State Rep. Marisabel Cabrera addresses opponent’s misleading “Trump-style” attacks in campaign

As an open and transparent member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, I feel inclined to address the misleading narrative and false attacks of my opponent as we owe the truth to our community.

Earlier this week, my primary opponent, Christian Saldivar, wrote an article critical of my vote on Wisconsin’s COVID-19 bill.

I voted no to AB 1038 because it did not do all that was necessary to help Wisconsin residents and Wisconsin businesses survive this virus. The shortcomings were significant.

The bill did not provide treatment for folks that get sick from the virus. Workers were being forced to risk their lives without any mandated protections. There were no direct benefits to help shore up small businesses. The bill scaled back protections for first responders who are helping COVID-19 patients and made it nearly impossible for police and firefighters who contract the virus to receive workers compensation.

And, to top it off, there was no legitimate reason why we, the government body charged with writing the laws for the state, could not have made the bill better. Legislators on both sides of the aisle argued it was a good start knowing it was highly unlikely we would reconvene afterwards.

I voted no because we needed to send a message that we cannot continue to settle for the mediocrity that has burdened too many Wisconsinites for too long. I’ve been speaking with my colleagues about how we can advance legislation that will fill in the gaps and bolster the bill.

It’s never an easy decision to make when you want to send a message of this magnitude, but my opponent would be unaware of what it takes to legislate. During my first term, I authored 10 bills and co-sponsored over 100 others. That’s a large number by any standard for a first-term representative.

Christian Saldivar already ran for a different office earlier this year and came in 4th out of 5. Now he is looking for his next political opportunity and relying nearly exclusively on negative attack pieces.

His tactics are reminiscent of Donald Trump – using misleading words and a false narrative whilst being void of facts and ignoring context. He also is being propped up by a dark-money group who wants to roll back the progress we’ve made as a community.

The people of the 9th Assembly District deserve better than that. They deserve a leader with integrity and the competence to tackle the issues we are facing. It’s why I ran for the Assembly in the first place, and why the residents of our community first elected me to serve them. I look forward to continuing to have real conversations with my neighbors and continuing the hard work we’ve begun in Madison, together.

Friends of Marisabel Cabrera

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.