Former state Rep. Don Pridemore, who retired from the legislature in 2014, once urged abused women to stay with abusive spouses.
The controversy sparked headlines like this one: “Wisconsin Lawmaker: If You Are Being Beaten, Just Remember the Things You Love About Your Husband.” And this one, “Wisconsin Lawmaker Says Women Should Stay in Abusive Marriages.”
An article by Yahoo noted that Pridemore, 77, “also said that while he thinks women are capable of caring for a family ‘in certain situations,’ fathers are the only ones who provide structure and discipline. If they don’t grow up with married biological parents, Pridemore says, ‘kids tend to go astray.'”
That’s not the only controversial position he has taken over the years:
- Pridemore, of the Town of Erin, has advocated for arresting federal officials who implement healthcare laws;
- criticized the Democratic governor for not getting people the COVID-19 vaccine faster;
- failed to visit a village board meeting in an important community in his district for 6 years;
- missed a key vote on mining to hold a fundraiser;
- wanted to freeze funding for public schools;
- criticized then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker for refusing to endorse him and failed to vote on a Walker budget despite being at the Capitol;
- tried to loosen regulations on puppy mills and raw milk;
- was mired in controversy over residency claims he lived in the mayor’s house; backpedaled on a plan to repeal a DPI ban on school mascots;
- was fined for using state resources to issue a political press release;
- and argues that 30,000 Chinese-manufactured ID cards determined the 2020 election.
- Pridemore once pushed a mandate that police must detain anyone who could not immediately prove their legal status in the United States for 48 hours, even in cases of speeding. It strikes us that a lot of innocent people would be caught in that net.
In 2011, Don Pridemore was the lone Republican who voted against making concealed carry legal in Wisconsin. According to the West Bend Daily News, June 22, 2011:
Pridemore advocated for term limits, saying they would “prevent career politicians from taking over state politics,” yet, even though he retired from the Legislature in 2014, after serving eight years, he’s run several times for office since.
He ran as a write-in candidate after losing a state Senate primary in 2021, and received 85 votes. He lost the primary to Republican John Jagler 57 to 31. Pridemore, who is a school board member, is now running in the 98th Assembly race.
Some might argue that he paved the way for Democrat Tony Evers to become governor when he lost the state School Superintendent’s race to Evers in 2013 by a whopping margin of 61-38. The Kenosha News reported that vote totals were down, noting that “insiders take that as a sign of how poorly Pridemore connected with voters; he had no presence on the airwaves and even some conservatives weren’t comfortable with the idea of him being the state’s top education official.”
Here is more about Don Pridemore:
1. The Abused Women Controversy
According to Milwaukee Magazine, in 2012, Don Pridemore caused controversy when WTMJ-TV reported on a bill he co-sponsored “that would have declared single parenting a contributing factor to child abuse.”
“If they can re-find those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place,” he told reporter Annie Scholz of women in abusive marriages, “it might help.” The bill would have mandated that the state Child Abuse Prevention Board “conduct public awareness campaigns emphasizing that single parenthood is a leading cause of child abuse.”
The bill’s language stated, according to Time Magazine, “public awareness of the problems of child abuse and neglect. In promoting those campaigns and materials, the [child abuse prevention] board shall emphasize nonmarital parenthood as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.”
2. Don Pridemore Was Upset that More People Couldn’t get the COVID-19 Vaccine Faster
Pridemore criticized the governor’s “COVID-19 vaccine rollout” and said the legislature should try to improve the system, stating, “It’s really a tragedy that people who want it can’t get it.” That’s according to the Daily Citizen in 2011.
3. Don Pridemore’s Historic Ties to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos
Pridemore’s ties to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos go back years:
4. In 6 Years in Office, Don Pridemore Did Not Even Visit the Sussex Village Board a Single Time
In 2010, Pridemore was criticized by a Republican opponent who was a Sussex trustee, and who said, “not one time has Mr. Pridemore come to a village board meeting. Not once. The state legislature is out of session from May until January. Certainly in that time he could have found time to give representation to the whole community.” Sussex was an important community in Pridemore’s then-legislative district, which he had served in for 6 years at that point.
Pridemore’s explanation was that he hadn’t “shown up to any Sussex meetings because he wasn’t invited and didn’t want to give the impression that the state was meddling in local affairs,” according to a 2010 article in the West Bend Daily News.
5. Don Pridemore Missed an Important Vote on Mining in Wisconsin to have a Fundraiser
Pridemore missed a “high-profile vote on (a) recent mining bill in order to attend a campaign fundraiser,” earning him criticism from the conservative site Media Trackers, according to a 2013 article in the Capital Times.
Conservative writer Brian Sikma “chided” Pridemore for “ducking out before the vote on … the controversial mining bill to attend a fundraiser for his campaign. That made Pridemore the only Republican not to vote for Assembly Bill 1. Pridemore then showed up for the photo op at a bill signing…” That’s according to a 2013 article in the Wisconsin State Journal.
6. Don Pridemore Wanted Federal Officials to be Arrested if they Implemented Obamacare
Pridemore supported arresting federal officials “who implement Obamacare,” wrote the Capital Times in 2013. The Daily Tribune accused Pridemore of “crackpotism” for this stance.
According to a 2012 article in the Dunn County News, Pridemore indicated on a survey that he supports “a bill to arrest federal officials who try to implement” Obamacare in Wisconsin. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare was legal. Pridemore’s spokesman claimed he answered the survey before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Obamacare and would “no longer advocate arresting federal officials,” the Wisconsin State Journal reported in 2012.
In the same survey Pridemore answered yes when asked if he would support legislation that would “allow TSA agents to be charged with sexual assault if they use invasive pat-down procedures?”
7. Don Pridemore Supported a Spending Freeze for Public Schools
Pridemore backed a “public school spending freeze,” according to the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram in 2013.
8. Don Pridemore Believes 30,000 Chinese-manufactured ID cards Overturned the 2020 Election
Pridemore “said he does not believe the results of the November election were valid and that he does not consider Joe Biden to be his president. He said he believed in allegations like 30,000 Chinese-manufactured ID cards that would have overturned the result of the election,” the Daily Citizen reported in 2021.
9. Even Conservatives ‘Weren’t Comfortable’ with Don Pridemore, Who Connected ‘Poorly’ with Voters, Helping Tony Evers Get Elected Statewide
Evers cruised to re-election, “but his win was no surprise to insiders, who saw GOP state Rep. Don Pridemore as an even weaker challenger….” And almost 60,000 fewer votes were cast in the DPI race than in the state Supreme Court race. “Insiders take that as a sign of how poorly Pridemore connected with voters; he had no presence on the airwaves and even some conservatives weren’t comfortable with the idea of him being the state’s top education official.” That’s according to an article in the Kenosha News in 2013.
11. Don Pridemore Criticized Republican Gov. Scott Walker for Refusing to Endorse Him
Don Pridemore criticized Republican Scott Walker for not endorsing him for state school superintendent. When Pridemore ran against Democrat Tony Evers for state School Superintendent, his candidacy was considered so weak that then Republican Gov. Scott Walker didn’t endorse him.
“I’m disappointed but I knew the governor was in a tough position and now he’s thinking of running for president,” Pridemore said, according to a 2013 article in the Chippewa Herald-Telegram. “I think a lot of people have to question why he didn’t support someone who would be a much friendlier person in this job.”
12. Donald Pridemore Wanted to Loosen Regulations on Controversial Puppy Mills
Don Pridemore circulated a bill that “would raise the number of dogs that may be sold by unlicensed breeders,” which were called “puppy mills” by the La Crosse Tribune in a 2011 article. Pridemore was trying to roll back regulations passed unanimously by the state Legislature after “sick and suffering animals” from dog breeding operations were discovered.
13. Don Pridemore Co-sponsored a bill to allow farmers to sell raw milk despite cases where people were sickened by bacteria
Pridemore co-sponsored a bill to “allow farmers to sell raw milk directly to consumers.” Marshfield News-Herald, 2011. That came after controversy emerged in Racine County, where 16 fourth graders and family members were sickened by bacteria in raw milk, the newspaper reported.
14. Don Pridemore wanted to require that police detain everyone arrested on any civil or criminal violation (including speeding) if they couldn’t immediately prove their legal residence in the US
His immigration bill would require police “to detain anyone who is arrested on a civil or a criminal violation who can’t provide identification proving legal residence in the United States’ for 48 hours. They would then have to notify federal immigration officials. It included speeding offenses, according to the Wisconsin State Journal, in 2011.
15. Don Pridemore did not vote on one of Scott Walker’s budgets even though he was present in the Capitol
Pridemore was present for a key vote on a Scott Walker budget but did not vote. The Republican-controlled Legislature easily passed it. That’s according to a 2013 article in the Capital Times.
16. Don Pridemore ‘backed away’ from a pledge to eliminate the DPI’s American Indian mascot policy
Pridemore proposed a plan to eliminate the DPI’s American Indian mascot policy but then “backed away from his pledge to eliminate the policy,” according to The Oshkosh Northwestern, in a 2013 article. He said people “should be allowed to offer thoughts” on the matter.
17. Residency controversy – living in the mayor’s house?
In a letter to the Daily Citizen in 2021, Steven Hepp of Watertown alleged that he filed the complaint because when Pridemore was asked about his residence in the 13th Senate District, “he stated that he has an apartment within the district and a home outside of it. After some research I found out that Pridemore was using the mayor of Hartford’s home address for his nomination papers and claimed to be renting a bedroom there.” He wrote that the mayor has since received a notice that renting a bedroom in a single-family home violates Harford’s zoning codes.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission rejected the challenge that Pridemore lives outside the Senate district. Pridemore provided a copy of his rental lease. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Pridemore, a Republican, wrote on his nomination papers that his voting address is the same as that of Hartford Mayor Tim Michalak. Michalak told the Journal Sentinel this week that Pridemore is selling his home in Erin to his son and will live with Michalak until he builds a new home.”
“Yes, that’s where I’m living with my wife Tina,” said Pridemore to the Washington County Insider. “The mayor is the one renting it to me.” The Insider reported: “Pridemore said he has an upstairs bedroom and bathroom. ‘He has enough space, (bedrooms) he had seven kids,’” said Pridemore.
The Insider noted, “Pridemore still owns his own home on Hwy K in the town of Erin however, he is in the process of selling that home to his son.”
18. Pridemore was fined for using state resources to send out a campaign press release
Pridemore was fined by the Government Accountability Board for “sending out a campaign press release from his state office,” according to a 2009 West Bend Daily News article. He was accused of using his state-funded legislative office to campaign when he issued a press release on state letterheading trashing Tony Evers as a “bad choice” to run DPI while running for DPI superintendent against Evers.
Pridemore said he voted against concealed carry because he wanted a less restrictive version, according to the Kenosha News.
A few other controversies:
Don Pridemore voted against a bill “regulating payday loan companies.”
Don Pridemore voted against a bill banning insurance companies “from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.”
Paid for by Jim for Wisconsin
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