Grothman, Zarbano face off in race for Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman of Glenbeulah is running for reelection in Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District against Democrat John Zarbano of Oshkosh, a political newcomer.

The east-central Wisconsin district contains much of Winnebago County, along with Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Ozaukee, Green Lake, Manitowoc, Columbia, Marquette and Waushara Counties. 

It is solidly Republican, with 55.9 percent of voters choosing Republican Tim Michels in the 2022 governor’s race even as he lost to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers statewide. 

Grothman did not face a Democratic challenger in 2022, but has won reelection by comfortable margins in each race he’s run since being elected in 2014. His closest race came in 2018, where he still took 55 percent of the vote.

Zarbano is a retired lawyer who previously taught law courses at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Fox Valley Technical College. He told WPR he was motivated to run when he saw Grothman didn’t have a Democratic opponent two years ago.

“I turned to my wife and I said, ‘This stops now. He’s got to get challenged,’” Zarbano said. 

In seeking a sixth term in Congress, Grothman is breaking a pledge he made when he first ran for federal office.

In a crowded GOP primary 10 years ago, Grothman issued a statement pledging to limit himself to five two-year terms in the House of Representatives if elected, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Two of his Republican opponents did the same in that race. 

Grothman told WPR that only two of his 10 years in Congress came when Republicans were in control of both legislative chambers and the White House. He says they didn’t get as much done as he was hoping, and he views his experience as an advantage.

“When I was in the state Legislature, I think I accomplished more every year I was there because my experience was a help,” Grothman said. “Quite frankly, one of the problems we have now in Washington is we even have a little lack of experience.”

Zarbano shrugged off Grothman breaking a decade-old campaign pledge.

“Politicians break promises all the time,” he said. “I’m not all that disturbed by it.”

Zarbano said he is more disturbed by comments Grothman made on the U.S. House floor this summer, when Grothman said he wants both political parties to “work our way back to where America was in the 1960s.” 

Zarbano said he thinks his opponent is “stuck in the ’60s” and “doesn’t vote right.” 

“I call him a one-man war on women,” Zarbano said. “We’re not going backward, we’re going forward.”

Grothman said his comments on the House floor were in reference to decreasing the scale of the government, arguing that assistance programs discourage marriage. 

“I think to a large extent, the decrease in the number of nuclear families is caused by the government,” he said.

The differences between the two candidates are further highlighted by the issues they say they want to address in Congress. 

Beyond scaling back the size of the government, Grothman says he wants to address border security and inflation, both common issues referenced by Republicans. But he also says he wants to discourage transgenderism.

“I’ve run into a couple of grandmas who have transgender grandchildren. It’s really a heartbreak for these women, and it doesn’t have to be,” he said. “If it wasn’t being promoted as an alternative lifestyle, I do not think we’d have so many people going down this route.”

Zarbano, meanwhile, says he wants to go to Congress to help support unions, fund education, expand access to health care and restore Roe v. Wade.

“Every man and every woman in this nation has the personal fundamental right to make decisions about their own lives, and that decision includes health care,” he said. “And for women, health care includes access to contraception, access to in vitro fertilization and access to abortion.”

Grothman didn’t mention abortion when speaking to WPR, but spoke about the issue in a recent debate. 

“I’m obviously pro-life, but as a practical matter, Donald Trump has made it clear in the next four years, if he gets elected, we’re not going to have any more abortion bills in there,” he said.

While Zarbano says he’s crisscrossing the district and speaking to voters from Manitowoc to Green Lake, he faces an uphill battle. While the boundary lines have changed over time, a Democrat hasn’t won in the 6th District since the 1960s.