For Jimmy Anderson, call to politics followed life-changing accident

Aug. 14--Jimmy Anderson was recovering in a hospital from a wreck that left him paralyzed when he got two letters that planted seeds for a future in public service.

That future edged closer to the present Tuesday when Anderson, 29, won a Democratic primary election and became the overwhelming favorite to be the next representative from Assembly District 47. The district covers Monona, McFarland and most of Fitchburg.

Both of the letters to Anderson, a Fitchburg Democrat, came from his health insurance company shortly after he was in a car wreck in 2010. A drunken driver hit a vehicle carrying Anderson and his family, killing his father, mother and brother, and leaving Anderson paralyzed from the chest down.

The first letter warned Anderson that he was nearing his lifetime limit for health coverage and needed to prepare to pay future costs out of pocket.

Anderson's health expenses after the wreck included spinal fusion surgery and a private jet and personal paramedic crew to transport him from California, where the wreck occurred and he initially was hospitalized, back to the Madison area, where he then was a student at UW-Madison Law School.

For Anderson and his wife, Ashley, the letter triggered panic.

"We were staring down financial ruin," Anderson said. "We didn't know what to do."

The second letter, which came three days later, told them not to worry after all. The lifetime limit no longer applied because the newly enacted Affordable Care Act barred insurance companies from imposing it.

"It left a mark on me," Anderson said. "It was that moment that kind of made me realize: good public policy doesn't happen by accident."

Support from Falk, Pocan

"huge"

Anderson is likely to be the next representative for Assembly District 47 because he faces no Republican candidate in the November election. He is opposed only by an independent, Adam Dahl.

The winner succeeds Rep. Robb Kahl, D-Monona, who chose not to seek re-election.

The primary race pitted Anderson against two Fitchburg alders, Julia Arata-Fratta and Tony Hartmann. It gave Anderson, who is running his first campaign, a taste of how nasty politics can be. A third-party group, the Construction Trades Coalition, hammered Anderson in a radio ad for not signing the petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker in 2011.

Anderson still was recovering from the wreck at the time and said he was physically unable to even hold a pen to sign the petition.

Yet Anderson beat both his opponents with the help of a door-to-door campaign and endorsements from leading Madison-area liberals such as former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Congressman Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth.

Having those endorsements was "huge," Anderson acknowledged. He also won the support of key public-sector unions such as the Wisconsin Education Association Council, or WEAC, and AFSCME Council 32.

Should he be elected in November, Anderson said he wants to focus on education, environmental issues, health care and tax policy.

He said education was by far the biggest concern voters shared with him when he went door-to-door during the campaign. He wants to boost funding for K-12 schools and colleges and universities and end voucher schools.

Anderson moved to Wisconsin from California, where he grew up, to attend UW-Madison Law School. The fact that the university is a national magnet for young talent underscores why it must be protected from further funding cuts, he said.

Disability as advantage

After completing his initial recovery from the car crash, Anderson finished law school. He went on to found Drive Clear, a nonprofit that helps victims of drunken-driving crashes and works to prevent future ones. Anderson said it was his work with Drive Clear, coupled with those letters from his insurance companies, that got him thinking seriously about a bid for public office.

Anderson would be the first state lawmaker in recent memory to serve while permanently in a wheelchair, and possibly the first in Wisconsin history. The Legislative Reference Bureau, the official reference source for the Wisconsin Legislature, has no record of such lawmakers.

Anderson has tried to tackle the disability issue head-on, and with a dash of humor. The Q&A at his campaign website addresses the question: "Are you able to fully represent me in the Assembly with your disability?"

His answer includes this: "You can trust me to stand against Scott Walker's radical agenda as I literally have more steel in my spine than anyone in the Legislature."

Anderson said being paralyzed causes him to view some things differently. Take voter ID. Anderson doesn't have a driver's license. He has a wheelchair-accessible van and family and friends to help him get to the DMV to get a free voter ID. But Anderson said not everyone living with disabilities can rely on that.

"Voter ID is actually really harmful to individuals with disabilities, but you wouldn't think about that unless you lived that life in a wheelchair," Anderson said.

There's another side to being in a wheelchair, Anderson said -- people often treat him with empathy. He hopes that can help him connect with people who are cynical about politics.

"I hope I can disabuse them of some of that cynicism," Anderson said. "Appealing to our better angels -- I think I kind of bring that out in people."

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