The five Democratic candidates running for Wisconsin governor avoided direct attacks in their only televised debate of the primary campaign, leaving frontrunner Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) to defend her record in response to questions from the moderators about her past statements and affiliations over the course of the one-hour forum.
Two WISN-TV reporters posed questions about electability, property tax relief, pledges to raise taxes on the wealthy, vouchers, data centers, and funding police and public safety programs to the slate of active candidates: Hong, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive Joel Brennan, and Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison).
Hong was asked about her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and whether there were parts of the DSA national platform she opposed. Hong said she does not favor abolishing the US Senate and went on to describe the qualities of democratic socialism that are not necessarily in lockstep with DSA.
“Democratic socialism is a form of government that puts working class people first, that puts work first,” Hong said. “The policies that we have been working on, permanent affordability, have broad bipartisan support in every corner of the state.”
That appears to be borne out in two recent polls that show Hong leading the field and earning high marks from across Wisconsin, not just progressive enclaves like Madison and Milwaukee. An UpNorthNews/Main Street Action poll by State Navigate and a new Marquette Law School poll released on Wednesday both give Hong more support than the other four candidates combined.
Hong was also asked about a statement she made at the scene of a recent killing of a man by Madison police during an attempted arrest, an incident she called an “execution.” Moderators asked Hong if she would “make those immediate declarations as governor, even though an investigation had not yet started?”
“The governor has the biggest microphone in the state and there comes deep responsibility with that,” Hong answered. “But what we saw in the videos … it was clearly the type of violence where no one’s life should have been taken.”
“We want local governments to be able to invest in public safety,” Hong continued. “And I plan to be a partner in that.”
The other candidates seconded Hong’s comments about the need to improve state financial support of local governments for public safety and evidence-based programs that reduce crime.
Asked if they would have signed or vetoed a budget surplus spending deal between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican legislative leadership in May, only Crowley said he would have signed the bill, which was defeated on bipartisan votes in the Legislature.
“Were there things in this bill that I did not like? Absolutely,” Crowley said. “I loved the fact that we were going to give relief to our schools and property tax relief. I would have signed that bill because that means it would have passed with bipartisanship.”
“It would have spent the surplus before it even materialized,” said Roys when asked about her vote against the package. “I’m looking at a president who is hellbent on making things more expensive and challenging for families across the state and a congressman running for governor who has done nothing but rubber stamp Trump’s agenda.”
Asked to define “rich” and how much they would increase Wisconsin’s top income tax rate of 7.65%, the candidates frequently cited annual incomes over $1 million and raising that rate by about one percent to help fund education and reduce property taxes.
“I also think there are other things,” Brennan said about corporate tax breaks, “like the Manufacturing and Agricultural Credit, which is generally not paid to farmers and which has continued to increase” despite no requirement to prove job creation.
Candidates were asked about taxpayer-funded vouchers that families can use to pull their children out of public schools and send them to private, usually religious schools — a “school choice” program that is costing the state about $1 billion annually. The candidates’ responses all indicated a desire to keep public dollars in public schools, something not happening with a Republican-controlled Legislature that has allowed state school aid to trail the inflation rate for 16 consecutive years.
“Let’s talk about the reason why parents feel failed by public schools,” Barnes said. “This all goes back to the lack of funding [and] the state not meeting its two-thirds funding requirement. Schools have been starved of resources.”
Barnes and others said that while the voucher program cannot be ended instantly due to the high number of students that would flood back into public schools, what can be done immediately is to require voucher schools to adhere to the same standards of accountability, transparency, and anti-discrimination that public schools must follow.
