MILWAUKEE — The last week in Wisconsin’s Democratic race for governor has reshaped the primary field, sharpening questions about campaign finances, electability and which candidate is best positioned to face Republican Tom Tiffany.
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race Friday after campaign finance problems surfaced earlier this week. Rodriguez said in a social media post that financial issues would “become an ongoing distraction.” Earlier in the week, Rodriguez said her campaign had less money than expected after donations were double-counted and expenses underreported.
WTMJ’s Wisconsin’s Afternoon News spoke with candidates Joel Brennan, Kelda Roys, and Francesca Hong as the race shifted. The interviews focused on the fallout from Rodriguez’s campaign finance problems, each candidate’s own path forward and what Democrats need to do ahead of the general election.
Wisconsin’s Afternoon News also reached out to Mandela Barnes’ campaign to appear on the show.
Joel Brennan
Brennan said he wants the race to focus on issues facing Wisconsin voters, but argued Democrats risk losing that focus if the nominee spends the campaign defending past comments or questions about basic campaign operations.
“I want to be talking about the issues that matter. But if we put up candidates who are going to be talking about defending ‘defund the police’ comments, that they’ve made defending incompetence when it comes to filing the basics in terms of Campaign 101, that will not allow us to talk about the issues that matter most of the people in the state of Wisconsin.”
Kelda Roys
Roys said her campaign is focused on wages, affordability, public education and protecting rights and freedoms.
“I’m going to deliver higher wages for people, more money in your pocket. We’re going to deliver lower costs on the big ticket items like housing and health care, childcare and utilities. We’re going to fully fund public education so that every child in this state gets a great, top notch public education so that every child in this state gets a great, top notch public education. And I’m going to protect our rights and freedoms from Donald Trump.”
Francesca Hong
Hong said her campaign is focused on affordability, public services and investments in education. She also answered questions about the state of her past credit card debt and comments about defunding the police.
“What I’m focused on as a democratic socialist is to make sure that all people have a life that we have a good life, that we have good public services, whether it’s trash removal and snow removal that our local governments have the money that they need to do it that we have a strong democracy. A strong democracy requires investment in public education from our tech colleges to our K12 public schools and early childhood education.”
