Pope running for re-election in 80th Assembly District

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 79^th 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 forseeable 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 80^th 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 Voss 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 80^th District," she says. "I look forward to continuing my work protecting the environment, restoring fair elections, and upholding our promise to Wisconsin’s children.”