Caffeinated Politics

There’s a particular kind of state legislative candidate who strikes my fancy. Someone who is serious about policymaking. Someone who knows the inside ropes and pulleys that make the machinery of the statehouse work. It takes more than a desire to be elected as a state representative. To be effective, one needs a certain background to succeed once elected.

That is why I am strongly supporting and endorsing Isaia Ben-Ami for the 76th Assembly District. He is a lifelong Madisonian, grandchild of immigrants, and a public policy professional. I have had his political lawn signs (2) up for weeks, and I find local conversations filled with enthusiasm for his election campaign. I find that Isaia, who grew up in this city, understands its quirks, contradictions, and aspirations.

He has used his skill sets to shape public policy needs while working in an assembly office under the statehouse dome. As former chief of staff, policy director, and constituent services director for Assistant Minority Leader Kalan Haywood, D-Milwaukee, Ben-Ami was responsible for staffing Assembly Democrats on transportation and housing issues. Now he is running for the opportunity to serve downtown Madison and the isthmus. In other words, this stretch of land where our politics, culture, and community collide in the most Madisony (my word) way possible.

What makes Ben‑Ami’s candidacy feel genuinely energizing to me is the sense of rootedness he brings with him. He has been door-knocking at our home twice, once with his wife. I like that he is not approaching our neighborhood, for instance, as something he has studied, but knows us as a part of the city he has lived in.

Our ward in the city is DEEP Blue, and the political advocacy and intensity here is more direct and focused than in other parts of the city- which are also blue and committed to democratic values. Here we demand a seriousness in policy work from the bill drafting, the analysis, the meetings where the future of state policy is shaped line by line. That kind of experience that he has already engaged in is invaluable in a place like the 76th, where residents want someone who can navigate the machinery of state government without needing to learn it after taking office.

I recall that soon after moving to Madison in December 1986 (just a couple of blocks from where James and I now own a house), a friend told me that neighborhood meetings can feel like graduate seminars. We take local and state issues seriously here. And we need a bright-and-community-focused leader for our state representative.

In this time of bombastic politics and anger, I am truly glad that in my city we have an engaging, conversant, and skilled candidate for the state representative seat. I am proud to endorse and vote for Isaia Ben-Ami. He is rooted in a love for the city that raised him.