The 64th state Assembly district will remain in Democratic hands. 31 year-old Tip McGuire defeated former Kenosha School Board member Mark Stalker in a special election Tuesday with 62% of the vote.
The seat was last held by Peter Barca, who resigned to become part of the Evers administration.
At his victory party at the Fireside Restaurant and Lounge in Kenosha, McGuire said he’ll quit his job as a Milwaukee County prosecutor to serve fulltime in the legislature. As for his future workload, McGuire said he has no idea what committees he’ll be appointed to serve on. "I would say this--I'm interested in the issues the middle class faces in America," he said.
In a phone conversation with WGTD Tuesday evening, Stalker said he had no regrets about running in the heavily Democratic district. "We did everything we could do," Stalker said. "We knocked on 5,000 doors," he said, leaving open the possibility of running again when the seat is up for grabs a year-and-a-half from now.
Barca, meanwhile, had nothing but praise for the man who’ll succeed him in office. "He has all of the ethics, values and concerns of exactly who I would want to take this seat," Barca said while attending McGuire's party. McGuire worked for Barca as a staffer in Barca's legislative office for five years.
During the abbreviated campaign, McGuire’s father passed away while on vacation in Scotland. Funeral services for Patrick McGuire, a former UW-Parkside English professor, will be held on Monday.
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