Hello, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens who I haven’t had the chance to meet: My name is Mahlon Mitchell.

I’m running for Lt. Governor of the State of Wisconsin and I’d appreciate your vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, May 8.

I’m a firefighter by trade – it’s been my career for the past 15 years, and I serve as a lieutenant in the Madison Fire Department. The job runs in my family; I have two brothers in the fire service and when I was 19 years old, I decided that I too wanted to be a firefighter.

My brothers and I didn’t become firefighters for fame or money. We do the job because we care about our communities. We don’t expect everyone to make this level of commitment – it’s a calling more than a job – but it’s a commitment I’ve been glad to make. I believe hard-working men and women deserve a fair chance to succeed, and that middle class common sense has its place in solving even our biggest challenges.

Over the past 15 months, all of us here in Wisconsin have watched events unfold in our state. We’ve watched our government grind to a halt over partisan battles as our governor and lieutenant governor divide the state on the grounds of party ideology and class. We have seen our schools fall behind and we have witnessed an unprecedented attack on the rights of women and working families. And we’ve felt the pain as our state lost more jobs than any other state in the country while corporations continue to receive millions in tax cuts.

Our state’s economic crisis impacts us all, unemployed or employed, rich or poor, secure or not. When a situation like this comes upon a state, the job of our government should be to address the crisis head on, with teamwork and creative solutions that bring us together. A year of continued job loss and a massively deteriorated political climate tell us that they have failed as our first responders. But if we want something different, we have to stop sending typical politicians to Madison. You can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.

Firefighters have a saying: “All Hands Working.” It is our motto when confronted with a crisis. It means that every firefighter on scene is doing a task or job to stabilize a situation. Now is our opportunity for all hands to work together for Wisconsin. We must stop fighting the same old political wars of the past. By working together, we can solve these problems and restore the Wisconsin values of fairness and hard work to government. These are values I learned growing up in Delavan and they are values that have helped my wife and I raise our children. Early on we all learn that Wisconsin is a place of opportunity, where hard work is rewarded and those willing to work hard can dream big.

On May 8, I’m seeking to become the nominee of the Democratic Party for Lt. Governor. My intent is to bring a firefighter's mindset to how our state responds to our current crises, whether it’s getting the economy on track, keeping our schools strong and restoring the funding our kids need in the classroom or addressing the poverty that many of our fellow Wisconsinites suffer in daily.  

I’m Mahlon Mitchell, and I would appreciate your vote.

For more info visit www.MahlonMitchell.com.