Of the hot-button topics in today's politics — health care, education, agriculture, dwindling buyer power — Dennis Hruby said he is in a distinct position to tackle them all as a candidate for the 47th Assembly District seat being vacated by Eugene Hahn.

And if he were to replace Hahn, he'd be doing so as an independent. Hruby is the eighth candidate to run for the seat so far, and the only one doing so without a party.

Hruby, 47, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a year ago after battling symptoms for years. The condition drastically changed his life as a teacher and a farmer, and put health-care costs among his top priorities. The medication he is on costs $1,900 a month, and is paid for through his self-funded insurance, which runs about $1,225 a month.

"I am running because I think I have the education, the time and the desire to address some of the important issues that affect people," Hruby said. "Education, health care, declining income levels — these are serious issues that are affecting a lot of people in the district."

Hruby, who lives in the township of Dane on the southwest side of the district, left a job as a technology teacher a few years ago when he felt the symptoms of MS coming on. After fighting fatigue, he was diagnosed with the disorder a year ago, he said.

"I felt the symptoms coming on," he said. "The foot dragged a little bit, things were stiff. But now I'm on a progression going up."

Hruby said the medication he takes makes his life easier, but he struggles with planning his steps and coordinating his balance.

"I walk to the phone right now because I'm able to take advantage of the medical system and prescription medicine," he said. "A year ago, I could not move very well."

After leaving education, Hruby went back to his 103-acre farm to begin grain farming, but MS kept him from doing a lot of work. He entered into the Cropland Reserve Program, which provides landowner subsidies for field maintenance, he said, to preserve his farm.

After graduating from Waunakee High School and working on a dairy farm, Hruby went back to college at age 28 to the University of Wisconsin-Stout, where he got a degree in industrial technology. In 2002, he got a master's degree in technology education.

Hruby, who is single, said he was encouraged to run by people who identified themselves as staunch Republicans or liberal Democrats. That led to him splitting the difference and running as neither.

"I've been told it's not a very successful tack to take," he said. "But being a Democrat or being a Republican is more important on the national level."

This is Hruby's first race for a political office. He said he's been disappointed with the Legislature's inability to pass a budget on time and thinks legislators should devote themselves to the state's business.

"Politicians should take it more seriously," he said. "I have the experience to do the academic research for the position. I know when someone's pulling the wool over my eyes. I have common sense.

"I have the ability to spend full time doing this work," Hruby continued. "I don't think of it as a part-time job."

He said more has to be done to keep jobs in Wisconsin.

"I had two uncles who had good, lower-middle-class incomes cutting meat," he said. "These jobs are going to Nebraska, Iowa, and they're being replaced by lower-wage workers who have half the buying power."

Hruby joins five Republicans and two Democrats to succeed Hahn in the 47the District after Hahn announced he was not running for a 10th term.

The Republicans are John Keating, a Navy commander from Sun Prairie and former American Airlines pilot who now works for Navy officials at the Pentagon; Tim McCumber, town administrator for the town of Merrimac; Portage school board member Steven Pate of the town of Pacific; Keith Ripp, a town of Dane supervisor and president of the Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board; and Erich Ruth, a DeForest Village Board member.

The Democrats are Paul Fisk, Lodi's former mayor, and former Columbus School Board President Trish O'Neil.

The 47th District includes parts of Columbia County — with the exception of Portage, Wyocena, Pardeeville, Wisconsin Dells and the towns of Wyocena, Marcellon, Fort Winnebago, Lewiston, Caledonia and Newport. It also includes the northwest corner and the northern towns of Dane County and a small portion of Sauk County.

Candidates have until July 8 to file all documents for Assembly races. A primary will be held Sept. 9; the general election is Nov. 4.

mcall@capitalnewspapers.com

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