John Macho

John Macho was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Macho's career experience includes working as a teacher, child abuse investigator, mental health case manager, correctional officer, mental health educator, and lay minister. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1981 to 2004. Macho served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh in 1987.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am a proud veteran who retired as a Major after 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve. I enlisted at 18 and retired when my twin sons were just five months old, starting a new chapter as a parent and community advocate.

I also served in the Peace Corps in Ghana, where I trained future teachers and embodied American values through my daily actions. That experience deepened my belief in education, community, and cross-cultural understanding.

Back home, I worked as a teacher, child abuse investigator, and mental health case manager. I led by example and identified what my clients needed in terms of education, justice, and mental stability.

I found myself working in the Wisconsin prison system for the second half of my career. I worked as a correctional officer and a prison educator, where I saw that true public safety meant preparing people for success after incarceration, not just punishing them.

My Christian faith shapes my life. I believe in compassion, unity, and loving our neighbors, not using religion to divide.

Above all, I am a father. As a widowed dad raising twin sons, now college seniors, I have found joy, purpose, and strength. They inspire me to keep serving.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

We need to have government oversight of corporations and equity firms that are gaining too much control of certain sectors of our economy and raising their profits at the consumers' expense.The U.S. needs to get back into the business of leading: militarily, technologically, and morally.We need to talk to one another again. We are all unique. Some of us are more friendly than others, but we need to find the right distance for us to interact. We need to have a cup of coffee and have a conversation.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

1. Limiting the effects of over-consolidation of business sectors on daily life.

2. Secure the borders, but have a pathway for citizenship for people here so they come out of the shadows.

3. Global Warming: what can we do to limit the melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice? We need to limit the effects of cataclysmic weather events.

4. Sustainable development aid to the developing world. They need hope! Restore USAID and Peace Corps funding.

5. Reforming prisons by offering education, training, and a way to contribute productively to society. Recidivism drops with programs that work towards mental and physical health.

6. Social Security: find solvency for the program after 2032. Investigate the programs that DOGE installed in the system.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My father. George was a man who volunteered for the Navy at 17 in 1942 and went to the Pacific. He manned a 40mm gun at Okinawa but never talked about it much. He came back and raised 7 children on an office worker’s pay. It was a challenge. Once upon a time, Wonder Bread had biweekly sales on bread, 8 loaves for a dollar. Summer was spent fishing in front of our house and packing away every catfish and sheaphead we could catch (in those doubled-up bread bags). We learned that if you didn’t like what was for supper in our house, you just didn’t eat. My father never complained and was always happy. He loved going to church and was one of the men of his generation who would give the shirt off his back to anyone in need. I get my love for life and adventure from him.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Empathy, strong communication skills, fiscally responsible, being a servant leader, upholding the constitution, and taking responsibility for the good and the bad decisions of yourself, your staff, and your party.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

1. Draft and discuss legislation.

2. Ensure that the government pays its bills by being fiscally responsible. This includes creating revenue on one side and cutting waste/abuse on the other.

3. Listening to people in the district, so I keep in touch with what their needs are. Directing some to the services they are looking for and getting input from others about issues they need assistance with. Daily conversations, not limited to town hall meetings, participating in community events, and going to local governmental meetings.

4. Work on committees that oversee governmental departments. Investigate shortcomings and discuss new policies. Make the government work more efficiently for everyone.

5. Support the party, but by no means be a rubber stamp. Be an educated believer who follows by choice.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to leave with a record of bipartisan agreement when compromises can be made to enhance the good of our community. I want to be remembered as a problem solver who always puts his constituents first.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked as a busboy/dishwasher at Big Boy the summer before my senior year of high school. My clothes would be drenched in sweat and grease by the end of the night from being in the dish room. They paid us sub-minimum wage as a teenager, and we had to fight to get enough work hours. The only benefits besides the small check were an occasional piece of chicken that would sometimes make it back with the pans. Hey, I never thought of why it got sent back to the dishroom, ugh. I worked there for 4 months.

What is your favorite book? Why?

The book that inspired me to run for office was “Confronting the Presidents,” by Bill O’Reilly. The book took much of the mystery out of who politicians were for me. I can now view them as average and sometimes flawed people who dared to charge ahead. These presidents probably heard the people ask them, “Who do you think you are?” They charged ahead anyway and became leaders.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Spiderman- "with great powers, come great responsibilities."

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I have always struggled with having too much empathy. I have an ingrained desire to help those in need and feel their pain. It has caused me to have anxiety that, at one time, had me 50 pounds lighter and the owner of a lot of ruminating thoughts.

I have learned to deal with these thoughts. My final job before retirement was teaching mental health classes in a prison. My students were trying to find strategies to deal with the loss of their freedom and everything they had grown used to in the outside world. I learned, like they did, that one can only control your own actions and much of life is the ability to accept and adapt to what we can’t control. The Serenity prayer.

What qualities does the U.S. House of Representatives possess that makes it unique as an institution?

The house is unique in that a representative is more accountable to their constituents and must make themselves more available for their feedback. For me, that means traveling to eleven counties and talking to people from diverse viewpoints.. I will try my utmost to always be reachable.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

I believe it's more important to have good critical thinking skills, the ability to form a strong team, and to have empathy towards everyone. If you can form a strong team, you can solve most issues and foster a successful outcome.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

I believe we are at a societal transition point. Capitalism has, in the past, fostered innovation and hard work that have made it possible to obtain the American dream. That is dying. Present-day America is being pushed into the transactional thought process that is “What’s in it for me?” People are becoming pessimistic about living as well as their parents, even though they work just as hard.

Large corporations, equity firms, and billionaires are commoditizing key parts of our economy, such as farm land, food processing, technology, housing, and medicine/health care. This lack of competition is driving prices up. To add to this, large corporations have for years been offshoring production to raise profits to even higher levels.

Some of us look at our mutual funds and are happy with these increased corporate profits. There is a cost to the 37 % of the U.S. population that does not own stock. They are seeing costs rise with none of the benefits. These inequities are not going to get better without laws.

Do you believe that two years is the right term length for representatives?

yes

What are your thoughts on term limits?

I believe that representatives should be limited to 6 years. This would allow new ideas to be introduced and group dynamics to focus on the issues, rather than the personalities. Additionally, having limits would control the power of an incumbent to create a fiefdom and force them to face real competition in elections.

Is there a particular representative, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

Adam Kinzinger - Some of my views differ from his, but I do agree on his putting country first.

Both sitting representatives and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

1. A middle-aged woman told me about having to get a $20,000/month infusion for a medical condition. In order for her to keep her insurance, she could not get a job that earned too much. This was an extremely intelligent woman who raised five children to become professionals. This impacted me in that I saw what society lost by this woman not living her dreams. She could have done almost anything!

2. A young college student explained how she is working through being a victim of assault and has dedicated her life to making the system respond better to people who are living through experiences like her own.

This touched me because I have worked multiple angles in the criminal justice system as a child abuse investigator, correctional officer, and mental health educator. It put a human face on what someone can do when working through the trauma of abuse and being victimized. We should never lose sight of the ripple effect of everyone involved(victim, offender, families of both, society). Everyone loses. We need to have robust victim services and balance that with the need to provide programming for the offender to ensure they don’t reoffend.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I believe it is imperative that we start talking to one another again and compromise. Adults talk things out and solve issues by working together.

The Constitution says that all bills for raising revenue must originate in the House. What role would this power play in your priorities if elected?

We need to stop giving tax cuts to billionaires when we are running massive deficits, the national debt is taking up more of our fiscal budget, and the Social Security trust funds are coming to a critical point in 7 years. All options need to be on the table to meet our obligations. Both parties need to talk to one another to find common ground.

Tariffs are taxes on consumers. Congress needs to take back control from the president’s sledgehammer approach to world trade. If there is something wrong with our long-term trading practices, let Congress make the laws to fix them. Attacking friends and foes alike is counterproductive to economic stability.

How should the U.S. House use its investigative powers?

Congress needs to focus on fixing things that are broken and stop spending time on spin control of issues. Scoring points politically and fostering division may be good for being a celebrity politician, but it is not good business. Right now, there is very little oversight going on because of the political blend of people. There is no trust.

Candidates hear many personal stories from voters. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching or memorable?

1. A middle-aged woman told me about having to get a $20,000/month infusion for a medical condition. In order for her to keep her insurance, she could not get a job that earned too much. This was an extremely intelligent woman who raised five children to become professionals. This impacted me in that I saw what society lost by this woman not living her dreams. She could have done almost anything!

2. A young college student explained how she is working through being a victim of assault and has dedicated her life to making the system respond better to people who are living through experiences like her own.

This touched me because I have worked multiple angles in the criminal justice system as a child abuse investigator, correctional officer, and mental health educator. It put a human face on what someone can do when working through the trauma of abuse and being victimized. We should never lose sight of the ripple effect of everyone involved(victim, offender, families of both, society). Everyone loses. We need to have robust victim services and balance that with the need to provide programming for the offender to ensure they don’t reoffend.

What is an accomplishment that you are proud of?

I will have to say it has been raising my twin sons by myself since my wife died 10 years. They have been the center of my life. I tell them that I lost my hair because of them, but to tell you the truth they have only done a few things that I lost sleep over. I guess that's as it should be. I am proud of the men they have become. I tell them regularly that I love them and that I could lose everything in this world, and as long as they were safe, I could deal with it.