Stanley man, Army veteran, announces candidacy for Assembly

STANLEY — Roger Halls grew up near Rochester, Minn., and was living in Madison when he met his future wife, who was attending UW-Eau Claire. After Halls was discharged from the U.S. Army, they moved to Stanley in 2004, and he fell in love with the city. Halls joined the Stanley City Council in 2012 and served there for five years.

Now, Halls is running for the 69th State Assembly District as a Democrat. Because of the newly drawn Assembly maps, there are no incumbents in the district. The race includes Republican incumbent Karen Hurd, who currently represents the 68th Assembly District and recently moved from Fall Creek to rural Thorp to run for this newly-created seat. Another Republican, Lori Voss of Abbotsford, along with independent Joshua Kelley of Greenwood, also are candidates for the seat. The district contains parts of Chippewa, Clark, Taylor and Marathon counties. Roughly 72% of voters in the district support Republican candidates, according to a Wispolitics.com review.

Halls, 45, is a decorated two-tour Afghanistan/Iraq Veteran and was awarded a Bronze Star. He said the state’s Democratic Party contacted him earlier this year, after the new boundaries were set, and asked him if he would consider running. Halls said he’s always been interested in politics and decided to jump at the opportunity. He said he wants to bring some common sense back to politics.

“I always try to help where I can,” Halls told the Leader-Telegram. “We just need to get back to being neighbors again, especially in these rural areas. I just want what’s best for our area, and Wisconsin.”

Halls and his wife, Carrie (Pahl) Halls, have three children; their youngest will be a senior at Stanley-Boyd High School in the fall. He opted to leave the city council to focus on his charity work, saying “my time was just better spent there.”

“I have since worked with many charity organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Wisconsin, Wisconsin Fathers for Children and Families, Children’s Miracle Network, and others, including groups that help support veteran outreach and increase access to mental health support,” he said. “Having dealt with PTSD myself, I am deeply passionate about supporting those who have served and working towards preventing suicide within the veteran community. There is a lot of work to be done in Wisconsin to support access to mental healthcare, especially for our veterans and rural areas.”

Halls had a few other top issues he wants to focus on if elected.

“I want to push for access to health care, and keeping the government out of health decisions,” Halls said. “I’m big on keeping our public schools fully funded. I want to make sure our taxes are spent appropriately. Like others, I’m concerned about the costs of everything.”

To learn more about his candidacy, visit hallsforwi.com .