system," Johnson said. "You have created monopolies by municipalities."

To Feingold, the existing internet providers have the monopoly.

"I think we should have federal legislation that prevents states from allowing these monopolies, such as the Charter and the AT&T and the Time Warner," Feingold said. "We should make sure that there is the freedom of municipalities, co-ops and rural electrics to provide these services."

The federal government has already offered incentives to large internet providers to reach deeper into more-populated rural areas, but not all north and central Wisconsin residents have reliable enough internet to work from home or rely on connections for their kids' homework. Future solutions may come from federal legislators.

Voters can choose between Feingold's and Johnson's different stances when they choose between the candidates on the Nov. 8 ballot.

"It will not be an easy victory for either side," Giordano said. "But both see opportunity to make some hay in this area."

Nora G. Hertel: nora.hertel@gannettwisconsin.com or 715-845-0665; on Twitter @nghertel.