Barbs, campaign catchphrases fly in governor’s debate

Gov. Tony Evers and challenger Tim Michels exchanged barbs during an hour-long televised debate held Friday night in Madison.

The debate, the only one being held for the gubernatorial race in the general election, was hosted by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and was televised around the state. The questions were from a panel of television reporters from stations representing different areas of the state as well as from Wisconsin Public Television.

The questions covered a broad range of topics from plans on ways to deal with inflation, grow the state’s workforce, improve public safety particularly in Milwaukee, abortion, education and the potential of conflicts of interest.

As much as their specific answers showed a difference between the candidates, so did their overall message with incumbent Evers referring to his record and presenting details, while Michels spoke in more generalities emphasizing his leadership experience in his family’s construction business and in the military and repeating multiple times the campaign catch-phrase of “Help is on the way.”

On questions with the economy and inflation, Evers said that while inflation was a worldwide phenomena, he had a plan including lowering taxes, eliminating the minimum mark-up law, and expanding the child care tax credit. He said this would help mitigate the impact of inflation on state residents.

Michels blamed weak leadership at the national level on inflation and promised “massive tax reform” to address inflation concerns.

Shared revenue, the portion of sales tax dollars collected by the state and shared to counties and municipalities around Wisconsin, was another dividing line between the two candidates. Evers promised to raise the shared revenue payments by 4% each year of the next biennium.

Michels promised to spend “as much money as any governor on education.” He also spoke of crime surging and said there is “plenty of money in government” and if elected said he would “sit down with the legislature and smart people” and make sure there was funding for inflation, crime and education.

On a question about gun control and the presence of the illegal guns in Milwaukee neighborhoods, Michels noted there are guns everywhere and the guns aren’t the problem with crime in Wisconsin. He cited speaking with law enforcement in Wausau who told him that 75% of their recent homicides were with knives. “The left always wants to take away guns,” Michels said, promising to protect people’s gun rights from what he characterized as attempts to take guns away without following due process.

“Responsible gun owners don’t have anything to worry about,” Evers said during his response. Evers repeated his support for red flag laws, which allows law enforcement and family members to go before a judge to determine if someone who is a danger to themselves or others should be barred from possessing firearms. “Those are reasonable things,” Evers said.

To questions about the election and if candidates would abide by the results of the election as well as certify the results in future presidential elections, both candidates said they would. However, Michels made the distinction that if elected he would seek to enact reforms to not have cause to question the election results.

In a question about abortion and if they would support laws to criminalize people who left the state to get an abortion following Roe v. Wade being overturned, the candidates each attempted to present their opponent as being radical while claiming the moderate position.

“I am a common sense guy,” Michels said, stating that if a bill came to him with exceptions for rape and incest he would sign the bill. “I am not going to be a radical guy with checks at the border,” he said.

“Women should have the absolute right to make decisions about healthcare,” Evers said noting that includes abortion. He said efforts to criminalize abortion are contrary to Wisconsin values, noting it has been legal in Wisconsin for 50 years.

As far as ways to contain healthcare costs, Evers noted Wisconsin is one of just 12 states that has not taken federal Medicaid expansion dollars. He said that among the many states that have are a number that are led by Republican governors. He said taking the federal funds would put good health insurance to 126,000 more people in the state. Michels cited the leadership his family’s company has taken in providing healthcare to its employees. “We need to make sure healthier is there for all. I have done it and am going to do it as governor,” he said. When questioned about conflict of interest, the issue was with Michels’ company which is a major road contractor in the state. Michels defended his company’s business relationship with the state noting they received contracts by being the low bidder in a transparent bidding process. He also pledged that if elected he would divest himself from the company. “I am a man of highest integrity,” Michels said, citing his military experiences.

“I am a guy from Plymouth who was a teacher, there are not many things that are problematic there,” Evers said in his response. Evers also launched barbs at Michels noting it would look “kind of fishy” if Michel’s company received large state construction contracts.

Candidates were asked about the state’s surplus which exceeds $4 billion.

Evers said part of the reason the surplus exists is because the state did right by small business, farmers and tourism industry giving them support during the pandemic so that they could survive and recover. He also noted he approved a 10% tax cut last year for workers and again said he would work to remove the minimum mark up law.

In his response Michels focused on using tax reduction as a way to stimulate the economy. He said the state is being overtaxed. “You are paying too much in taxes, but I am here to tell you that help is on the way,” he said.

In questions about environmental protection, Michels said that he wants a clean planet for his children and future grandchildren, however he expressed skepticism about the cause of global warming saying that they can’t be sure it is because of mankind’s actions. He cited his company’s environmental track record as a Green Tier 2 company while stating he felt the Department of Natural Resources was broken and needed to be fixed.

Evers cited the state’s green energy plan and the ongoing efforts to increase solar power which he said is cheaper and cleaner than fossil fuels. He said he believes in climate change and said they need to take steps to make sure the clean energy plan is in place.

Education was another dividing point between the two candidates. Michels stated the state’s education system is broken claiming the test scores have gone down and are getting worse. He noted that with Evers’ past as the head of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and now as governor, that should not be the case. Michels said he would push for universal school choice which he said would allow parents to decide to spend their money on public schools or on private schools.

Evers responded noting that it is a funding issue. He compared Connecticut where they spend on average $47,000 a year per student to Wisconsin where they spend $16,000 per year. “We need more resources,” he said, noting specific areas in need of resources include special education, mental health and literacy. He said Michels plan would cut 40% out of funds available for public schools.

Michels countered pledging to spend more money on education than any governor and stating his position of getting parents involved in directing what their children are being taught rather than “woke educrats.”

In questions about undocumented residents and if they should be able to be granted licenses or allowed to attend university at the in-state tuition rate, Michels focused on the need to secure the nation’s borders. He said while he is all for immigrants in Wisconsin he said it is a federal issue and there needs to be an expansion of the immigration plan to make sure “bad guys don’t come across the border.”

Evers said there were 70,000 undocumented people in Wisconsin stating that most of them are working hard in factories and in agriculture areas. He said that if those workers left the state they would no longer be able to keep agriculture production afloat. “We would be dead in the water,” he said. As far as granting them licenses, he said this would be safer for everyone because they would have to pass the drivers tests like everyone else does. He also supported allowing the children of undocumented residents to attend college in the state and pay in-state tuition.

Statewide polling has the candidates in a dead heat coming into the last few weeks of the campaign cycle. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Gov Tony Evers