×

Engebretson run shows character

I spent part of Saturday with Margaret Engebretson. She is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives covering the Seventh District of Wisconsin, which in effect is the majority of far northern Wisconsin and includes Florence County. She drove over to Florence to meet me and hand off some campaign materials and to attend the Florence County Fair, which we did Saturday afternoon.

Margaret is a military veteran, having served for three years of active duty in the U.S. Navy, and then gave further to our country with 21 additional years of service in U.S. Navy Reserve and finally the Air National Guard. After her active duty service, she worked on the BNSF railroad, first as an electrician on locomotives and then as a train dispatcher. On the railroad, she was, of course, a union member. Her railroad career was followed by a degree from University of Wisconsin-Superior and UW Law School. She now has a law practice in Balsam Lake. She is active in the American Legion and serves on the board of the domestic violence shelter serving Polk, Burnett and Barron counties in Wisconsin.

At a later time but well in advance of November’s elections I will tell more about her, but today, I need to tell you something that really impressed me. It was one of those moments that just happens but when it does, you know you are not ever going to forget it. I do hope she does not mind my sharing these thoughts, but here goes.

As we were walking into the fairgrounds from our cars, we were talking about her “run” for the House. I naturally wondered why anyone with a successful life would do so much work to achieve this position in Congress. As we walked, she said “I am pretty much a private person, but I am worried about our government, so I had to do this.” If that does not look like much of a sentence, please read it again and think about it. She is worried about our government, as so many of us are, but she is going the “extra mile,” as it were, and actually running for office.

If you have read this far, you can see she is “one of us” in so many ways and, let’s admit it, beyond a great many in her achievements. At a time when she could sit back on her accomplishments and enjoy life, she has decided to put her privacy aside and serve her country again and, in doing that, she will be serving us, the people of northern Wisconsin.

My wife and I will fully support Margaret all the way to November. Check her out. You can find more information at VetForDemocracy.com. I can’t believe you won’t be as impressed as I am with her. In a word, she is a true American. I can only have good thoughts as to how we will benefit from having Ms. Engebretson serving us in Congress.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today