On Eve of Election, Pasch, Darling Offer Clear Choice for 8th District Voters

The political cauldron in the state has been at a steady simmer for the past few months, but on Tuesday it will be brought to a full boil as voters go to the polls in six recall elections throughout Wisconsin.

Republican Alberta Darling, of River Hills, will look to defend her 8th Senate District seat from Democratic challenger state Rep. Sandy Pasch, of Whitefish Bay.

Related: On the campaign trail with and

With such clear-cut differences between the two candidates, voters in this election will decide whether to continue taking the state on the path it’s on, or correct course.

“I truly think our state’s future, if it doesn’t change, is in serious harm,” Pasch said. “We have seen policies that have divided our state, policies that hurt the middle class, policies and budget issues that severely harm our children, harm our seniors and really don’t take us in the direction we need to go.”

However, Darling said the election would send ripples not only across the state, but also throughout the nation. She said the country is watching this election, and said Wisconsin is shining as a beacon of how to erase deficits without placing it on the backs of taxpayers.

“We’re sending a message to the state and the country that we will go forward with the reforms we’ve made, and that’s good news for our citizens,” Darling said. “The debate at the federal level is the same one we’re having right now here in Wisconsin. People are looking at Wisconsin and a majority are saying, ‘You know, they did what a majority of the voters wanted them to do.' ”

The 8th District showdown is one of six recall elections throughout Wisconsin in which Republican senators are being targeted. On Aug. 16, two Democratic incumbents will take on GOP challengers as well.

After months of campaigning by Darling and Pasch, there are very few voters left that are undecided. In fact, shows that just 1 percent of those surveyed said they aren't sure whom they will vote for. That's why both candidates are focusing so much on turning out their supporters in this mid-summer election.

And with the two candidates differing so much on the fundamental issues of growing jobs and balancing a budget in the state, voters will have a clear choice on Tuesday.

Here's a look at how Pasch and Darling stand on the key issues facing the state.

Growing jobs in Wisconsin

When asked about attracting jobs, Darling said to simply look at the work already being done this year at the Capitol. She said the state added 39,000 jobs this year, and the state's job growth rate has continued to outpace the nation.

Darling said she also helped pass legislation that made the state more business friendly by cutting litigation, pushing for tort reform, reigning in spending, and providing incentives for companies to locate in the state.

“Growing the economy and jobs is the number one issue in the state. The budget that we put forward was significant for growing jobs and attracting jobs,” Darling said. “In general, that’s the best thing we can do for growing the economy is to get control of our spending and debt and have a climate for growing jobs.”

Pasch said an educated workforce is key to creating an environment that encourages businesses to thrive, and she said connections need to be formed between entrepreneurs, researchers, universities, technical colleges and the manufacturing base to create family-supporting jobs.

“We need to make sure we have a trained workforce, that we have an educated workforce. That’s why I’m really concerned about the cuts to education and the cuts to technical colleges,” she said. “At a time when we need to retrain a lot of our workers, that’s not the time to defund programs.”

Pasch also said the state should have money available to inspire entrepreneurs and give them the seed money they need to create jobs.

Walker’s 2011-13 budget

Pasch said Walker and Darling have misplaced priorities by cutting $1.6 billion for education and capping SeniorCare enrollment, while giving $2.3 billion in tax breaks to corporations.

“In tough economic times we need to be strategic and we need to set important priorities. (We need to determine) what are essential services and what are things we can delay or postpone,” she said. "I think a lot of what this budget displays is misplaced priorities and not shared sacrifice.”

However, Darling said her Republican counterparts inherited a $3.6 billion deficit from the “Doyle-Pasch Team.” During that time Darling said Wisconsin residents saw their taxes rise by $4 billion during a recession and more 150,000 people lost their jobs.

“The best thing that we did was to show taxpayers that we’re going to protect them and grow jobs without raising taxes,” Darling said. “We had to make some tough decisions but we balanced the budget without raising taxes.”

Cuts to health programs in the budget

Darling said that despite making cuts to Planned Parenthood and Medicaid, a majority of the social programs are still in tact in the state budget. She said most families do not want to be dependent on government programs, and would rather have a job to empower them to support their families independently.

Darling, a breast cancer survivor, said that 90 percent of health initiatives for women are still funded in the budget, and family planning was preserved through block grants and community grants. She said both BadgerCare and Medicaid were preserved, and $1.4 billion was placed into Medicaid for low-income families.

“This is a very pro-family budget because in the long run the best thing we can do for Wisconsin families is give them a job and job security. That’s the most important thing we can do for Wisconsin families, and that’s what we’re doing,” Darling said.

Pasch said cuts to Planned Parenthood and Medicaid will be more costly in the long run, as those costs are absorbed in other areas and ultimately passed on to taxpayers. She also criticized a provision in the budget that gives increased authority to Department of Health Services Secretary Dennis Smith in determining eligibility and co-pays in the Medicaid program.

“Yes, we need to look at costs of things, but you do it through administrative efficiencies. You do it through better negotiating on pharmaceutical costs and things like that. You don’t decrease access,” she said. “(That is) very shortsighted. My colleagues across the aisle seem to think that if you decrease access to health care, somehow people aren’t going to need health care.

“Well, people will still get sick, and they will end up going to emergency rooms, which is more expensive and tends to have poor outcomes because people go in when they are in an emergency state," Pasch added. "We need to be strategic and look at how do we solve problems in a way that’s cost effective and doesn’t hurt people in the process.”

Collective bargaining taking a back seat?

While the repeal of the majority of collective bargaining rights “fed the flame” of gathering more than 30,000 signatures needed to recall Darling, Pasch said the anger over the repeal of 50 years of worker rights has not diminished.

Since the campaign has picked up, Pasch has targeted Darling for her cuts to public education, health care programs and her lack of responsiveness with constituents but hasn't said much about the controversial budget repair bill.

“It’s not just because of collective bargaining. That’s part of it, but it’s also the misplaced priorities, the cuts to public education, her failure to respond as state senator. I’ve spoken to so many constituents who say they call Senator Darling and she doesn’t return calls,” Pasch said. “They send her e-mails and she doesn’t respond. She won’t meet with me in debates. We had one face-to-face public debate. She’s been asked over and over again to explain her positions on different things and she’s refused to. Senator Darling stopped listening.”

Darling also agreed that collective bargaining has taken a back seat during the campaign. She said part of the reason is that the “tools” given to school districts are actually working, and Pasch doesn’t want to discuss its success. However, she said union-led interest groups flooded into the state in February, which was proof that collective bargaining is still a hot button in this election.

“The recall was called on the collective bargaining Act 10. The reason you aren’t hearing about that anymore is because it is working, so my opponent doesn’t want to talk about that,” Darling said. “The painful decisions we had to make are working. I’m very confident in my heart that the decisions I made were for the betterment of our state.”

Darling said the tools given to the districts helped free up cash for schools that had been tied into contracts and health care plans. However, for many districts Act 10 prevented massive layoffs at school districts in the state, and allowed more money to be placed into the classroom.