Door County Election News – Skare Will Challenge Bies

Long-time Fish Creek restaurateur Richard Skare announced Jan. 24 he will challenge Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay) in November’s election to determine who will represent the 1st Assembly District in Madison.

Bies has held the seat since winning the election in 2000. The district includes parts of Kewaunee and Brown County and all of Door County.

Skare, who has owned The Cookery in Fish Creek with his wife since 1977, made the announcement at the January meeting of the Democratic Party of Door County at the Sturgeon Bay Library.

“I’ve always enjoyed community involvement, and this will give me the opportunity to stay involved and deal with some problems on a broader level,” Skare said.

Skare has served on the Gibraltar Town Board since 1989, including a stint as Town Chairman from 1997-2001. He currently serves as a commissioner on the Door County Tourism Zone Commission, Chairman of the Sunshine House board of directors, is a member of the Door County Marketing Coalition, and was on the board of the Door County Visitor Bureau from 2006-2008.

He said he plans on being an advocate for small business in Madison should he unseat Bies. He also called health care and health insurance huge problems, specifically for small businesses, and listed sustainability issues, the environment, and affordable housing among the critical problems he would like to attack. He said his experience in so many community and business organizations over the last three decades has given him the tools to help create solutions in the legislature.

“Our history up here has been that when there’s a problem in the community, we get together in a bi-partisan manner and get things done,” Skare said. “I hope to continue to do that at the state level.”