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Wisconsin Senate, District 33/Senado Estatal de Wisconsin, Distrito 33

Wisconsin Legislative BranchWisconsin’s legislature makes state laws. The legislature has two houses: the Wisconsin Senate and the Wisconsin Assembly. Proposed laws (bills) can originate from either the state senate or assembly. Both houses must approve the bill before it is passed on to the governor for signature or veto. The legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds majority vote in each house. The legislature controls the spending of state funds through appropriation.Wisconsin SenateThe Wisconsin Senate has thirty-three senators. Voters elect state senators to represent their senate district for a four-year term. Each senate district includes three assembly districts. There is no term limit.___PODER LEGISLATIVO DE WISCONSINLa legislatura de Wisconsin produce las leyes estatales. La legislatura consta de dos cámaras: el Senado de Wisconsin y la Asamblea de Wisconsin. Las propuestas de ley pueden originarse tanto en el Senado estatal como en la Asamblea. Ambas cámaras deben aprobar el proyecto de ley antes de transmitirla al gobernador para su firma o veto. La legislatura puede anular un veto con un voto mayoritario de dos tercios en cada cámara. La legislatura controla el gasto de los fondos estatales a través de las leyes de asignación.Senado de WisconsinEl senado de Wisconsin consta de treinta y tres senadores. Los votantes eligen senadores estatales para representar a su distrito senatorial por un período de cuatro años. Cada distrito senatorial incluye tres asambleas de distrito. No hay límite de término.Nota: Las respuestas de los candidatos que aparecen en español se tradujeron de las respuestas originales de los candidatos en inglés.

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  • Candidate picture

    Chris Kapenga
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Mike Van Someren
    (Dem)

Biographical Information

Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues.

What, if anything, will you do to ensure equitable, accessible, and affordable health care services, including reproductive health care (i.e. contraception, IVF, and abortion) for Wisconsinites?

What, if anything, will you do to ensure our schools have the resources to improve outcomes for its students, including those with disabilities?

What redistricting process, if any, do you believe the legislature should put in place before the next national census to ensure fair representation for voters?

What guardrails, if any, would you support to protect our environment, health, property values, and household budgets from large projects such as hyperscale data centers and Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)?

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Committee Mike Van Someren for WI
Campaign Email info@mikevansomeren.com
Campaign Mailing Address PO Box 366
Pewaukee, WI 53072
Website http://www.mikevansomeren.com
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MVSforWI
Campaign Twitter Handle @mvsforwi
Instagram http://www.instagram.com/mvsforwi/
Education Juris Doctor, Marquette University
Personal Pronouns He/Him
My priorities are affordability, transparency, and accountability. Wisconsin families should be able to afford housing, health care, child care, and everyday costs without feeling one emergency away from falling behind. Government should be clear about what it is doing, honest about who benefits, and accountable when systems fail.

My qualifications come from more than a decade as a business attorney working with employers, developers, lenders, and small businesses. I have seen firsthand where rules protect the powerful but fail workers, consumers, and local businesses. I know how to read complex laws, negotiate practical solutions, and hold people to the rules.
I believe health care decisions should be made by patients and their doctors, not politicians or insurance companies. That includes access to contraception, IVF, abortion, prenatal care, and postpartum care.

I would start by allowing small employers to buy into the same health insurance plans available to state employees, so more workers can get affordable coverage outside the exchange. I would also push for stronger enforcement against insurers that deny care they are contractually required to cover. Insurers should act as payors, not doctors. Finally, I would protect reproductive health care from political interference and make sure access is practical, not theoretical, for families across Wisconsin.
Public education, including special education, is essential to Wisconsin’s future. I would push the state to fund schools more predictably, increase special education reimbursement so districts are not forced to pull money from general classrooms, and revise revenue limits so local schools are not asked to meet rising costs with outdated formulas.

I also believe any school receiving tax dollars, public or private, should meet the same basic standards for testing, reporting, admissions, discipline, disability services, and financial transparency. Teaching children costs money, but it is money well spent when we demand accountability, fund what works, and stop forcing local property taxpayers to carry more of the burden.
The Legislature should establish an independent redistricting commission before the next census and begin the process of passing a constitutional amendment so fair maps are protected long-term. Voters should choose their legislators; legislators should not choose their voters.

The process should be public, transparent, and based on neutral standards: equal population, compliance with the Voting Rights Act, compact and contiguous districts, respect for communities of interest, and no protection for incumbents or political parties.

Fair representation also requires transparency in campaign spending. Within constitutional limits, Wisconsin should strengthen disclosure rules so voters know who is funding the political messages they see.
I support a simple rule: large projects should pay their own way and prove they will not shift costs onto neighbors. For data centers, that means no tax subsidies or utility cost shifting without enforceable guarantees on jobs, water use, energy demand, ratepayer protection, noise, backup power, and decommissioning. For CAFOs, it means strong groundwater protections, manure management, odor and runoff controls, monitoring, and real enforcement.

Residents should have meaningful notice and input before approval. Developers should be obligated to fund independent impact studies on water, roads, health, property values, and utility bills. Wisconsin should be open to development, not exploitation.
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