Democrats’ hopes at re-claiming the governorship from embattled Gov. Scott Walker now lay in the hands of four candidates, all of who were at the Concourse Hotel Wednesday to make their case to a capacity crowd.
Tom Barrett, Kathleen Falk, Kathleen Vinehout and Doug La Follette were asked questions about their stance on collective bargaining, what they would do to improve education, their plans to bring more jobs to Wisconsin and other questions central to the platform of the recall effort. In a straw poll after the candidates spoke, Falk received 118 votes to Barrett’s 93, Vinehout’s 46 and La Follette’s 2.
Milwaukee Mayor Barrett, who lost to Walker by a slim four-point margin in the 2010 race, and former Dane County Executive Falk lead the other two candidates in the latest statewide polls, with Barrett slightly edging out Falk. However, according to the same Marquette Law School poll, both would still lose to Walker.
Since Barrett’s anticipated entry into the race, he and Falk have attracted much media attention for their disagreements on how they would repeal some of the measures in Act 10, Walker’s budget bill that included massive cuts to public institutions and education as well as eliminating collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Falk reiterated Wednesday she would not only return collective bargaining rights to public employees, but also offer a new budget bill that would reverse other key components in Act 10. She pointed to her strength as a candidate because of the many unions that have endorsed her, in part due to her pledge to propose a new budget.
But Barrett would approach the issue differently. In an interview with conservative talk show pundit Charlie Sykes last spring, Barrett said he supports some of the fiscal parts of the bill, but not the collective bargaining portion.
Barrett stood by his statement Wednesday, saying he would call a special session and try to restore collective bargaining rights but not use a new budget to do so. Falk countered that would not be enough.
“There is only one bill that has to pass, and that’s the budget bill,” Falk said.
Barrett approached the forum with confidence, saying he is the candidate Republicans most fear. He pointed to the Republican attack advertisements that were aimed at Barrett even before he announced he would run as evidence of his strength.
“We have to have the strongest runner for this final leg. I am that runner,” the Milwaukee Mayor said.
State Sen. Vinehout, D-Alma, had a small but vocal group of supporters at the forum. She took the stance as the outsider underdog in the race, paining herself as the person to bring a fresh new start to state government.
“If you don’t like politics as usual, word for the unusual,” Vinehout said in her closing statement.
Longtime Wisconsin Sec. of State Doug La Follette said he would bring maturity and no surprises to the governorship, also mentioning support he has received from moderates and some Republicans in the past.
