{image1}Is Tom Reynolds the worst senator in the state, or just one of the worst?

He must be a top contender.

His legislative priorities, like pushing for a 75 mph speed limit in an era of oil uncertainty, and for home-schooling tax breaks that home schoolers don't want, are strange, to say the least.

Some of the things he does -- like firing his staff at Christmas time or putting himself in a Christmas card Nativity scene -- are a couple of inches beyond eccentric.

And he's not really bright; heck, he's barely a dull glow.

None of that is necessarily fatal. Good politicians with a touch of charm and bonhomie can overcome those things. A schmooze here, a remembered name there, some good will - genuine or not -- spread thick to fertilize voter support can go a long way toward overcoming a barren agenda and a low IQ.

Reynolds is so noticeably bad because he just doesn't get that people part, either. For him, being an elected official would be a great job if it weren't for all those darned voters and constituents.

His flat-out weirdness, combined with the blow-'em-off attitude toward voters, is making Reynolds vulnerable. His 5th District Senate seat should be pretty safe for a Republican, but he's so far out-out-out there that one Democrat, Wauwatosa Ald. Jim Sullivan, already has declared for the seat and another, West Allis-based state Rep. Tony Staskunas, is weighing a run.

Both say they are moderates. Both say Reynolds is absolutely not a moderate.

"Even the Republican powers that be in Madison realize this is a guy who has a propensity to do and say strange things," Sullivan said.

Staskunas, in a separate interview, said that Reynolds is "just such an incredibly poor senator."

Constituents, he said, are extra grateful when his Assembly office returns calls and letters because Reynolds doesn't. "By comparison, I'm Mr. Wonderful," Staskunas said. "It reflects on how badly his office did. It's a shame. I just don't feel people of the Senate district are really being served."

Reynolds' reputation for disdaining his constituents is not something simply being trumped up by those who might seek to unseat him.

In my piece of his district, the Story Hill neighborhood on Milwaukee's west side, Reynolds' obliviousness to constituent concerns is a given.

There was an audible reaction of surprise at a recent neighborhood meeting because someone got an honest-to-gosh response from Reynolds' office.

The message, in reply to a resident's e-mail inquiry about Reynolds' position on a particular issue, said Reynolds has a policy against responding through e-mail to questions about his position on any particular issue. Gee, that was helpful.

Reynolds is invited to lots of neighborhood meetings and events, just like all the other local electeds. No surprise -- Reynolds has never shown up and doesn't even acknowledge the invitations. (He did send his regrets once, but the event was already over, so that doesn't count.)

Reynolds' behavior will cost him. As Sandy Rusch Walton, long-time neighborhood association president, put it, "We will remember it come election time."

There will be a lot of factors, of course, besides bad legislation, bad constituent service, and general oddity that will play a role in deciding who will be the next state senator from the 5th District. Will the Democrats be willing to spend on a race in a district that skews Republican? Will the Republicans support their weakest link if they have better candidates in tough races elsewhere? Will the Republicans back an opponent in the primary?

Staskunas isn't sure yet if he will run, but is sure that Reynolds will do his part to make it possible for a Democrat to have a fighting chance in a Republican district.

"He's going to say and do and propose wacky stuff that's really going to hurt him," Staskunas said.

And there are lots of neighborhoods, like Story Hill, that Reynolds ignores. In each of those neighborhoods, there are voters who will remember it come election time.

That combination could be enough to cost Tom Reynolds, really bad state senator, his job.

Gretchen Schuldt, a former Milwaukee newspaper reporter, runs storyhill.net, a Milwaukee neighborhood Web news site.

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

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