State Representative Brett Davis wants to follow in the footsteps of Arthur MacArthur, Erasmus D. Campbell, Thaddeus C. Pound, Herman L. Ekern, Philleo Nash and 37 other largely forgotten servants of the people of Wisconsin. He wants to be your next lieutenant governor.

   Brett Davis, State Representative for the 80th District, running for lieutenant governor as a Republican.

At the tender age of 28, Davis was elected in 2004 to represent the 80th Assembly district. The young Republican has been re-elected twice in a district he admits leans Democratic. Barack Obama won 64% of the vote in his district in 2008; Davis took 56% of the vote in his last re-election.

A 1998 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh business program, Davis gained a passion for politics in college working as a volunteer for former state Rep. Gregg Underheim. Upon graduation, he began his political career as a legislative aide for a previous 80th District Assemblyman. He went from there to a staff position with then Gov. Tommy Thompson, and followed Thompson to D.C. when he served as President George W. Bush's secretary of Health and Human Services.

Besides being a heartbeat away from the governorship, why, you might ask, would someone with a bright political career aspire to a role that traditionally has been a political wasteland of ribbon cuttings and rubber chicken dinner functionary?

"In our modern times, nobody can point to one thing a lieutenant governor has done, and it's not a partisan thing. Gov. Thompson and Lt. Gov. McCallum didn't get along. Same thing with Barbara Lawton and Gov. Doyle," Davis said during a recent visit to the Chilton Times-Journal office.

Davis considered all these things before deciding to make the run last year.
"I sat down with my wife, Amy, and talked about it," he said. "How can I make a bigger impact, continuing to serve in the Legislature or if Republicans get elected, if we have a Republican governor, which I believe will be Scott Walker, if I can make a difference and make the lieutenant governor a strong position for once, I think we can do some really positive and great things."

Davis has an agenda that he believes will bring meaning and value to the role of second in command of the state.

"If it continues to be a figurehead position, it needs to be eliminated," he said. "I don't think our founders set up the Constitution for this role to be a figurehead. I don't believe it's what they envisioned. I'm trying to breathe life into the lieutenant governor position. It's more than a ribbon cutter, more than a marketer."

Davis began stumping for the lieutenant governorship Labor Day weekend 2009. The message he has been imparting is the he would be "the leading taxpayer watchdog in Wisconsin."

"Looking at fraud, waste and abuse in government, that's No. 1," he said. "Consumers, taxpayers, need a strong advocate who has the ability to look within the administration, if given the authority by the governor, and go into the DNR and DOT and Dept. of Corrections and hold people accountable, start to do business practices differently. I can help save, every single year if I'm elected lieutenant governor, 100 times what it costs to run the office of lieutenant governor. That equates to $40 million every year, and I'm confident we can do it."

As the leading Assembly Republican spokesperson for education and former chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, Davis said education reform would also be a top issue if he is elected.

"When you look at our overall test scores on the national level, the National Assessment of Educational Progress scores, its staggering, Davis said. "It's really frustrating and no one's talking about it. I've been screaming my lungs out in the state Legislature but I can't get any traction on it. But when you look at reading scores, proficient levels of reading, 66% of Wisconsin eighth graders – this is a sample of 8th graders – are not able to read at proficient levels. This is the nation's report card. That's unacceptable to me, 66% in reading and 61% can't do math at grade level."

In the spring legislative session, Davis co-introduced with Sen. Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) legislation that would link teacher evaluations to student performance. Their legislation was not considered, but Davis still believes in merit pay as an incentive to performance.

"I think accountability within education is important. I think we should have some type of merit pay system in Wisconsin," he said. "The range of options that I want to continue to research varies."

What often gets lost in discussion of education reform is a focus on individual student performance, Davis said.

"At its simplest level, student growth as an individual from the beginning of the year to the end of the year," he said. "It sounds like a simple concept, but as a state we lose sight of it. As a state we've said we're going to fight about the school funding formula, which needs to be changed. I've introduced legislation and have some ideas to change that...The idea is that best practices should be disseminated faster throughout the state of Wisconsin. If they're doing something really well here in Chilton, we should be doing it everywhere across the entire state That's the focus to me. The lieutenant governor's position could be a strong advocate for education reform in the state."

Of course, the next lieutenant governor's role depends on the working relationship that person has with the new governor.

"I believe I would have a very good relationship with Gov. Walker. I've endorsed him publicly," Davis said. "I think we'd have a better working relationship and he would give more authority for getting things done."

Ultimately, Davis said he is making the run at lieutenant governor for his three children, Will, 6, Audrey 3, and Sam, 9 months.

"For me selfishly, it's for my kids over the long term," he said. "People are getting involved for the same reason. They want to make life better for their kids or their grandkids. And they don't see the same Wisconsin as when they were growing up. I certainly don't. My wife, Amy, grew up in Fond du Lac and I grew up in Monroe, although my family's originally from Omro and Oshkosh. We just don't see the same quality of life if we continue down this path. State spending right now is unsustainable. There are so many things we can do."

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