Wis. State Senator Connects Her Politics To Her Past

Wis. State Senator Connects Her Politics To Her Past
By DAVID GREENE
Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012

As the presidential election nears, Morning Edition is visiting swing counties in swing states for our series First and Main. We're listening to voters where they live — to understand what's shaping their thinking this election year. This week, we're spending time in Winnebago County, Wis., where we spoke with two women — one Democrat, one Republican — who embody their state's Midwestern charm and spirit of self-reliance.

First, we hear from the Democrat.

Last year, Jessica King became a Wisconsin state senator, swept into office in a wave of special recall votes. It was part of the larger political drama that saw Wisconsin's governor avoid his own recall.

King, 37, made history. In part of her district, she's the first Democrat to serve as state senator since the 1930s.

Her secret to representing a Republican area?

"I'm realistic. I represent approximately 160,000 people, and you have to ask yourself, 'When's the last time you remember 160,000 people agreeing on anything?' Probably never," she says. "If I can get people to agree with me 7 out of 10 times, I'm probably doing a good job.

"Now for those three times that maybe people think, 'Well, my priorities line up differently than the senator's' — well, as long as I do what every fifth-grade math teacher told me to do, which is 'show my work' — show my work, explain it — people then at least respect me."

When we met in a coffee shop in downtown Oshkosh, Wis., the youngest woman in Wisconsin's state Senate was wearing a business suit and was on the go, stealing bits of a muffin that was her breakfast.

King's story began with a tough childhood.

"My father really suffered from today what we call, you know, post-traumatic stress disorder," King says. "My mother actually suffered from schizophrenia."

Her dad's PTSD dates to when he served on a destroyer in the Pacific before the Vietnam War.
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