In 10 weeks, members of the Marquette community will help make key decisions on Wisconsin's leadership and public policy. Wisconsin voters will go to the polls Nov. 7 to elect officials ranging from their governor to their county sheriffs, and to decide on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. For information on how to register to vote in Wisconsin, visit www.wisconsin.gov.

Gubernatorial Race

In what is shaping up to be one of the nation's tightest gubernatorial races, Republican Congressman Mark Green of Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District will go head-to-head with Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle for the state's top executive office.

Green, who has represented the 8th since 1998, will not seek re-election for a fifth term, opting instead to challenge Doyle, who is seeking a second consecutive term as governor.

"Mark Green believes that Jim Doyle has done a poor job of leading the state, and that's why he's running," said Green campaign press secretary Luke Punzenberger.

Anne Lupardus, deputy press secretary for the Doyle campaign, said the race comes down to "a very clear choice between how they do things in Washington with a candidate like Mark Green, and how we do things in Wisconsin with a candidate like Jim Doyle."

The Wisconsin race has drawn strong interest on the national level from both the Republican and Democratic governors associations, with both groups calling the state a high priority.

An Aug. 10 Rasmussen Reports poll of 500 likely voters had Doyle leading Green 49 percent to 41 percent. The poll included a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Similar Rasmussen polls over the past year have put Doyle ahead by as many as eight and as few as four percentage points.

State worker Nelson Eisman One of the most contentious political battles in recent years will take center stage in Wisconsin this fall, as voters decide on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would bar same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents in the state.

The amendment states that Wisconsin would recognize "only a marriage between one man and one woman" and render any "legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals" invalid.

Julaine Appling, CEO of the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin, a nonprofit organization that supports the amendment, said the ban is about "preventing the redefinition of marriage.

"If we don't want a judge or another elected official redefining marriage, we need to vote 'yes,' " she said.

Rachel Strauch-Nelson, press secretary for Fair Wisconsin, a nonprofit group spearheading the campaign against the amendment, said the ban would "jeopardize basic rights" such as domestic partner benefits and hospital visitation, and "enshrine discrimination into our state's constitution."

She said defeating the amendment would show that "we won't let the lives of thousands of couples and families in our state be used as a political wedge issue."

According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research institute, 44 states — including Wisconsin — have legislation on the books barring same-sex marriage. Twenty of those states have also passed constitutional amendments to the same effect. Every amendment that has gone to a vote has passed.

Other Races

Incumbent U.S. Congresswoman and Marquette alumna Gwen Moore, a Democrat, will seek re-election in Wisconsin's Fourth congressional district, which includes the city of Milwaukee. Seeking her second consecutive term, Moore will take on Republican challenger Perfecto Rivera, a community activist and former officer for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

In the race for attorney general, Democrat Kathleen Falk and Republicans Paul Bucher and J.B. Van Hollen are vying to challenge incumbent Democrat Peg Lautenschlager. Partisan primaries will be held Sept. 12. Lautenschlager and Falk have been invited on campus to speak to the College Democrats of Marquette on Sept. 5.

In State Assembly District 16, which includes Milwaukee, Democratic challenger Andy Parker will look to unseat incumbent and fellow Democrat Leon Young, who is seeking his eighth consecutive term.

In Milwaukee County, Democrats Jon Chisholm and Larraine McNamara McGraw and Independent Lew Wasserman will all run for the district attorney position currently held by Michael McCann, a Democrat, who is retiring. Democratic incumbent Sheriff David Clarke Jr. will face challengers Vince Bobot, a Democrat, and Donald Holt, a Republican.