Independent candidate seeks Assembly seat
By Robert Cloud
An independent candidate for the 40th District Assembly seat will appear on the November election ballot.
Henry Fries will be a senior at Waupaca High School this fall.
At age 17, he is serving his second year as the alternative youth representative with the city of Waupaca Parks and Recreation Board.
As a member of the board, Fries is involved in efforts to upgrade Swan Park’s play area with a splash pad, rubberized surface, new ADA-compliant play structures and restrooms.
Fries also spent a week in Madison last spring as part of the Wisconsin Senate Scholar program.
One of three students selected by Sen. Joan Ballweg, Fries attended seminars with staff from all three branches of state government and professors and students from the Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison.
“I saw a comprehensive overview of how state government runs and the role of the Assembly,” he said,
Beyond partisanship
Fries said he is running as an independent candidate.
“I would like to be judged not by a letter by my name, a D or an R, but by how I vote, what I believe in and how I speak to my constituents,” he said.
He believes being an independent candidate will allow him to work across the aisle and be a bridge that people with a Democratic or Republican affiliation may not be able to achieve.
When asked his opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Fries said he believes the 14th Amendment gives every citizen the right to privacy and to make their own choices.
“I support the right of a woman to choose to do with her body what she wants,” Fries said, noting that he believes abortions should be “safe, legal, but hopefully rare.”
Elections
Fries noted that numerous court cases, recounts, investigations and audits have produced little evidence of election fraud.
“But transparency of the election process and how elections are run should be communicated to all citizens so they know what happens to that ballot and what security measures are in place,” Fries said. “We cannot compromise an individual’s right to vote in the name of making an election so secure that we disenfranchise certain voters.”
Child care
Fries said most working voters he speaks with are concerned about access to affordable child care.
“We are classified as a child-care desert,” he said, regarding the 40th Assembly District.
A child care desert is defined as an area with so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.
About 73% of all ZIP codes in Waupaca County are classified as child-care deserts.
Fries said he supports “government programs to make quality, affordable child care more accessible within District 40.”
He said access to affordable child care will allow more parents to enter the workforce, encourage young families to move to Waupaca and Waushara counties and help solve the current labor shortage and aging workforce problem.
He supports more funding for licensed child care and believes the increased tax revenues from more people entering the workforce and increase output from businesses would help pay for it.
Fries also noted that part of the state budget’s current multi-billion dollar surplus could be used for expanding child care.
Natural resources
“In District 40, a lot of our economy is based on tourism,” Fries said. “We need to work to protect these natural resources, to both preserve our rich heritage of conservation and promote our vital tourism industry.”
Fries said he supports the development of clean energy to help the area’s lakes and streams, create jobs and boost the economy.