Hanke running for representative of the 67th Assembly District

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  The unique aspect of the 67th Assembly District “is that it is made up of Mayberry communities,” says Mike Hanke.

Hanke, 51, of Chippewa Falls, is running as a Republican for the position currently held by Tom Larson of Colfax.

Larson, who was first elected as representative of the 67th Assembly District in 2010, has announced that he does not intend to seek re-election.

“When I found out Tom wasn’t going to run again, I talked to my family. And talked to my family. And talked to my family. This is not just me (who would be affected),” Hanke said, adding that he takes care of his grandchildren during the day — and calls it Papa’s Daycare — that he goes to college full-time and that he also works with veterans and veterans’ groups.

The 67th Assembly District includes the Towns of Colfax, Elk Mound, Grant, Hay River, Otter Creek, Red Cedar, Sand Creek, Sheridan, Sherman, Spring Brook, Tainter and Wilson; the villages of Colfax, Elk Mound, Ridgeland, and Wheeler; and part of Barron and Chippewa counties.

Hanke previously has served two terms on the Chippewa Falls City Council and is a retired United States Army non-commissioned officer. He served two tours of duty in Iraq and retired from the military in 2013.

He also has volunteered with Meals on Wheels, the Chippewa Falls History Project, and is a state officer with Amvets.

“We just dropped the charter off for the new Colfax Amvets post, which we are all pretty excited about. … I am not your traditional retired individual. I am busy,” Hanke said.

Serving in the state Assembly certainly would not decrease Hanke’s workload, but for him, another more important question comes to the forefront.

“Is there some positive that I can do in Madison? I think there is. I’ve done it on a volunteer basis,” Hanke said.

“I took a look at what I’m doing with volunteering, with running Papa’s Daycare, with veteran advocacy work, with the Colfax (Amvets) post, the Highway 128 Memorial Highway. I went to Madison to testify for that. There are so many things I can do that are positive for the 67th Assembly District. It has drawn me to to it,” Hanke said.

Cold War

Hanke noted that he served with Brian Aasen of Colfax in the late 1980s in Germany.

“We served in the First Armored Division. He is from Colfax, and I am from Chippewa Falls — 20 miles apart. Here we are in Europe during the Cold War, serving together, We always joked that we were the ones who won the Cold War because the (Berlin) Wall fell while we there,” Hanke said.

“I will always remember that day. (The) first sergeant called a special formation about 10 o’clock in the morning. We’re out there. He addressed our unit. He said, ‘Men, you’re living in historic times. The Cold War is over. The Wall just fell.’ I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said.

During his military career, Hanke also served in Iraq.

“I was on a 20-hour patrol for the first free election of the Iraqi people. I watched Iraqis walk across the desert to cast a vote,” he said.

Hanke retired as a platoon sergeant in 2013.

“I started as a private, and I worked my way up the ranks. When you are in the military, there is no political affiliation. I didn’t care what political party my soldiers were in. I cared about the moral fiber of the that soldier,” he said.

Hometown

The 67th Assembly District truly feels like home for Hanke.

“I want to go to Madison to represent the families in Colfax … the families in Cornell, Bloomer, and Chippewa Falls, Cadott, rural Boyd and Stanley. The cities of Stanley and Boyd in the eastern part of the county are not in the 67th, although north of them are,” he said.

“I want to represent their voices. I don’t want to represent somebody’s voice in Madison because Madison is not going to vote for me … when I am back home, doing community events, I am going to be the one sitting in front of the senior citizens and the veterans and the single parents and the school boards. I am the face of the community in Madison, and I want to represent the community,” Hanke said.

“One of the biggest challenges in Madison is facing the Red-Blue fight. That’s a problem. That’s a big problem … when someone is elected, they are elected to represent the people from their district,” he said.

Hanke says he strongly believes in giving a voice to the people of the 67th Assembly District.

“As you go south, the whole template changes (for assembly districts). Tomah. LaCrosse. Eau Claire. Green Bay. Wausau. All the southern assembly districts have populations that are so much more vast (than the 67th),” he said.

“Regrettably, what happens, is that as that trend continues (of higher population districts farther south), anybody north of Highway 29, our voice shrinks and shrinks and shrinks … but we are still here. We are still vital communities. And we are the Mayberry communities of Wisconsin. We have the mom and pop stores. We are not run by Wal-Mart. We are run by the Cenexes and Mom’s (Restaurant in Colfax). The small newspapers,” Hanke said.

Primary

The partisan primary for the November 8 fall election will be held August 9.

In addition to Hanke, two other candidates have announced they are running as Republicans for representative of the 67th Assembly District: Travis Hakes, a Lake Hallie police officer and the Elk Mound police chief; and Rob Sommerfield, a small business owner in Bloomer.

On the Democratic side, Dennis Doughty of Chippewa Falls is running for representative of the 67th Assembly District.

Doughty is the former president of the Chippewa Falls City Council and worked for Cray Research and Silicon Graphics International (SGI).