For Sen. Kelda Roys, it was time to tell the crowd, “This is not a moment for a newbie.”
For Rep. Francesca Hong, it was time to remind the audience that lots of people were called radical in the beginning, and now their ideas are seen as mainstream.
Hundreds of delegates at last weekend’s Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention heard direct appeals from Roys, Hong, and five more people hoping to break out of the pack and win the Aug. 11 primary election that will determine who goes up against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. The winner succeeds Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is stepping down after two terms.
Question of the Week: Should state political candidates make endorsements?
The seven Democrats spoke in five-minute blocks on Sunday afternoon at Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center, along with primary contenders for other statewide offices and congressional races.
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes joined the others in trying to look like they would be the toughest on Tiffany, the congressman and former state senator from northern Wisconsin’s 7th District, and by extension, President Donald Trump.
“Tom Tiffany is a coward,” Barnes said. “Every single day, instead of representing the people he was elected to represent, he bends the knee to a wannabe dictator.”
Instead of Tiffany and Trump’s “Washington way,” Barnes — like many of the others — outlined a more progressive plan: “That means taxing the rich. That means freezing the [utility] rates. That means keeping our communities safe. Ending the AI schemes that rig the system. Fully fund our public schools, passing universal childcare, and delivering healthcare to every single person.”
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said voters are “ready to win, ready to stand up to Trump’s corruption, stand up for Wisconsinites who are sick and tired of paying more for healthcare, more for groceries, and more for gas because MAGA extremists like Tom Tiffany do whatever he tells them to do.”
Rodriguez said she’s the kind of proven winner Democrats need, having first won election to the state Assembly by unseating a four-term Republican in the Milwaukee suburbs.
Rodriguez and Barnes joined two of Evers’ former Cabinet members, Joel Brennan and Missy Hughes, in invoking the name of the popular outgoing governor and laying claim to being part of his administration’s successes.
“When Tony Evers asked me to serve as his top Cabinet official, we inherited a mess,” said Brennan, former Secretary of Administration. “So we rolled up our sleeves. We constructed responsible budgets. We created the largest surplus in state history.”
“Gov. Evers came to me,” said Hughes, former CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, “and said ‘with your proven record of results, will you come and help and join my team? And so I cleaned up Scott Walker’s and Donald Trump’s mess [referring to Foxconn] and saved Wisconsinites billions of dollars.”
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley referenced his executive experience and track record.
“When people in Milwaukee County needed affordable housing, we acted and built over 1,000 units in six years,” Crowley said. “At a moment when Wisconsin needs bold leadership focused on delivering results, I’m ready to bring that approach to the governor’s office.”
Roys pointed to her 25 years of political activism, much of it in the Legislature where she says, “I don’t just have bullet points, I have bills.” She credited Evers with being like a hockey goalie, blocking bad Republican bills for eight years.
“I am ready to lead Wisconsin Democrats,” Roys said, “from our goalie era to our governing era.”
And while Roys stressed the need for experience, Hong leaned into the criticism that her rhetoric might turn off some moderate voters, invoking ”Fighting Bob” LaFollette, Vel Phillips, and Gaylord Nelson, three of Wisconsin’s progressive giants of the 20th century.
“People before us who imagined a better world and fought like hell to realize it,” Hong said. “These folks were called unreasonable, impractical, and unelectable. Yet today, they’re considered visionaries.”
Delegates were able to take part in a voluntary poll done by WisPolitics at each state political convention. While not scientific, the snapshot of preferences from party activists showed strong support for Rodriguez (164 votes), Hong (138), and Roys (114). Crowley (78) and Brennan (52) were in the middle of the pack, while Barnes finished 6th with 41 votes and Hughes tallied the support of only 10 delegates.
While the convention may have been a whirlwind for the candidates, it also offered them their biggest single audience until a statewide televised forum is held on July 28. For now, it’s back on the road and a daunting circuit of local candidate forums, nearly 30 on their schedules so far.
