ANTIGO, WI (WSAU-WXPR) — An Antigo native and UW Madison Astronomer is setting her sites on a different kind of star this fall.
WXPR in Rhinelander reports Dr. Margaret “Maggie” Turnbull has declared her candidacy for Governor as an Independent, as long as she can get the 2,000 signatures required to get on the November ballot.
“Goal number one for us is to get our democracy back in hand. We’ve had a pendulum swinging back-and-forth with red wave and it’s so destructive to our relationships with each other. It puts everybody in fight mode all the time. It’s bad for our social fabric and it’s terrible for our economy,” said Turnbull.
She’s chosen Rhinelander’s Will Losch as her running mate. She describes him as a teacher, hockey dad, and outdoor education innovator that shares her vision of cooperation. “I think most of us can see reasonable points on both sides of the political aisle. My running mate and I both want to try to get these parties working together again.”
Turnbull was born in West Allies and graduated from Antigo High School in 1993. She completed her collegiate studies at UW-Madison, University of Arizona, and Carnegie Institution of Washington. She is considered an expert on star systems that may have inhabitable planets.
“Working in our nation’s space program has given me the broad experience of tackling complicated tasks with diverse teams and communicating about this work to our federal representatives and the general public. Meanwhile, serving on the Antigo Common Council taught me about the unique challenges that small municipalities face, and how state policies can help or hinder our efforts to thrive,” she said in a press release. “Small towns and rural areas have values that are different from the larger cities and I feel we need someone in the governor’s office who understands the entire picture, on large and small scales.”
Turnbull has an asteroid named after her, 7863 Turnbull. She announced her campaign web site as www.maggieforgovernor.com however that remains under construction as of Sunday night.
(Information from WXPR radio in Rhinelander and the Maggie Turnbull campaign was used in this report.)