(The Center Square) – The five Democratic candidates for Wisconsin governor agreed on data center guardrails, income tax increases, property tax solutions and requiring police departments like Madison to use body cameras during Tuesday night’s debate.
The differences in policy from the candidates remained in the smaller details on how they would implement those frameworks, like state Sen. Kelda Roys encouraging using executive power to stop data centers from having the public subsidize their energy needs.
Ultimately, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes called for a second debate before the Aug. 11 primary for the candidates to discuss issues.
“I think there needs to be another, equal distinct, deserve to hear more from the candidates, especially in a primary that has been as wide, chaotic, and unpredictable,” Barnes said after the debate.
The debate came on a day when a new poll conducted by State Navigate showed state Rep. Francesca Hong with 44% support and a large lead in the race in the poll of 1,085 likely Democratic primary voters conducted from July 23-26 that had a 3.0% +/- margin of error.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Barnes polled at 14% while Roys and former Wisconsin Dept. of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan received 4% support.
Hong made it clear that she considers herself a democratic socialist but does not agree with all of the group’s national agenda and she is not endorsed by the group. Hong said that she would call a special session to place a moratorium on data centers and put guardrails in place.
Brennan said that he wanted to ensure that Wisconsin union construction workers were used to build the data centers. He added that he would spend the first $100 million of the state’s surplus on child care and the next $100 million to restart the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program budget to acquire new park and protected land in the state.
Crowley explained that he left the race and said that he didn’t see a path to victory then because “we were going off of false data.” But he denied that he is the establishment pick despite reentering with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers.
Crowley was the lone candidate who supported the late-session compromise surplus deal the Legislature rejected after Evers and Republican legislative leaders put it forward.
“I was never born into the establishment, I was born into struggle,” Crowley said.
Heavy Republican favorite Tom Tiffany attacked Hong’s positions after the debate.
“Tonight’s debate confirmed that the Democrat primary has become a race to the far left,” Tiffany said in a statement. “It is increasingly clear that Socialist Francesca Hong, who has called to abolish the police, prisons, and the U.S. Senate and says returning the surplus to taxpayers is ‘irresponsible,’ will be the nominee. While Democrats offer chaos, I’m offering common sense: lower taxes, safer communities, stronger schools, and a government that lets the people of Wisconsin keep more of their hard-earned money.”
