67th District: Republican Dave Armstrong cites inflation as top issue

The representative for Wisconsin’s 75th Assembly District since 2021, Dave Armstrong, of Rice Lake, says he wanted to hear the concerns of his potential new constituents as he campaigns to return to the Legislature under a new district map.

Now running in the 67th where his residence is located, Armstrong called rising prices the number one issue, followed by health care after the closure of two nearby hospitals earlier this year. He faces Democrat Jeff Foster of Grant Township.

Armstrong has been executive director of the Barron County Economic Development Corporation since 2013. He’s also served on the Rice Lake City Council and has started two companies in the medical field. He and his wife, Janelle, have four grown children, four grandchildren and a fifth on the way. He spoke with WPR’s Robin Washington on “Morning Edition” about his candidacy. 

This conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Robin Washington: What’s the single biggest issue facing the district and how can the Legislature address it?

Dave Armstrong: So far this year, I’ve knocked on about 2,000 doors because of the district change. Barron County stayed the same in the 67th, but I lost the greater portion of Washburn County and picked up about half of Dunn County. So I knew virtually nobody in Dunn County, and I spent a lot of time there talking to people. Pretty much universally, what I’ve heard is prices are way too high. Depending on where I was, people were also talking about how high property taxes are. So the state has to keep costs down and do something about property taxes.

One other big issue we’ve got in the southern part of the district is health care. Eau Claire was hit by massive closures of two hospital systems. That’s going to have to be addressed this next session. And then on the north side, the birthing center in Rice Lake closed. We’d been successful in making Barron County a growing population center but not having a birthing center flies completely in the face of that. We’re telling young families, “If you want to raise a family, come up here. But you can’t have a child here.”

RW: The wolf hunt has gotten much attention in the region and taken up much of the Department of Natural Resources’ time. The area saw a wolf killed by a young man just last month. Your district has farmers who may be concerned about their livestock as well as environmentalists concerned about protecting the wolf. Is there room for compromise here?

DA: I think so. Right now the extremes seem to be who you hear from the most. I’m a hunter, so I come from the standpoint that it’s a game animal. If you want to look at it that way, let’s regulate it. We can’t kill them all, and we can’t have them running wild like they are. So I think there is room for compromise.

I took the state program for carnivore tracking two years in a row, and it’s fascinating. You actually go out and track carnivores in a given area. It’s fascinating to learn more about them, but also that’s what gives you the true numbers of what’s out there.

RW: Route 53 is a lifeline for the district and the region. Part of the stretch is a limited-access freeway with no cross traffic, similar to an interstate. Part of it has everything from ATVs to tractors crossing the road. We just had a fatal accident recently. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has reconfigured some intersections to minimize conflicts. Is this enough?

DA: We don’t know yet. If you go north of Rice Lake right now, for probably 15-20 miles, it’s nonstop construction. I know they’re doing their best. It’ll be interesting to see once they get done if it makes any difference.

RW: Is there any Democratic-backed initiative in the Legislature that you can get behind — keeping in mind, we don’t know which party will be in control in the next term?

DA: I’ve worked across the aisle on a number of issues. I think we almost got one through — maybe we did get it through; I’d have to look again.

I worked across the aisle with a Democrat in the Assembly for a group of individuals whose federal pensions are taxed here. We tried to get that rectified. Just last week, Rep. Alex Joers  contacted my office. He’s a Democrat, and he asked if we would meet about small business grants or incentives. I said absolutely. I’m not a hardliner. I’ll talk to anybody about anything if it makes sense. The bigger question is — is there enough consensus to get it passed?

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