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Rep. Sondy Pope

Democratic Rep. Sondy Pope is one of the longest-serving members of the Wisconsin State Assembly. But, even with all she's seen, this year has been unlike any other.

This morning, she's making a pie and chatting on the phone about her latest bid for re-election. At this point in July, she would usually be busy attending one of the countless festivals and community events she frequents to keep in touch with her constituents during a normal year. A global pandemic has cancelled all of them, so here she is, saying how much she misses her staff at the Capitol, while reading a stack of weekly newspapers to keep up on current events in the communities where her constituents live.

"It's been tough," Pope says. "I usually try to get out in my district as much as possible. I go to as many fireman's breakfasts and things like that as I can. I often end up eating cold chicken, sitting on a bench next to someone from Illinois, but most people these days are not too shy about talking to [elected officials], and getting out to those events is a good way to learn what's happening."

In the 2019-20 legislative session, Pope serves as Ranking Member on the Education and the Consumer Protection committees. She also serves on the committees on Small Business Development; Rules; and Government Accountability and Oversight. She has served on the Water Quality Task Force, as well.

Pope was first elected to the Assembly in 2002. Today, she lives in Mount Horeb with her husband, Reed. Prior to the last redistricting in 2012, she represented the 79th Assembly District. In the August 11 Democratic Primary, she will face challenger Kimberly Smith. If she wins the Primary, she will face Republican Chase Binnie. In past years, she has defeated her challengers handily. She says she wants another victory because her work is not yet done.

"I have a mission to fulfill," Pope says. "That is working on public education issues. I want to use my years of experience, I'm looked to for leadership on these issues, and I've worked too hard to give up now."

For Pope, the state's biggest issue has always been education. She says she has many things she wants to do to improve schools, but with Republicans holding onto their majorities there little hope of getting the bills approved.

"There are a lot of bipartisan bills that get done, but not ones that really do anything," she says.

Pope says partisan politics – and Republican majorities for much of her time in government - have prevented much of the progress her constituents want.

"I think it hit a low point with Act 10," she says. "I have never felt less affiliated with my colleagues." Act 10, signed into law by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, stripped most public unions of the majority of their bargaining rights.

"When I look across the aisle today, most of them are not the same people [who supported Act 10]," she says. "So it's hard to hold a grudge for that, but it is still a challenge."

"Right now we [Democrats] have got a governor, and that's one leg of the three-legged stool, at least," she adds. "And he is an education governor."

Pope has been a vocal critic of voucher programs that allow students to use public funds to attend private schools. "I'd like to start scaling back the voucher program," she says. "Every penny those vouchers take is a penny public schools don't get."

Internet access – particularly when many schools are going virtual due to the pandemic – is also a major concern, she says.

"30,000 Wisconsin students don't have access to broadband, and they are often the ones who need it most," she says.

On water quality, Pope states simply: "We're not doing enough."

"People deserve clean water," she adds.

Voter suppression is another issue she says must be addressed: "I'm very upset about what's being done to voting rights."

Pope has little hope for a bill to allow terminally ill people to choose to end their own lives, but she says she will keep trying.

"One thing I'd like to see is what I call 'Compassionate Choices' and some people call 'Death With Dignity'," she says. "That's what I would want for me, but it will never see the light of day."

Realistically, Pope says she expects the ongoing global pandemic to gobble up most lawmakers' time and resources for months or even years.

"I think it's going to be mostly COVID [legislation] for the foreseeable future," she states.

Regarding Black Lives Matter and systemic racism, Pope states: "If you don't know right now, you are going to find out, because I think our whole nation is being made aware...You can't ignore it anymore."

"No one bill is going to fix this," she continues. "Everyone has to be part of the solution."

"We need to stop throwing people in jail for non-violent crimes," she says. "We need better mental health resources. We need better schools for people who live in poverty."

"I have been so dismayed by the way Trump showed up and made it 'okay' to be prejudiced," Pope continues.

Pope says Democrats want to help citizens, but they often don't have the money or the seats to do it.

"With Democrats, it's always been a money problem," she says.

The 80th Assembly District includes parts of three counties and all or parts of the cities of Fitchburg, Madison and Verona. It includes all or parts of the villages of Barneveld, Belleville, Blue Mounds, Brooklyn, Hollandale, Monticello, Mount Horeb, New Glarus, Oregon, and Ridgeway, as well as numerous townships. It leans heavily to the left, politically, but is both rural and urban.

"It helps that I've been on both sides," she says. "I grew up on a farm. I know farm issues personally. My husband and I owned a business, too."

"You have to pay attention to a lot of things," Pope continues. "That's why I go to my office every week to get a stack of newspapers. Because you have to know what's going on in your communities."

"And it's helpful when people reach out," she says. "Like, if a manufacturer reaches out and lets me know about a problem they are having. Then you can help."

Much has changed since Pope first ran for office. Her husband at the time was battling pancreatic cancer when she first got on the ballot, and he died on Primary Day. And when she headed to the Capitol to take her seat, she found an established way of doing things there.

"It was a different environment then," Pope recalls. "I was pretty much told as a freshman to keep my mouth shut, to not try to take the reins or do any driving. I did learn a lot by watching."

Today, she – like most people - wonders when the pandemic will end, and she questions why state legislative sessions have been so sparse during such a trying time.

"It seems like [Republican Assembly Speaker] Robin Vos just wanted this year over – wanted to get out of town and not really do anything," she says.

She says she has hopes to pass her Paid Family Leave Insurance bill, if she gets the chance. "We are nearly the only nation that does not offer sufficient opportunities that allow individuals to take care of themselves and family members during times of emergency, birth, and illness," says Pope. "It is run like UI, in that employees pay in, not employers. I introduce it every session and have only been granted one hearing in the Senate which was largely attended but, as you might guess, never brought up again."

In November, Pope turned in more than 800 signatures from district residents, more than four times the required number of signatures.

"It is an honor to serve the people of this district and I am grateful for their continued support," she says. "I've focused my legislative efforts on supporting our public schools, family farms, small businesses and a budget that reflects the real needs of the people living in our diverse communities."

"The next legislative session will need to be responsive to the great challenges delivered by COVID-19, a necessary change in the very culture of our nation, and the unique needs of the citizens in the 80th District," she says. "I look forward to continuing my work protecting the environment, restoring fair elections, and upholding our promise to Wisconsin's children."

Kimberly Smith

"You cannot create heaven by giving people hell," says Kimberly Smith. "That's why I'm running."

Smith, who is challenging longtime incumbent Sondy Pope for Wisconsin's 80th District Assembly seat in the August 11 Democratic Primary, says the old way of doing things at the capitol isn't working. Gridlock and partisan bickering are rendering lawmakers vastly ineffective and leaving people on the margins of society vulnerable and at-risk. She believes it doesn't matter how progressive legislators are if they are unable to get new policies all the way to the governor's desk.

And while Smith's politics are progressive, she says working with Republicans - not against them - is the key to true reform.

"I think we've lost the art of understanding the opposition," she says. "We've lost the art of relating to and empathizing with people we don't always agree with."

"Republican and Democrat are titles that mean nothing," says Smith. "I've met pro-choice Republicans and pro-life Democrats."

Smith says the public – including those in her own party - has grown "complacent" when it comes to government representation.

"There should be five or six people next to me, running for this seat," she says.

On issues of racial inequity and inequality, in particular, Smith says far more needs to be done.

"We're not getting anywhere," she says. "The black community is suffering because the Democratic establishment is voting along party lines and not making any progress."

Smith, who is biracial, says she has personally experienced the public's will to improve conditions for all of its citizens. A recent Black Lives Matter rally she attended in the Village of Mount Horeb was a perfect example of this collective desire, she says.

Smith is 41 and currently lives in Oregon. She remembers Mount Horeb from her days as a student athlete.

"I played a lot of sports in Mount Horeb," she says. "Basketball and soccer."

She says the recent rally, which was attended by hundreds of citizens representing a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, including both Democrats and Republicans, was inspiring.

"I was at that rally, and it really was profound for me," she says. "I got called the N-word for the first time in my life in Mount Horeb, when I was a kid. I stole the ball from a girl, playing soccer, and she said it. My teammates told me afterward, and I remember how nobody really did anything about it. It sort of wasn't a big deal. That was 30 years ago, and it was amazing to see how things have changed now."

Smith says her generation, having experienced an analogue childhood and a digital adulthood, is well positioned to bridge the gap between young and old, and to see the ways social media helps - and harms - people's lives.

"Our generation is in a unique position. We're not Gen Xers and we're not Millennials. We're Xennials. And we've watched the way media has changed," she observes.

Smith gives several examples of ways Democrats and Republicans can find common ground. She goes into detail about her desire to work with Republican lawmaker Rep. Shae Sortwell (Two Rivers) on criminal justice reform. Sortwell, along with Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) and Sen. Latonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) also introduced AB 899 at a press conference on February 13. The bill is designed to eliminate "arduous regulations" on hair braiding that often prevent young people of color from doing business.

"That's the kind of stuff I want to do," Smith explains. "That's one example."

"Shae is really amazing," Smith says. "We butt heads about a lot of things, especially about race, but I admire and respect him so much."

"I'm not going to vote along party lines," she says. "That's not my nature. I'm going to do my research, because the trick is knowing what's going on."

"I want a relationship that's beyond cordial," Smith continues. "I want to work in tandem with people."

Smith was born in Madison and later moved to McFarland. She is married and has three children.

"I moved to McFarland at 8, when my mom had a stroke that left her unable to care for myself and my newborn sister. Her brother and his wife raised me," she says.

For 13 years, Smith was a massage therapist and owned her own business. She then attended MATC to study business administration.

She says it was a class she took in college that first opened her eyes to modern, and postmodern, matters of race. "It awakened me to things I didn't know about white supremacy and racism. I started reading books about it - like The New Jim Crow, Medical Apartheid and The Color of Compromise - and I decided I couldn't sit on this any longer."

Smith says she hopes to "unleash human capital" in Wisconsin.

"These are humans who should be working and engaging in society," she says of marginalized citizens.

With many issues, Smith points out that she can see both sides because she has experienced both sides. She raised children as a single mother – "I got to make all the decisions on my own," she says, and now she is parenting as part of a larger family unit. "Doing it collaboratively is a different experience," she says. She has experienced life as a person of color, but also says she has enjoyed privilege because she grew up in a white family.

She speaks in a calm, measured tone, but when asked if she has worked actively to sound unflappable, she bursts out laughing.

"Oh, I'm definitely flappable," she says.

She says she is also "resilient."

"You can grow from the trauma you experience, or you can struggle from it," she states. "I've chosen to do the work and heal."

Smith says her life experience has prepared her to work as an effective lawmaker, although campaigning is a new experience.

"I'm not a politician. I have no idea what I'm doing," she says with another laugh. "I just want to tell my children that I didn't sit back. I want to try to make things better. I want to be an advocate for people."

She calls her Primary opponent, Rep. Sondy Pope of Mount Horeb, who has held her seat for nearly two decades and fended off challenges from both the left and the right, "a juggernaut." Smith has been going door-to-door, knocking and then takings several steps back in order to "get to know voters as a distance" during the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic.

"If I'm going to get past Sondy, I need to engage with people," she says.

If she does get past Pope, she will run in the General Election against Mount Horeb resident Chase Binnie, a Republican. If she defeats him, she will head to the Capitol and get to work.

"I think the toughest part won't be sitting through committee meetings," she reflects. "The toughest part will be nurturing relationships, and that's the most important part."

Smith is hesitant to stake out how she would vote on every single issue at the Capitol, because most will be nuanced and complex. She hopes voters will elect her based on her judgement, her desire to do research, and her willingness to work across party lines, rather than on a single platform issue.

"We really need to do the work to learn the history," she says. "And if we can't see how we are operating now, how can we fix things?"

"What I'd like to be is an advocate for people who don't have lobbyists at the capitol," Smith says.

She says she wants to help people on fixed incomes with the burden of rising property taxes, and she wants to "take care of things that burden the black community."

While racial issues are a core element of her platform, Smith says a collaborative approach – rather than one based primarily on shaming or political tribalism – will be the most productive way forward. Smith, like so many people, has grown weary of the toxic fabric of social media arguments.

"I found myself in this place where I was spouting vitriol," she recalls. "I realized in order to change the world, I had to make progress and stop acting like that. I have always thought that, 'Be the change you wish to see in the world' thing was so cheesy, but I'm starting to think it might also be true."

"Now I don't really want to argue with people on Facebook," she adds. "I usually ask people to call me, so we can actually talk."

"A lot of people in this district are already very receptive [to positive change]," she says. "With them, it's not about talking about how bad things are. It's just about working together to fix it."

"It's about showing people action and giving them resources," she continues. "People don't want to be told what they did wrong. They want to be shown how they can help. People are helpers."

Kimberly Smith

Smith says there is common ground to be found in Wisconsin. People just have to chart a course for it, rather than bickering and blaming the other side of the aisle for a lack of progress, she says.

"I'll give you an example," she says. "People are up in arms about having to vote in person, and people are up in arms about voting by mail. For black people, it's been a tough couple centuries. There were poll taxes and things like that to limit voting rights. So for me, going to the polls on election day is special. I, personally, want to go to the polls. But some people don't. So how about this: Don't worry what your neighbor is doing; let's do both. If you want to go to the polls, go. If you want to vote by mail, do that."

"We need to empower each other to do what's best for the community," she concludes.