Fred Clark hopes to reach rural voters through “relatability”

7th Congressional District democratic candidate Fred Clark is hoping to reach rural voters in his bid to take over the seat.

In an appearance Wednesday on the WXCO Morning Show, Clark said farming, forestry, and small business drive 7th district communities.

“We need policies that reflect that,” he said. “We can’t go chasing thousand-foot deep holes in the ground or huge data centers as job creation for the North.”

Exploratory drilling in September revealed gold and copper deposits in Medford, creating the potential for the state’s first mine in decades.

The state has also seen an increase in companies building data centers, including in Beaver Dam, Mount Pleasant, Port Washington, and more.

“That’s not going to be sustainable,” Clark said. “It’s not going to be providing the kind of long-term jobs that actually provide community prosperity.”

Clark also took aim at the Trump administration for imposing high tariffs on foreign goods, saying they have created chaos for small businesses and manufacturers.

“We’d visited the Hsu ginseng farms and learned about how Chinese markets that they spent years developing have been more or less wiped out overnight because of the president’s tariff policy,” he said.

Wisconsin is the leading producer of ginseng, contributing 95 percent of commercially grown ginseng in the U.S and exporting the herb across the globe.

“So right now we are really in a gut punch to people in rural Wisconsin because of issues like that,” he said. “Congress is not doing its job.”

Clark has lived and worked in Wisconsin for 35 years, working as a forester and a land manager. He represented Sauk and Marquette counties in the State Assembly for three terms.

“Relatability is important,” he said. “Having a lived experience that that people can relate to is really important”

Clark joins the Democratic field in the race for the 7th district seat, facing Ginger Murray and Chris Armstrong in the primary next August.

The general election is November 3rd.

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