On November 3, 2020, candidates running for Wisconsin State Senate District 24 in this year’s local election include Patrick Testin and Paul Piotrowski. This state senate district is located in central Wisconsin (parts of Adams, Marathon, Portage, Marquette, Wood, and Waushara counties).

There is much importance held in learning about each of the candidates running in the 24th state senate district for this year’s election. Information about the candidates is important to take note of as it provides more knowledge about the plans each person running has if they are to be elected. This leads to a more well thought out decision on who the voters believe will be the best candidate to improve upon the community.

In an article called “24th Senate District Q&A: State Sen. Patrick Testin, Paul Piotrowski talk about pandemic, health care, racial injustice” from the Stevens Point Journal each of the two candidates running were interviewed on important issues, and shared how they plan or would handle them. 

Piotrowski and Testin have different views on how the legislature should handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Piotrowski suggests people should be working, but also listening to health officials so that people can reopen their businesses safely. Testin feels that it is important to make sure federal funds are going towards people who are in need of them and that administration is held accountable for providing people with unemployment.

Piotrowski and Testin were asked what each of them finds to be the most important issue to address. Piotrowski says he wants Wisconsin to accept Medicaid, and that there should be more economic assistance to address COVID-19 with small businesses and companies. Testin wants to get rid of arbitrary relatrications to get things back to normal, putting trust in people to do what is right. Something he also addressed as important is people’s right to peacefully protest, but he says it is not okay when the protests become out of control and turn into riots.

When it comes to racial discrimination both candidates believe in listening to people who have dealt with racism in their life and being respectful whilst hearing about the experiences they’ve faced. Piotrowski thinks we all have biases, a lot of the time without even realizing it. He thinks people who aren’t treated the same should share their experiences. He also thinks everyone should be treated equally no matter something such as this. Testin believes we should be allocating more resources to provide more training opportunities for law enforcement rather than defusing the police all together. He states that the issues of racism go beyond the government, and thinks we should listen without judgment and treat everyone with respect trying to gain understanding. 

According to a site called Ballotpedia, in an article called, “Wisconsin State Senate District 11” it explains the importance of having a good state senator. “Wisconsin state senators represent an average of 172,333 residents. After the 2000 Census, each member represented 162,536 residents.” As said, the senator represents a great amount of people. 

Glen Reindl, a local history teacher who used to work on school board elections and referendums says that he believes this will be a close election. “People are taking voting more seriously now than ten years ago, because they are recognizing that votes matter.” He claims that people don’t always understand how much one small vote can really change the whole outcome of an election. “Every vote counts because in the end it really comes down to those few votes that can sway an election.”

Even just one vote can impact the outcome of the election. Members of the Wisconsin State Senate serve four-year terms, so people are voting on which candidate they believe to be most beneficial to the community for that period of time. People will vote November 3rd to determine who they think should acquire this position, and Wisconsin legislators will assume office the first Monday in January following the election.