(The following story by Reid Magney appeared on the La Crosse Tribune website on June 7. Brother Kinsman is Chairman of the BLET’s Wisconsin State Legislative Board.)
LA CROSSE, Wisc. — The next election is still one year, five months and one day away, but state Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, already has an opponent.
“People think I’m crazy for filing early,” said Democrat James Kinsman, 33, of Brice Prairie, who put in his papers last week.
But Kinsman figures that if he starts early and builds momentum against the five-term incumbent, things might turn out differently than they have for other Democrats.
Kinsman knows a little something about momentum. He drives a locomotive for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.
And he knows something about politics. When he’s not on the rails, he’s in Madison, lobbying the Legislature on behalf of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. He’s state chairman of the union’s legislative board.
“Jim and I have run into each other a few times at hearings,” Huebsch said Monday. “It’s clear we don’t agree on much.”
“I look forward to discussing the issues during the campaign,” Huebsch continued, citing the property tax freeze and how the state works with local government as areas of disagreement.
“I am a Democrat, but by no means a liberal,” Kinsman said. “I’m a hunter and a fisherman.” He said he’d actively seek bipartisan compromise.
“I’m not a politician,” Kinsman said. “I’m just a locomotive engineer who’s pissed off because of the politics in Madison. It’s all about which party gets the win.”
Kinsman said the key is to remove career politicians, who he said are “like a tick on a dog’s (butt).”
Kinsman said if elected, he’d probably limit himself to six years in the Legislature.
Huebsch said his campaign fund has $20,000 in the bank now, but will have more by the end of June.
Democrat Vicki Burke, who got 42 percent of the vote against Huebsch in November, called it “a little early” to know whether she’ll run a third time against Huebsch.
Kinsman and his wife, Tara, have two children, Alexandra, 10, and Nathaniel, 9.