In the new District 13, state reps Robyn Vining and Tom Michalski face off in west suburbs

Democratic state Rep. Robyn Vining of Wauwatosa will face Republican state Rep. Tom Michalski of Elm Grove Nov. 5 in the race for the redrawn 13th Assembly District.

Voters in the district, which includes parts of Wauwatosa, Brookfield and Elm Grove, have the rare choice between two current lawmakers running against each other.

Here’s what to know about the candidates and where they stand on issues.

Who is Robyn Vining?

Vining won election into the Assembly in 2018 when she narrowly defeated her Republican opponent in a traditionally GOP district once held by former Gov. Scott Walker. She's now running for the District 13 seat after the boundaries of the district were redrawn.

As the District 14 representative, she’s introduced legislation that would make it easier for Wisconsin business owners to start, manage and grow their businesses. She's also served on a committee addressing mental health and substance use.

Outside of politics, Vining owns a photography business. The 2011 Act 10 cuts to education moved her to protest in Madison with her two young children, who are now college aged, and her husband. That and her distaste of what she calls "divide-and-conquer politics" led her to first run for office.

"I despise the political strategy of pitting neighbor against neighbor," she told the Journal Sentinel.

She is running again with school funding as a top priority.

“If we don’t fund the schools now, we’re looking at a whole other generation of kids that get these cuts."

Who is Tom Michalski?

Michalski was elected to Assembly District 13 in 2022 following years of local municipality leadership and a career in IT at Marquette University.

Michalski served as an Elm Grove Village trustee and a Waukesha County supervisor. He still serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Village of Elm Grove.

According to his website, Michalski is “fighting for the conservative values of the 14^th Assembly District.” He wants to prioritize the reduction of taxes, community safety through stronger laws that “hold criminals accountable” and “support law enforcement,” and STEM-focused education, according to his website.

Michalski told the Journal Sentinel he's someone who tries to work with everyone to solve problems.

He points to the success he and his Republican colleagues had with earning bipartisan support on bills including working to get shared revenue changes signed by Gov. Tony Evers.

That steered more money to local municipalities including Elm Grove, Wauwatosa and Brookfield, a major reason he ran for the Assembly in the first place, he said.

Having served one two-year term, Michalski said if reelected, he'd like to increase transparency between the departments that report to the governor and the legislature.

How would both candidates approach education if reelected?

Michalski said he did not want to share specifics on legislation he'd prioritize in his next term when speaking with the Journal Sentinel, saying his goal is to act responsibly with everyone's money. When asked to go into more detail, he said he'd support Evers in his request for 60% increased special education funding.

Public education funding is a top priority for Vining, who said if reelected she'd want to pass the Save Our Schools bill she authored.

Her bill would fund special education at 90%, increase state funds for students and include grants to get qualified teachers in the classroom.

Vining, a Wauwatosa resident, said she’s “very intentionally” declining to make a statement about her stance on the two referendums proposed by the Wauwatosa School District. She did say the legislature is failing to do its job to adequately fund education, adding that it can lead districts to fund schools by taxpayer referendums, like the two facing her local district.

“We shouldn’t be pushing it back on the taxpayers and putting people in these terrible situations to raise their own taxes,” Vining said during a Main Street Alliance forum Monday, Oct. 7, at the Little Village Play Cafe in Wauwatosa.

Speaking at the same forum, Michalski argued voters should vote yes on the operational referendum and no to the facilities one. He said it's because of audit results coming out in March that people can "actually see what the damage is" and then "decide with knowledge" how to vote (if the referendum were held in the spring instead).

Where do the District 13 Assembly candidates stand on healthcare?

When asked at the Main Street Alliance Event whether either candidate would work to ensure all in Wisconsin have access to quality healthcare, Michalski didn’t go one way or the other.

“I don’t know specifically what to do on healthcare,” Michalski said.

Vining said she would continue to work for Medicaid expansion including for postpartum patients, and a public option for Badgercare, as she has already cosponsored bills in the legislature on those issues.

Where do the District 13 Assembly candidates stand on abortion and gender identity?

Michalski told the Journal Sentinel he is "hard lined" in his stance on policies regarding gender identity.

In the Assembly, Michalski supported two vetoed bills that would have prevented gender-transition medical treatment for minors and barred transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports.

Vining, on the other hand, voted against the bill that would have banned gender-affirming care for youth, calling it a politically motivated bill brought in by a Colorado right-wing group in an October 2023 press release.

On abortion, Michalski said constituents in his area were "willing to accept" abortion in the first term with exceptions for the life of the mother, rape or incest, according to a questionnaire he sent out at the start of his term in 2022.

In the Assembly, Michalski co-sponsored two bills supporting a 14-week abortion ban and a ban referendum.

Vining cosponsored the "Restore Roe" act in Wisconsin. She believes abortion is the leading issue for some people at the polls this year.

"That's what these elections are also about, is who believes in reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, trusting people and their doctors to make their own healthcare decisions, and who doesn't," Vining said.

New district boundaries mean new constituents for candidates to meet

New district boundaries meant there were new constituents for both lawmakers to connect with on the campaign trail.

For Michalski, knocking on doors around Wauwatosa is “reawakening” the area for him, since he was once a Tosa resident. Starting on the western edge of the city and moving east, he’s talked to anyone who answers their door about what’s important to them, he said.

“It seems that they want people that work together to get issues done, and that's what I've always done,” he said.

Elm Grove is new territory to Vining on the campaign trail, although she represented parts of Brookfield in the newly-drawn District 13 about four years ago, she said.

Besides door knocking, Vining has organized or joined in smaller events that are often kid-friendly. On one night she hosted a cookie buffet at a Brookfield café, and attended a “future voters fest” block party organized by Wauwatosa businesses on a Friday morning.

“I want people to feel like they can come if they can't get a babysitter,” she said, especially since events are centered on discussions about family-oriented policies like childcare costs.

The multiple community-based events are having a solid turnout of new people, she said.

Both candidates attended the Main Street Alliance Forum in Wauwatosa, answering questions posed by small business owners.

The group has hosted several roundtable events throughout the state in the election cycle about policies that would help small businesses, and oftentimes only one candidate shows up, said Shawn Phetteplace, campaigns director for the organization.

The organization endorsed Vining for Assembly following the forum, saying she understands the challenges facing small business owners.

Bridget Fogarty covers Brookfield, Wauwatosa and Elm Grove for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be contacted at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Representatives Robyn Vining and Tom Michalski face off in District 13