Bloechl May Run In 54th--As a Democrat

November 19, 2005

by Tony Palmeri

Former Oshkosh Mayor Melanie Bloechl told me today that she is considering a run for 54th District State Assembly seat currently held by Representative Gregg Underheim. In 2000, Bloechl lost to Underheim in the Republican primary. In that campaign she warned that the legislature was getting ready to eliminate the state's shared revenue program, a charge that so upset the Republican party leadership that they had then governor Thompson's press secretary Tony Jewell intervene in the primary to accuse Bloechl of "fearmongering." Bloechl's warning turned out to be accurate: the shared revenue program is still in place, but Republican governor Scott McCallum did try to eliminate it in 2001-2002 while the administration of Democrat Jim Doyle and the Republican legislature have failed to reform the program in any meaningful way.

Bloechl says that if she runs in 2006 it will be as a Democrat, setting up a primary between her and Gordon Hintz. A Bloechl/Hintz primary could be a classic contest pitting Hintz's policy wonkish, chamber of commerce friendly style against Bloechl's shoot from the hip, "mad as hell and not gonna take it any more" approach. No doubt Democratic Party leaders would get behind Hintz, but what about Democrats at the grassroots level? Blue collar union workers and seniors who lean Democratic might find a Bloechl candidacy appealing.

Melanie Bloechl served five terms on the Oshkosh Common Council, including two years as Mayor. She did not say when she would make a final decision on whether to run for the Assembly.

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