Erik Severson for State Senate

Families in the 25th District are getting squeezed — and Madison keeps spending.

It’s not complicated. Property taxes are too high. Groceries cost too much. Heating your home through a Northwoods winter isn’t getting cheaper. And every session, Madison finds new ways to spend money while expecting local taxpayers to foot the bill.

Erik voted for Act 10 — the reforms that saved Wisconsin taxpayers billions by giving local governments real tools to control their budgets without raising taxes. That wasn’t just a vote. It was a line in the sand: government works for the people, not the other way around.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Fight to lower property taxes — no new unfunded mandates that force counties and towns to raise your bill
• Cut wasteful state spending before asking taxpayers for another dime
• Oppose new fees, regulations, and mandates that raise the cost of doing business — and the cost of living — in rural Wisconsin
• Support energy policies that keep heating and electricity affordable, not green mandates that drive costs through the roof

When you’re budgeting for propane in January, “fiscal responsibility” isn’t an abstract concept. It’s survival.

The Northwoods isn’t just where we live — it’s how we live.

The 25th District is home to the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Lake Superior, world-class hunting and fishing, and a trail system that draws riders and tourists from across the Midwest. Our outdoor economy isn’t a hobby — it’s a lifeline for the small businesses, resorts, guides, and communities that depend on it.

Erik gets it. In the Assembly, he authored legislation to improve funding for ATV and UTV trails and streamlined bear hunting licensure — because he knows that when Madison makes it harder to hunt, fish, ride, or recreate, it’s not just an inconvenience. It’s a hit to our way of life and our local economy.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Increase state investment in trail maintenance and expansion — ATV, UTV, snowmobile, and hiking trails that drive tourism dollars into our communities
• Protect hunting, fishing, and trapping rights from overregulation
• Push back against federal land-use restrictions that lock out the people who actually live and work here
• Support the DNR’s role in conservation while ensuring it serves sportsmen and local stakeholders — not Madison bureaucrats

Erik has already delivered results for our outdoor economy. He’ll do it again.

When response times are measured in miles, public safety is personal.

In rural Wisconsin, law enforcement isn’t around the corner. Our sheriffs and deputies cover vast distances, often short-staffed and underfunded, to keep our communities safe. They deserve a senator who has their back — not one who second-guesses them from the Capitol.

Erik is proudly endorsed by Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak. He voted for concealed carry because he believes law-abiding citizens have the right to protect themselves and their families — especially when help might be 30 minutes away.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Increase funding for rural law enforcement so sheriffs’ departments can recruit and retain the officers they need
• Oppose any effort to defund, disarm, or demoralize the men and women who wear the badge
• Protect your 2nd Amendment rights — no red flag laws, no new gun restrictions, no compromise on the constitutional right to self-defense
• Support tougher penalties for drug trafficking that’s fueling the addiction crisis in our communities

Our sheriffs and deputies run toward danger so we don’t have to. Erik will make sure they have the resources and the respect they’ve earned.

Every child in the 25th District deserves a quality education — no matter their zip code.

Rural schools face unique challenges. Smaller tax bases. Harder-to-recruit teachers. Longer bus rides. And a funding formula that too often shortchanges the Northwoods in favor of Milwaukee and Madison. Erik believes education dollars should follow the child, and parents — not bureaucrats — should have the final say in their kids’ education.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Reform the school funding formula so rural districts get their fair share — not the leftovers
• Expand school choice and parental rights in education
• Support vocational and technical education that prepares students for real careers in the trades, healthcare, manufacturing, and natural resources — not just a four-year degree
• Keep politics out of the classroom — parents should decide what values their children learn

Our kids shouldn’t get a second-rate education because they live north of Wausau.

This isn’t a talking point for Erik. It’s a mission.

When the nation was reeling from the Sandy Hook tragedy, Erik was tapped to lead the Speaker’s Task Force on Mental Health — and he delivered bipartisan legislation to expand crisis intervention training and mental health resources across Wisconsin.

The crisis hasn’t gone away. In the Northwoods, isolation, lack of providers, and the opioid and methamphetamine epidemic are tearing families apart. Too many people are falling through the cracks because the system wasn’t built for rural communities.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Expand access to mental health providers in rural areas through telehealth, loan forgiveness programs, and reduced red tape
• Fund crisis intervention training for law enforcement — because in small towns, officers are often the first point of contact for someone in crisis
• Tackle the addiction epidemic head-on with treatment-focused approaches that hold dealers accountable and get users the help they need
• Remove barriers that prevent families from getting their loved ones into care before it’s too late

Erik has led on mental health when others stayed silent. He’ll keep leading.

The people of Burnett County know what Burnett County needs better than a committee in Madison.

Too often, state government ties the hands of local communities — telling them how to zone their land, how to spend their budgets, and what they can and can’t do to solve their own problems. Erik believes in pushing power down, not up. County boards, town councils, and school boards should have the freedom to make decisions that fit their communities — without Madison looking over their shoulder.

In the State Senate, Erik will fight to:

• Reduce state preemption of local decision-making on land use, zoning, and community planning
• Give local governments more flexibility in how they allocate state funding
• Oppose one-size-fits-all mandates from Madison that ignore the reality of governing a rural county with 15,000 people versus a city with 600,000

Conservative governance means trusting the people closest to the problem to solve it.