Two weeks from the day Wisconsin Democrats will select their gubernatorial nominee, the five candidates vying for the role faced off July 28 in the campaign’s only televised debate.
The debate, hosted by WISN-TV, comes as democratic socialist Francesca Hong has consistently led the field and some Democrats are seeking to rally around an alternative they believe would have a better chance against Republican candidate Tom Tiffany in November.
It also follows a tumultuous series of events including the implosion of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s campaign, the end and resurrection of Milwaukee County David Crowley’s campaign, Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement of Crowley and a multimillion-dollar GOP-led advertising effort Democrats say will boost Hong’s standing even more.
Here are takeaways from the Democratic primary debate.
No jabs at frontrunner Hong, lone dig from Barnes on Crowley
None of the candidates on the debate stage took any direct shots at Hong, who has been the frontrunner for nearly the entire race despite being considered an underdog candidate from the start.
Aside from a few subtle digs at campaign rhetoric, the only candidate to go negative against an opponent was former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who took shots at Crowley.
“The county executive had his campaign resurrected by special interests in a dark room with people with their thumb on the scale,” Barnes said. “This means things will always be the same with that sort of leadership.”
Asked earlier in the debate about being passed over for the governor’s endorsement, Barnes said: “On the terms of Gov. Evers, I have zero interest in upholding the status quo. I have zero interest in being the establishment candidate.”
Hong says she does not support national DSA platform
Hong, who is a democratic socialist and a member of the Legislature’s socialist caucus, said she does not support the full platform of the national Democratic Socialists of America, which includes stances such as abolishing the U.S. Senate, abolishing prisons and rewriting the Constitution to change the way the president and U.S. Supreme Court are selected.
“I do not support the full platform of the national DSA, and I’m not endorsed by DSA national,” Hong said. “What democratic socialism is is a form of government that puts working-class people first, that puts work first.”
“The policies that we have been working on, permanent affordability, has broad, bipartisan support in every corner of the state,” she said.
Tiffany has in recent days posted on social media tying Hong to the DSA national platform, highlighting a 2021 X post in which she wrote, “Abolish the Senate.”
Most candidates would seek to end Milwaukee voucher program
All candidates except Crowley and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan said they would approve a plan that would upend the education landscape in Milwaukee by eliminating a 36-year-old program in which 30,000 students are currently enrolled − accounting for nearly half of the city’s children.
The candidates who said they would sign a bill that would end the voucher program in Milwaukee – Barnes, Hong and state Sen. Kelda Roys – each said they would seek to phase out the program and not make the change immediately.
Roys said she would allow current students and their siblings continue to use taxpayer-funded vouchers until they graduate but allow no new students to enroll. Brennan said his primary opponents who want to end the program in the state’s largest city were not being realistic about the education landscape in Milwaukee.
No candidates would approve cuts to police funding
All of the candidates said they would not sign a bill or budget that cuts funding for police departments, including Hong, who has called for defunding and abolishing police and spoken of an ideal world without prisons.
“The governor cannot defund the police and I’m not here to govern by slogan,” Hong said. “I’m here to make sure that I am the governor that is most serious about public safety, and that means investing in the things that we know prevent crimes.”
Barnes noted that in Madison, where protests are ongoing after police officers shot and killed a man on a well-known city street, police do not have body cameras. He said police departments need funding for those resources.
Roys, who, like Hong, represents Madison, said the state needs to “actually fund local communities so that we can do evidence-based programs that actually reduce and prevent crime.”
Candidates give ‘tax the rich’ specifics
Each candidate has indicated support for raising taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents. Moderators asked them to name the income level at which taxes would increase, and by what percentage.
Barnes said he believes incomes over $1 million should be taxed at a higher rate, “even if it’s temporary.” He suggested the increase could be 0.8% or 0.9%, and when asked to confirm that rate, he said he’s “happy to negotiate.”
Hong said she would start raising taxes after the first $1 million of income and add another increase at the billionth dollar. On the debate stage, she said she would implement a 0.9% increase, though she has introduced and promoted legislation that would increase the rate of the state’s current highest tax bracket (single filers earning more than $323,290) by 1% and create a new bracket (single filers earning at least $750,000) with a rate of 17.7%.
“We need to return to a progressive income tax rate,” Hong said.
Crowley said the state needs to bring stakeholders together for a discussion “about the entire system.” He said he supports raising taxes on those making more than $1 million but did not say what size increase he would seek.
Roys and Brennan also agreed people should pay additional taxes on income that surpasses $1 million. Roys said she is in line with the numbers other candidates suggested, and Brennan did not say how much of an increase he would support. Roys said the state also needs to rein in “corporate tax giveaways,” and Brennan said the state needs to focus on economic growth.
Crowley the lone supporter of bipartisan tax deal
Crowley was the only candidate who said he would have signed a bipartisan bill that died earlier this summer in the state Senate that would have sent every income taxpayer a rebate check, lower property taxes and send more money to schools.
Democrats in the state Legislature opposed the deal, arguing lawmakers should not spend down the budget surplus that heavily. The bill was a product of negotiations between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.
When asked to raise their hands to show support for signing the bill if it got to their desks as governor, Crowley was the only candidate to agree.
Crowley said he would have signed it “because we would have gotten a bipartisan deal actually done.”
“At the end of the day, we know that there are many Wisconsin families who are desperate. We should be focusing on how we lift them up and not playing politics.”
Roys said she would not have signed it because she did not support “throwing that money away on a political gimmick that was frankly cooked up by Robin Vos as he sees the blue wave coming and wanted to do anything that he could to protect his members from losing their seats and run away from their terrible record on public education, which Tom Tiffany is partially responsible for.”
Barnes calls primary ‘most ridiculous race in the country,’ other spin room comments
In the spin room after the debate, Barnes promised to support the party’s nominee in November, but seemed visibly frustrated by the many twists of the primary contest he once seemed to be leading.
“This is the most ridiculous race in the country,” he said.
Asked why Evers did not endorse him, despite running on the same ticket in the past, Barnes said he had no interest in maintaining the “status quo.”
During the debate, Barnes’ campaign posted a photo of Crowley standing on a raised platform behind the lectern saying he was “being propped up by special interests… and a step stool.” Hong and Roys also stood on platforms.
“I’m a short guy, but I walk with a big stick,” Crowley said. “I’ve been able to deliver for communities all across Milwaukee County and across this state unlike the lieutenant governor.”
Barnes said he had not seen the post.
Roys made the case that her opponents were too scandal-plagued and controversial to withstand “absolutely ruthless and relentless” attacks from Republicans.
“Not for nothing, I’m also the candidate that hasn’t had any baggage or scandals or campaign finance and ethics violations, or any negative stories dropping out me,” Roys said. “I’m an open book, and I have nothing that’s going to tear me down in the general election.”
Meanwhile, Brennan vowed to stay in the race even if he is still polling in single digits in Wednesday’s Marquette University Law School poll.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: No attacks on Hong, other takeaways from Dem governor debate
Reporting by Jessie Opoien, Molly Beck, Zachary Suri and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Jessie Opoien, Molly Beck, Zachary Suri and Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
