Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Joseph Connelly (Wisconsin)
Joseph Connelly (independent) ran for election to the Wisconsin State Assembly to represent District 53. He lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Connelly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Joseph Connelly served in the United States Army from 2001 to 2010. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, in 2010 and 2018, respectively. Connelly's career experience includes working as a data and assessment specialist for a public school district and as the founder and owner of Edficiency LLC.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2020
General election
General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 53
Incumbent Michael Schraa defeated Joseph Connelly in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 53 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Schraa (R) | 68.5 | 19,758 |
 | Joseph Connelly (Independent)  | 31.4 | 9,054 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 34 | ||
| Total votes: 28,846 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 53
Incumbent Michael Schraa advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 53 on August 11, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michael Schraa | 99.7 | 4,043 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 14 | ||
| Total votes: 4,057 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Connelly's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Joseph Connelly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Connelly's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I met my wife in the National Guard and we served in Iraq together. We have two school age sons, and I've enjoyed watching them grow in one of the most amazing public schools I can imagine. I want them to see me as a person who is willing to work for our own success and for the opportunity of others. I measure myself not by what I think should be done, but by what I, myself, am willing to do. That's why I put on the uniform after leaving high school. That's why I went into teaching after seeing the effect of education on the streets in Kabul, Afghanistan, and it's why I've decided to throw my name in the hat for the 53rd at this moment in time.
- Fair Maps are critical to a functional democracy.
- Policy making should be based on data driven evidence and informed by expert opinion.
- Communities deserve leaders who are willing to represent all constituents, not just the majority of the majority party.
As an Assemblyman, I would work hard to restore proper separation of powers, fair maps, and checks and balances. These are fundamental to proper governance.
2) Elected officials must value a functional government over winning political fights. First and foremost, they must each jealously defend our democracy and our constitution.
3) Leaders must be pragmatists who are willing to accept incremental change.
4) Leaders must never try to turn citizens against themselves.
5) Leaders should make every effort to understand the underlying values that inform the political positions of their constituents and start from a place of trusting that people have positive motivations, deserve dignity and respect, and want what's best for our communities, state, and nation, regardless of their political party affiliations.
My next part-time job came with my enlistment in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in 2001 and it became my first full-time job in the fall of 2003 when my unit was activated to support the Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, NC. During that deployment, I was a member of a squad that got sent forward to Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. After the deployment, I spend a lot of time working full-time at our armory. We were deployed again, this time to Iraq, in the late summer of 2006, where I served as our company's Truckmaster (transportation company speak for Operations NCO). Upon arriving home, I took a job as our unit's full-time Readiness NCO, responsible for the day to day operations of our company including oversight of personnel, operations, and equipment readiness. I hung up my military career after the birth of my first son and my transition into the classroom as a high school physics and chemistry teacher in 2010.
We must elect leaders that are not only competent, but who value the roles they are in, allow their fellow leaders the latitude to properly execute their offices, and appreciate the fact that we each represent people of all political stripes.
Provided the opportunity, I would also like to participate in the Energy and Utilities Committee, as I view energy policy as a critical component to economic growth and environment protection. I also believe I am uniquely qualified to sit on the Science and Technology Committee as both my bachelors and masters degrees are in the field of science.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on August 16, 2020
