Nathan Tataje
Personal trainer; program success manager
Arena
Elected Experience
None
Q&A with the Candidate
Why should voters elect you?
Voters should cast their ballots based on a properly formed conscience, even if that means not voting for me. I would rather lose while upholding my genuine principles than win by compromising my ideals. In a race where every candidate claims to be an independent voice, only I have truly walked that path by foregoing the comforts of a partisan base. We must not allow candidates to pose as non-partisan populists while accepting funding from establishment party machines. The two-party system offers only two sides of the same coin. By running as a truly independent candidate, I demonstrate that every person in my district will be listened to sincerely. My sole motivation is the welfare of my constituents, not corporate PACs, lobbyists, or partisan agendas.
What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?
Sovereignty. Sovereignty in how our land is used, how are taxes are used (and collected), Sovereignty in how our municipalities operate, etc. To address these issues, I would work to repeal statist-based standards like Dillon's rule. I would also introduce and work toward legislation that allows for tax choice for a portion of the income taxes paid by individuals. Furthermore, I would fight for routine third-party/independent audits of all state/taxpayer funded agencies and departments, as well as require maximum transparency for legislators, beginning with closing the archaic loopholes that allow legislators to freely delete any and all records of communication, phone, email or otherwise.
How should Wisconsin government operate differently than in the past?
Wisconsin government should operate on the principles of widespread economic ownership and true local control. The current two-party duopoly maintains a top-down funding model that prioritizes state-directed programs and corporate subsidies over the self-sufficiency of ordinary citizens. We must dismantle this centralized paradigm. Government should empower individual taxpayers by allowing them a direct say in how their state tax dollars are allocated to vital local services. Furthermore, the state must stop using eminent domain to seize private land for unregulated commercial developments, and instead invest in tools that turn wage earners into community equity owners. True solidarity means putting the homestead before the political machine.
What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?
Definitely the fact that the Green Bay Packers are the only community-owned, "nonprofit" franchise in the NFL. Although the NFL banned community ownership of NFL teams back in the 1960s, it didn't apply to Green Bay because they were community-owned long before these rules were enacted (community-owned since 1923 — almost 40 years prior to the 1960 rule change!) This exception of wide-ownership of an NFL team is even dubbed "The Green Bay Rule"! (Although in the NFL bylaws it is officially titled Article V, Section 4.)