The Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor is on the ballot Aug. 11. The five candidates still in the race met at Marquette University Tuesday night for the first and only debate ahead of that election.
The debate was moderated by WISN-12 News.
WATCH: WISN-TV's coverage of “Commitment 2026: Democratic Primary Debate for Governor”
One issue the candidates tackled was what to do about the state’s projected $2.5 billion dollar budget surplus. Republican frontrunner, U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany, is campaigning on the idea of giving all the surplus back to taxpayers.
WISN Political Director and debate moderator Matt Smith asked, "Tonight, Wisconsinites overwhelmingly say inflation and the cost of living is the most important issue ahead of this election. The failed tax relief deal, negotiated by Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders, would have delivered rebate checks to Wisconsinites, directed money to local schools to lower property taxes, increased special education funding and eliminated taxes on tips and overtime. It failed in the state Senate."
Smith asked the candidates if they would have signed the deal into law.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who was endorsed by Gov. Evers, was the only candidate who said yes — that he would have signed the surplus bill into law because it was bipartisan in a time of divided government.
"Were there things in this bill that I did not like? Absolutely. I love the fact that we're going to give relief to our schools and property tax relief, and there are other things in his bill that I didn't like," Crowley said. "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. And so I would have signed that deal because that means it would have passed with bipartisanship."
The other candidates said they did not support Evers’ surplus deal.
State Sen. Kelda Roys pointed to an analysis that determined it would have resulted in a major budget deficit.
"Spending it in ways that do not actually help us solve the long-term problem of getting more money into our public schools, giving property tax relief to property taxpayers, and making sure that we have a more just tax system," Roys said. "All we are doing is 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 either protect his members from losing their seats and run away from their terrible record on public education, which Tom Tiffany is partially responsible for."
State Rep. Francesca Hong, who is the leading Democrat in the polls, says the money does belong to taxpayers, but she’d spend it on public education and healthcare.
"Our campaign is about permanent affordability and putting all of those surplus dollars back into the taxpayers' money. It would be irresponsible," Hong said. "And the reason why that surplus deal was so problematic is that those who are on fixed income would not have received that check. Folks who are lower income would have received less. I think it's important to think about some of the working-class families across our state that deserve real relief, durable relief, and that deal was not it."
As Secretary of Administration, Joel Brennan says he put together two budgets for Gov. Evers.
"We need to make sure that we are doing everything possible to be cautious in this time of Trump," Brennan said. "The way that I would spend it, you know, one, it would be cautious. But the first thing that I will spend, the first $100 million, which I will do in January, will go into childcare and early childhood education. It is a system that is broken. A billion dollars of productivity sits on the sidelines every year, especially from women — mainly from women who can't find affordable, accessible, or high quality child care."
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said he would not have signed the deal, but would instead tax the wealthy.
"The best way we can close the affordability gap is to put more money in the pockets of hardworking people," he said. "Our minimum wage is still $7.25. Since costs have gone up, wages have not. But returning that money to the people, that means making the right investments in public education, making the investments in healthcare, taxing the wealthy, and implementing a working class tax cut for folks who work hard every single day and don't get the benefits that corporations get."
When asked a follow-up regarding what he would do with the budget surplus, Barnes said, "With the surplus, like I said, it's just reinvesting back into education."
Even though most of the candidates were against the surplus bill brokered by Evers and Republicans, a May Marquette Law School Poll found 80% of Wisconsin adults supported it.
The five candidates also addressed issues like policing, data centers, and school voucher programs. They’ll continue to court voters ahead of the Democratic primary on Aug. 11. The winner will advance to the general election on Nov. 3.
Special thanks to WISN-TV Milwaukee for hosting the debate and providing 89.7 WUWM-Milwaukee's NPR a live feed of the event, along with the audio used in this story.
