Don Pridemore

Don Pridemore
Wisconsin State Assembly District 22
Incumbent
In office
2005 - Present
Term ends
January 5, 2015
Years in position	8
Party	Republican
Compensation
Base salary	$49,943/year
Per diem	$88/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	April 2, 2013
First elected	2004
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Education
Bachelor's	Marquette University
Personal
Birthday	10/20/1946
Place of birth	Milwaukee, WI
Websites
Office website
Personal website
Campaign website

Don Pridemore (b. October 20, 1946) is a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing District 22 since 2013. He represented the 99th District from 2005 to 2013.

Pridemore ran for the nonpartisan state executive office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2013. He was defeated by incumbent Tony Evers in the general election on April 2, 2013.

Biography

Pridemore served in the United State Air Force and has worked as an electronics design engineer, electronics research technician, and senior electronics project engineer. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University.

He is a member of the Erin Park Board, American Legion, Hartford Lions, Hartford Area Taxpayers Association, National Rifle Association (NRA), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Washington County Republican Party, and Waukesha County Republican Party.

Education

• Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering - Marquette University

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Pridemore served on the following committees:

2011-2012

During the 2011-2012 legislative session, Pridemore served on these committees:

2009-2010

During the 2009-2010 legislative session, Pridemore served on these committees:

Wisconsin Committee Assignments, 2009
• Energy and Utilities
• Jobs, the Economy and Small Business
• Judiciary and Ethics
• Tax Exemptions

Elections

2017

Following his loss in the 2013 race for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, Pridemore announced he would consider running again for the position in 2017 if no other conservatives step up.

2013

See also: Wisconsin state executive official elections, 2013

Pridemore was a 2013 candidate for the non-partisan statewide position of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction. The incumbent, Tony Evers, is running for re-election. Unlike previous elections where multiple individuals filed to run, Pridemore was the only challenger to submit the necessary signatures required to appear on the ballot before the filing deadline passed on January 2, 2013, thus negating the need for the scheduled February 19, 2013 primary election. Evers and Pridemore, a Republican member of the State House since 2005, instead faced off in the general election on April 2, 2013, which Evers won.

• General election

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction General Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Non-partisan	Tony Evers Incumbent	61.1%	487,030
	Non-partisan	Don Pridemore	38.7%	308,050
	Scattering	Various	0.2%	1,431
Total Votes				796,511
Election Results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

Issues

Campaign themes

Pridemore's priorities for the Department of Public Instruction, if elected, include empowering local school boards and administrators to supersede teachers unions as the controlling forces behind state public schools, with the help of Act 10, and placing more emphasis on public schools and conservative style teaching, instead of "choice" schools, or charter schools, to meet the demands of the real world labor force. “There are so many jobs available where the kids coming out of tech schools and high schools don’t have the skills that match those jobs,” he said. “We need to make more connection with the actual world,” he told the Portage Daily Register in March 2013.

He outlines the top issues on his Official campaign website. They include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Local Control:

"It is time to get the power and the money out of Madison and back to the local schools. We spend over 500 million dollars per year on special programs. School districts should be allowed to spend that money where they decide it would be most beneficial."

• School Boards:

“School boards should be given the freedom to hire or allow a competent, well trained school official or employee who is experienced with returning force whenever force is required. Police officers, either retired or still on duty, who are trained to respond to school safety situations are the best example of such a qualified person."

• Virtual Schools:

"There can be no doubt that online learning presents the greatest opportunity to take education to the next level for all Americans. Access to specialized instruction that was out of reach 10 years ago is now only a click of the mouse away. We must allow technology and education to come together."

Debates

With less than three weeks to go until the election, incumbent state superintendent Tony Evers and Pridemore faced off on March 13, 2013 at a meeting of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards in Madison. The race, which is non-partisan, had focused on education proposals put forth by Gov. Scott Walker (R) in his budget plan.

Pridemore supports Walker's plan to expand the use of vouchers in the state while not increasing public school spending. Meanwhile Evers, who was first elected in 2009, opposes both measures and wants to increase spending by $225 per student.

Pridemore said budgets are tight and schools should not expect more money. "A lot of these common core standards really started with international standards. Now, why should we be beholden to some worldwide organization that's just trying to dumb down America," he stated.

Regarding school safety, Pridemore proposed allowing schools to have armed volunteers to provide security, which Evers said risks turning schools into the "wild west." While presenting a stark contrast in most of their views, the two did agree in their opposition to Walker's proposal to create a separate school board to oversee charter schools.

Money in the campaign

On March 25, 2013, one week before the election, The Associated Press reported that incumbent Tony Evers' re-campaign had spent almost $210,000 since January, and will end the campaign with about $40,000 cash on hand. These figures reflect the most recent campaign finance reports filed by the candidates' committees with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. The latest report lists contributions and spending from Jan 1-March 18. According to the AP report, Pridemore's last filing, covering Jan. 1-Feb 4., showed him spending under $20,000, a significantly lower sum than his opponent. However the lion's share of Evers' spending occurred between Feb. 5 and March 18, therefore it is difficult to assess the candidates' comparative financial standing heading into the April 2 election without Pridemore's updated financial summary. The report also said Pridemore raised $2,400 and had $33,400 on hand as of Feb. 4, 2013.

Controversies

Blacklisted reporters

On March 17, 2013, the Associated Press reported on the existence of a memo from Pridemore's campaign containing the names of five members of the press who had been blacklisted, along with their affiliated media outlets, for exhibiting what Pridemore considers "liberal bias." The memo was turned over to the AP by one of the blacklisted reporters, Jack Craver, from The Capital Times. The memos said: "If the reporter requests an interview, they must submit their questions in a written form and they will receive a written response to only those questions we want to respond to. These are all LIBERAL's and have chosen to parse words, phrases and spin my responses to fit their agendas. If they continue to spin our written responses, they will be ignored in the future." It further instructed that campaign staffers record and track all interactions with blacklisted reporters on a spreadsheet. The memo did not provide specific examples for the biased reporting that led to Craver's and the others' shunning by the campaign.

2012

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2012

Pridemore won re-election in the 2012 election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 22. Pridemore defeated Nick Oliver in the Republican primary on August 14 and was unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 22, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Don Pridemore Incumbent	98.6%	23,817
	–	Scattering	1.4%	348
Total Votes				24,165

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 22 Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Don Pridemore Incumbent	83.2%	8,290
Nick Oliver	16.8%	1,675
Total Votes		9,965

2010

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2010

Pridemore was re-elected to Wisconsin State Assembly District 99. He defeated Democrat Tom Hibbard in the general election on November 2, 2010. He defeated Republicans Jim Batzko and Scott Henke in the September 14, 2010 primary election.

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 99 General Election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Don Pridemore (R)		22,355
Tom Hibbard (D)		6,518

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 1 Republican Primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Don Pridemore (R)		7,618	57.65%
Scott M. Henke (R)		3,164	23.94%
Jim Batzko (R)		2,427	18.37%

Sponsored legislation

Legislation sponsored in 2009 includes:

• AB-336 Health care facility, health care provider, or employee of: liability from immunity for reporting violation of law or certain standards, unprofessional conduct, or negligence in patient care; confidentiality of patient health care records provision
• AB-359 Married couple with Wisconsin adjusted gross income under certain amount: refundable individual income tax credit created

For a full listing of sponsored legislation and details see the House site.

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

In 2010, Pridemore received $18,883 in campaign donations. The top contributors are listed below.

Wisconsin State Assembly 2010 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Don Pridemore's campaign in 2010
Wisconsin Institute Of CPAs	$750
Wisconsin Health & Hospital Association	$500
Bradt, Sam	$500
Wisconsin Republican Party	$500
Tavern League Of Wisconsin	$500
Total Raised in 2010	$18,883

2008

The top 5 donors to Pridemore's 2008 campaign:

Donor	Amount
Northwestern Mutual Life	$500
WI Realtors Assoc	$500
Mitchell, Susan M	$500
WI Motor Carriers Assoc	$500
Walton, Lynne	$500

Recent news

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Don Pridemore News Feed

• State News Roundup: Total dairy farms has dropped below 11K - Pierce County Herald

External links

Suggest a link

• Pridemore for Wisconsin Superintendent Official 2013 Campaign Site
• Follow Pridemore's 2013 campaign on Twitter
• Pridemore's 2013 campaign on Facebook
• Representative Pridemore's campaign
• Official campaign blog
• Wisconsin Assembly - Representative Don Pridemore
• Project Vote Smart biographical profile
• Project Vote Smart legislative profile
• Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2004
• Wisconsin Democracy Campaign profile
• Representative Pridemore's Freedom Speaks profile
• Representative Pridemore's facebook
• Representative Pridemore's twitter

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	Wisconsin State Assembly District 22 2013–present	Succeeded by NA
Preceded by -	Wisconsin State Assembly District 99 2005–2013	Succeeded by Chris Kapenga (R)