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43rd Assembly race is a win for Wynn

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WHITEWATER — At about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, 43rd Assembly District hopeful Evan Wynn got the news that 85 percent of the votes were in. He was leading two-term incumbent Rep. Kim Hixson in the race by a 6 percent margin.

Still, the former U.S. Army paratrooper wasn't ready to declare victory.

"I try never to take my parachute off until I've hit the ground," Wynn said by phone.

Twenty minutes later, Wynn decided the ground was close enough. In a phone interview, the 48-year-old Whitewater Republican formally declared victory with 53 percent of the vote, compared to 47 percent for Hixson, a Whitewater Democrat.

Hixson, 53, a professor at UW-Whitewater, has been on leave while serving in the Assembly since 2006.

Wynn soon will have his legislative boots on the ground in a district and a state that in recent years has been a battleground of job loss.

"Now I have the weight of the responsibility of representing the people and doing the right things to make sure we have jobs for people. As hard as it was to get to this point, the real hard work starts tomorrow," Wynn said.

Tuesday night, Wynn laid out his plan of attack simply and plainly. First, he said, he wants to tackle the state's $2.8 billion budget deficit.

Wynn said the state can start by embracing a set of generally accepted accounting principles.

"And stop using one time (federal) dollars to plug holes," he said.

Wynn, a driver's ed instructor and political newcomer, wants to lower taxes and create a business climate that will keep jobs and college graduates from bleeding out of the state.

"In a year, I'd like to no longer be known as the eighth worst state for jobs," Wynn said. "I'd like to see us become the top place for business in the country."

Wynn said that, starting today, he expects voters will hold him accountable for all he does or doesn't accomplish.

"This election was about the voters," he said. "Not Republicans or Democrats. And if the voters don't see results in two years, I fully expect them to be voting for someone else to replace me."