Amy Donahue
Licensed, certified genetic counselor (self-employed)
Democrat
Milwaukee
Elected Experience
None
Q&A with the Candidate
Why should voters send you to congress?
I’m a healthcare worker, public school parent, member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and organizer who has built a strong, deep, and vibrant network with connections across Wisconsin’s Congressional District 4, from Brown Deer to West Allis. This is the foundation I’ll have in Congress, legislating for CD4 in Washington, and the roots I’ll return to when I’m back home working in the district, connecting the power found in local, state, and federal offices. I am not a career politician, and I have not and will not accept donations from corporate political action committees. I answer only to the people of CD4, and I will fight with you to topple fascism, authoritarianism, and the billionaire class, to ensure the best possible future for all of us.
What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?
Cost of living is the top issue, based on what I’m reading, hearing, and experiencing myself. Working people are choosing between food, transportation, housing, healthcare, keeping the lights on, and so on. Affordability connects public safety, public health, the environment, education, and more. We are one of the richest countries in the world, and we have to do better. To address affordability, I support taxing the ultra rich (H.R. 8085), blocking the use of tax dollars for bombs (H.R. 3565), enacting Medicare for All (H.R. 3069), and supporting the Green New Deal. I will work with everyone who shares these goals to both move these pieces of legislation forward and to hold those who stand in the way accountable to their constituents.
What expertise would you bring into congress? How would it help your district?
My unique career trajectory from medical librarian to genetic counselor comes with some highly specific expertise. But that expertise dovetails with my community organizing, and is rooted in helping people articulate their questions/concerns, and connecting them to next steps and resources. I translate complicated topics into direct implications and advocate for systemic changes and new solutions to address unmet needs. I build connections across the communities I work with, live in, and am a part of with authenticity, respect, and empathy. I will use all of this to help my district by elevating conversations on reparations, immigration, public safety, and more, and identifying and procuring resources that will help us (whether through federal legislation, community funded projects, or other channels).
Should Congress exert more oversight over the president? Why or why not?
Yes. I believe that in these times, when the balance of the three branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial) has shifted so far to the president (with the help of the supreme court), Congress has an existential duty to pull on every lever of power in its control. When lawyers, legal scholars, political scientists, and other experts across the political spectrum are in agreement that the U.S. is accelerating towards authoritarianism and provide clear reasoning for their arguments, with data and examples (https://protectdemocracy.org/threat-tracker/), I listen. As a librarian, I know how insidious misinformation is, how numbing information overload is, and I see the window for fascist authoritarianism opening. Congress is absolutely vital in keeping it closed.
What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?
I have multiple, but will summarize as a single fact! One: Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin is the founder of Earth Day. Second: the Waisman Center in Madison, which houses the genetic counseling graduate program I attended, is named after four-time UW alumnus Dr. Harry A. Waisman, who successfully advocated for creating a national newborn screening program (the heel prick blood test that identifies babies born with rare genetic diseases in time for effective treatment). Three: Milwaukee is the birthplace of “sewer socialism” and is now the launchpoint for a rebirth of socialist electeds in Wisconsin. So, to summarize my favorite fun fact: Wisconsin has an amazing history full of people and events that have had an enormous impact on the country and the world!