Longtime Chippewa County clerk Kathy Bernier rode the Republican wave in 2010 and after a recount, won the 68th Assembly District seat by 92 votes.
In 2010, Bernier was re-elected by 5 percentage points.
Now, Bernier is defending her seat again, this time against dairy farmer Jeff Peck, a veteran and Democrat from the Town of Lafayette in Chippewa County.
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The two candidates disagree on most things political, but when it comes to school choice, Bernier said it’s personal because her son didn’t couldn’t get specialized education that he needed.
“And a charter school, an alternate school or some other form of education should be an option, and that is why I’m in favor of having options for children,” she said.
While Peck supports charter schools overseen by public school districts that he said he’s firmly against state funding for vouchers being given to private schools.
“How, in one session, can you say we need to cut $800 million from the quality of our education and then in the next session move in and say we can afford two education systems? It just defies common sense,” he said.
The 68th Assembly District has traditionally been prone to swings in voter participation. In the last 10 years, it’s flipped between Democratic and Republican control four times.
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