Race for the 31st Senate District heats up fast

Senator Ron Brown (R-Eau Claire) is desperately trying to remake himself as he faces re-election this fall. His website offers all sorts of "solutions" for things he should have been working on for the last four years. The voters in his district aren't buying it though. Polling suggests Senator Brown might be looking for a new job soon.

Kathleen Vinehout holds Brown to a statistical dead heat right out of the gate despite Brown holding almost a two-to-one advantage in name recognition. When voters are informed about the two candidates, Vinehout blows Brown out of the water 57% to 39% even though the polling was being done while a positive Brown ad was on TV.

Brown's Bush-like approval numbers continue in many categories. Only about 39% approve of the job he is doing in the Senate.

No doubt Brown's constituents are tired of hearing his claims that he is an avid fisherman while he votes against mercury protections for our lakes and streams. His constituents fish in those waters too and have probably seen nearly every lake in their area slapped with a mercury warning.

His constituents are also probably sick and tired of seeing trash trucks come over the boarder from Minnesota because the Senate and Assembly actually voted to reduce the tipping fee for garbage in their version of the state budget (AB 100, 6/30/05). Wisconsin's tipping fee is already too low and Brown and his colleagues should have increased the tipping fee to keep our state from becoming the dumping ground of the Midwest.

As more people get to know Vinehout on the campaign trial in the next few weeks, her numbers are only going to go up. Brown is headed no where but down.