Koby Schellenger

With aspirations for elected office, forklift operator Koby Schellenger, 28, has announced his candidacy in the 53rd district of the Wisconsin state assembly.

Describing himself as progressive and a political liberal, Schellenger is seeking the Democratic nomination in the 14 August primary election.

In the working world, Appleton, Wisconsin-based temporary employment services firm Flex-Staff Inc assigned Schellenger in August to work at the Neenah, Wisconsin facility of Tidi Products LLC, a manufacturer of single-use infection prevention products.

"I worked unloading material off the docks for a few months before switching to a role where I spend 80% of my day on the forklift," he notes.

"I was trained by Tidi Products to operate a forklift in September, and my job required me to be on a forklift about 10% of the time until February," Schellenger says. "I went through a (forklift) training program that consisted of a safety video presentation, discussion and exam followed by a hands-on training session."

At various times, Schellenger operates several makes and models of battery-powered sitdown forklifts and moves products from trailers and receiving docks to warehouse locations.

Previously, Schellenger worked for National School Lines Inc in Winneconne, Wisconsin and a subsidiary "making parts and assembling school desks for two summers while I was in college," he recalls.

Separately during his student years, he worked for the Madison Mallards collegiate summer baseball team as a marketing manager and part of the game day staff and served as an operations intern with the baseball Chicago Cubs' Triple-A minor league affiliate Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Wisconsin native grew up in the town of Algoma and graduated from Oshkosh West High School in 2002. He was a member of two state championship forensics teams, won an individual state championship in extemporaneous speaking, acted in dramatic productions and played football and tennis. Furthering his education and interest in forensics, Schellenger studied at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin and graduated in 2005 with degrees in economics and philosophy.

On the political front, two-term Republican incumbent Assembly Member Richard Spanbauer has opted not to run in the redrawn 53rd district, but at least three Republican candidates vie for their party's nomination. Party nominees compete in the 6 November general election for a two-year term.

The legislature redraws legislative and congressional districts every 10 years on the basis of the decennial federal census.