We delivered a questionnaire to all candidates in Wisconsin's 2026 Gubernatorial Primary Election. Its purpose was to consolidate concrete policy proposals on a variety of issues identified by Wisconsinites as priority areas of concern. Their answers are published here, unedited and provided in alphabetical order by candidate last name in each of the partisan primary groups. If a candidate did not respond, that is indicated with an answer of “No response.”

SECTION ONE:
CIVIL RIGHTS POLICY

Examples include:

  • Policies that address racial disparities

  • Policies that address voting rights

  • Policies that address anti-racism

  • Policies that address DEI bans

  • Policies that address reproductive freedom

  • Policies that address tribal equity in policymaking

  • Policies that address the LGBTQ community

  • Policies that address immigrant communities

  • Policies that address digital surveillance

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to Civil Rights.

.

  • I'll repeal Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban. On voting rights, I support automatic voter registration through the DMV, defending early voting and absentee access, pre-Election Day absentee processing, restoring drop boxes, and expanding acceptable voter IDs to include student and tribal IDs. I'd re-enfranchise Wisconsinites who've completed their sentences and push for a Wisconsin John Lewis Voting Rights Act. On immigration, I'd sign a day-one executive order barring all state agencies from cooperating with ICE civil enforcement, establish a Wisconsin Accountability Commission to document enforcement abuses, support a statewide ban on county-level 287(g) agreements, and connect affected families with legal resources. On digital surveillance: I don't think Wisconsin communities should be building out mass surveillance networks without the knowledge or consent of the people who live there. We've seen police chiefs install cameras like Flock's without telling a single elected official. We've seen officers abuse access to track people they knew personally. And there are real concerns about this data ending up in the hands of ICE. Until we have guardrails in place that guarantee transparency and accountability, and make clear how this technology gets used, who controls it, and what happens when it's abused, I'd put the brakes on it.

  • No response.

  • - ICE / protection of immigrants: use the full force of the executive branch to protect Wisconsinites of all documentation status from secret police. Cosponsor of the Keep Families Together package, which refuses to let Wisconsin's resources be used to target Wisconsinites — and demands transparency, the right to due process, and the protection of community safe spaces.

    - Constitutional protection of abortion: preserve abortion access and other forms of reproductive justice in the Wisconsin state constitution.

    - Free speech and protest: overturn bills that conflate protesting genocide with hate speech; author of legislation protecting the right to boycott; opposes legislation that serves corporations by criminalizing protest.

    - Gender-affirming care: prevent legal retaliation against medical professionals for providing gender-affirming care and educators for using students' preferred pronouns; recognize gender-affirming care as medically necessary; would veto bills like AB 104 that prohibit gender-affirming care. Add gender identity and expression to the list of protected classes in Wisconsin anti-discrimination law.

    - AI and privacy: Stop police surveillance abuse and demand a higher standard for AI in law enforcement; expand privacy protections to all healthcare data.

    - Economic Justice Bill of Rights: authored the resolution guaranteeing, among other rights, life, self-determination, and freedom from oppressions for all Wisconsinites, regardless of documentation status.

  • I have spent my career fighting to protect every Wisconsinite from discrimination based on religion, race, ethnicity, and immigration status. As governor, I will enforce and strengthen civil rights protections and ensure our state government actively combats discrimination in all its forms. I’ve coauthored legislation to expand the ability of Wisconsinites to sue when our civil rights are violated, which is especially important in an era of lawless federal agent abuses. As an attorney who founded an ACLU chapter at my law school, I’ll work to hold Trump’s authoritarian regime legally accountable for their civil and human rights violations and any crimes under state law. I am already working with local law enforcement and the attorney general to ensure strong criminal and civil legal accountability for all ICE agents and their enablers, and I’ve proposed additional legislation to unmask ICE and make it easier for Wisconsinites to sue when our civil rights are violated. I will work with Attorney General Kaul, as well as other governors in our region to create a regional strike force to fight ICE and protect ourselves from this violent, lawless paramilitary force that is terrorizing our communities.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific strategies do your civil rights policy proposals address to ensure state programs and economic opportunities are accessible to all diverse communities across Wisconsin?

  • My education funding formula gives extra weight to English language learners, low-income students, and students in under-resourced districts, so state dollars reach the kids who need them most. My maternal health plan is built around the fact that a third of Wisconsin counties have no practicing OB-GYN, and Black and rural Wisconsinites face the worst outcomes and least access. And I won't let state agencies help ICE target Wisconsin families — economic opportunity means nothing if people are afraid to access the programs already available to them.

  • No response.

  • Among the most pressing civil rights questions of the current moment is how Wisconsin will respond to ICE infiltration of our streets and the unconstitutional kidnapping and abuse of immigrants. That’s why I authored the Keep Families Together package, which uses state power to its fullest extent to fight back against Trump’s fascistic overreach to enact regulations like ending 287(g) agreements that make local law enforcement into ICE deputies, prohibiting the use of state facilities and safe community spaces like hospitals and churches for ICE stings, unmasking and de-anonymizing ICE agents, and funding legal support for unlawfully detained immigrants. I’m also a proud champion for transgender rights, and as governor I’ll fight back against the right’s war on trans people and will recognize gender-affirming care as private and, for the purposes of insurance billing, medically necessary instead of a culture war issue used to hurt vulnerable people trying to live normal lives. Additionally, I’m the only candidate in this race with a plan for AI and civil rights: I will prohibit police abuse of invasive surveillance technologies like Flock cameras, will create standards for the public ownership and independent audit of law enforcement technology. I will fight for reproductive justice for everyone — for people who want to have children and for people who don’t — by not just protecting abortion rights in our constitution but by passing universal childcare and universal paid leave.

  • My policies are universal but will help reduce and eliminate racial disparities, starting with universal paid family and medical leave, Baby Bonds, and affordable early childhood education for all. Equitable K12 funding and reinvesting in public higher ed to allow two years of free college will open doors of opportunity for all Wisconsinites. Raising the minimum wage, restoring collective bargaining rights, and expanding access to capital will help increase economic security, as does opening up the state health insurance and pension plans to let anyone buy in. As a longtime champion for criminal justice reform, using evidence-based policies will make us safer while saving tax money. When it comes to equitable access to resources, I also believe housing is a human right. We need stronger protections for all tenants, including good-cause eviction standards, protections against high-tech price fixing, a right to counsel in housing court, and meaningful remedies when landlords violate habitability standards or abuse their power – all legislation I’ve authored over the years.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION TWO:
HEALTHPOLICY

Examples include:

  • Policies that address healthcare access

  • Policies that address healthcare affordability

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to healthcare.

.

  • I'll expand Medicaid and build a public option so coverage doesn't depend on which private plan someone has. I'll reform pharmacy benefit managers — banning spread pricing, requiring rebates go to patients, and ensuring fair reimbursement for independent pharmacies. I'll guarantee continuous coverage for every Wisconsin kid regardless of family income, with automatic newborn enrollment. I'd invest in rural health partnerships to keep OB/maternity, primary care, and mental health services close to home, integrate postpartum mental health screening into standard care, expand mobile crisis response teams and rural telehealth, and invest in community health clinics and substance use program grants.

  • No response.

  • - Expanded, improved BadgerCare for all: (1) Expand Medicaid; (2) develop new kinds of BadgerCare programs that include more kinds of people — like a Basic Health Plan; (3) establish a robust public option that competes with private insurance plans.

    - Pull down high healthcare costs: bring exorbitant prices at huge hospitals in line with fair market value and invest the savings into small hospitals and healthcare programs.

    - Insurance coverage and claim denial: crack down on claim denial processes, mandate coverage for medically necessary care, and develop new ways for Wisconsinites to fight back.

    - Make large hospitals pay their fair share: force large hospitals to use the tax breaks we give them to invest in community benefits and subsidized care.

    - Lower prescription drug costs: pool the state's resources to negotiate better prices and crack down on pharmacy benefit managers

    - Hospital and nursing home staffing: sponsored legislation to mandate safe staffing ratios in hospitals and nursing homes.

    - Medicaid payments: increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to sustain mental healthcare, social workers, and rural hospitals.

    - Maternal health, beyond pregnancy: promote doula access; develop universal paid leave and childcare; invest in OUD treatment, mental health, and peer support.

    - Build a preventive care workforce: build pilot groups of coordinated healthcare workers and get them into more neighborhoods across the state.

    - Stop hospital and clinic closures: enable the creation of hospital districts that let communities issue bonds, backed by the state's public bank, to purchase and sustain their own healthcare facilities.

    - Home healthcare and home health workers: require a living wage for home health aides without cutting hour allocation.

  • The centerpiece to my healthcare plan, KeldaCare, is very different from what the other candidates are offering. As governor, I will enable every Wisconsinite to buy into the very same health insurance plans that state employees enjoy. State employee insurance is high quality, comprehensive, competitively priced, and often nonprofit. Because it’s a large, stable risk pool it’s also less prone to the massive, unpredictable premium spikes that smaller employers suffer. Small businesses, unions, municipalities, school districts, and even companies will benefit by being able to buy into the state employee pool, enjoying excellent, lower cost insurance than the expensive, private, for-profit health insurance options currently available. Plus, by covering more people and expanding the pool, we will be able to reduce uncompensated care, lower premiums, and help keep rural clinics and hospitals open. With the savings, we may be able to offer state subsidies to allow more individuals to buy in directly or via the ACA exchange as a public option. I also support offering BadgerCare as another public option, if we can get a waiver from the Trump administration. I also have detailed plans for expanding access to mental and reproductive healthcare, investing in preventive care, and increasing the provider pipeline to support better healthcare access across Wisconsin, which can be found on my website.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific improvements do your healthcare policy proposals seek that will expand and protect healthcare across race, place, and socioeconomic barriers?

  • Twenty-seven of Wisconsin's 72 counties now have no practicing OB-GYN, up from 20 when I started in state government — that's placed as a barrier, and it's why rural health partnerships and telehealth are central to this plan. Expanding Medicaid and building a public option means coverage doesn't depend on income or employer plan quality. Race and place intersect hardest in maternal health outcomes, which is why that's where this platform starts.

  • No response.

  • Healthcare finance policy can often be distilled to two questions: coverage and cost. The immediate next steps for coverage are clear for Wisconsin. I believe that we need federal Medicare for All in America and will make our state’s position clear whenever I can, but also understand that we need to address coverage issues with the tools available on the state level. In addition to expanding BadgerCare and creating a public option health plan that uses aggregated purchasing power to cover more care for more people (and which can be bought into by employers as an alternative to private market insurance), I’m fighting for a unique approach to expanding healthcare access in rural and low-income areas: facilitating the creation of hospital districts that can issue bonds backed by the state to purchase or reopen local healthcare facilities. I’m also going to take on the health insurance industry; cracking down on claim denials and prior authorizations while expanding consumer resources to help Wisconsinites appeal and overturn denials of care.

    The other question in health finance is that of cost — one often ignored in politics because it requires addressing huge corporations with lavish lobbying budgets. Healthcare costs are high because healthcare prices are high, and sometimes healthcare prices are high because nobody’s around to lower them. The BadgerCare public option provides some negotiating leverage with which to bring prices down, but I’m also interested in taking on bad corporate actors like huge multibillion-dollar hospitals that charge up to six or seven times the Medicare rate when billing private insurance plans while closing rural hospitals and buying up smaller clinics and jacking up prices — because they put profits over people. We’ll pass legislation like Indiana did to cap extortionate hospital prices and compel nonprofit hospitals to use the tax breaks we give them to invest in community care and public health.

  • Health care is a right and should not be rationed based on your job, age, or wealth. The US should have a single payer system, but in running for governor, I’ve built a healthcare plan that gets us as close as possible towards that goal while being politically and financially feasible to implement right away. We need urgent, realistic action to expand access to healthcare, as several hundred thousand Wisconsinites – of all walks of life – are estimated to lose coverage in the coming years, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and providers to close their doors across our communities. I’ve already helped expand BadgerCare to 80,000 previously uninsured Wisconsinites – but there is so much more we can do to help Wisconsin’s most vulnerable populations access the coverage they need. I also led the charge to expand access to care by making it easier for nurse practitioners to serve Wisconsinites, particularly in marginalized and rural communities. KeldaCare will help those who are self-employed – like family farmers – access coverage and dramatically lower the economic barrier for entry by offering all Wisconsinites, regardless of income or socioeconomic status, the exact same competitively-priced coverage our state employees enjoy.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION THREE:
JUSTICE SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

Examples include:

  • Policies that address cannabis legalization

  • Policies that address corrections reform

  • Policies that address juvenile justice reform

  • Policies that address policing

  • Policies that address cash bail reform

  • Policies that address commutation and pardon reform

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to justice system transformation.

.

  • I support cannabis legalization. On policing specifically: I'd push for a statewide body camera requirement, with state funding behind it so smaller departments aren't left to cover the cost themselves. I'd establish clear timelines for releasing footage to families and the public without compromising an active investigation. I'd make sure every department in Wisconsin is actually reporting the use-of-force data the law already requires, not just some of them. And I'd give our independent investigators the staffing and resources to do their work thoroughly, timely, and effectively. On surveillance technology like Flock cameras: I'd put the brakes on further deployment until there are real guardrails guaranteeing transparency and accountability, since we've seen police chiefs install these systems without telling a single elected official, officers abuse access to track people they knew personally, and real risk of this data ending up with ICE.

    Finally, we need to make progress on corrections reform. Our neighbors in Minnesota spend $100 less per capita than we do in Wisconsin, and they incarcerate only about a third as many of their citizens. While we can’t make all the changes overnight, spending the same amount as Minnesota does (and they get very similar results, by the way) would open up $600 million for investment in education, child care, alternatives to incarceration and other things that would end up with better outcomes for Wisconsin.

  • No response.

  • - Conditions of Confinement package: Formally abolish slavery as a punishment for crimes; access to hygiene products; regular bathing periods; heating and air conditioning; greater supervision and regulatory authority — including public transparency — about what happens in our jails and prisons.

    - Public defenders: properly fund the public-defender workforce (previous budgets funded only a quarter of the lawyers needed).

    - Crime prevention: state support for community-based programs; support for counties and cities that invest in noncarceral approaches to crime prevention.

    - Recidivism: invest in reentry programs and wraparound services like mental health treatment and housing support.

    - End life sentences for juvenile offenders.

    - Legalize cannabis; exhaust every resource possible to expand eligibility for expungement, work to get people out of jail, and help get them good-paying jobs in the new industry.

    - Implement medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder among currently and formerly incarcerated people.

    - “If we want to be tough on crime, we need to be tough on the causes of crime:” affordable housing, living wages, mental health, afterschool programs, job training.

  • The criminal justice system is a driver of racial inequality. As the only candidate in this race who has passed meaningful criminal justice reforms, and championed these issues for 25 years, I will continue to make Wisconsin safer and more just by focusing on what works to prevent crime and reduce recidivism – including many bills I’ve already introduced. I’m an attorney and an alumna of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, so I’m serious about public safety and the rule of law. Our current criminal justice system is making us less safe, while bankrupting our state financially and morally. I will not allow us to continue to spend more incarcerating people at DOC than educating them at UW.

    As governor, I’ll continue my lifelong work to make our criminal justice system be serious about public safety. I’ll invest in proven crime prevention measures like youth programs, violence interruption, and focused interventions, while expanding successful treatment, alternatives, and diversion programs that keep people out of the criminal justice system. We need to stop treating mental health and substance use challenges solely within the crime and punishment context, and instead treat them as the public health issues they are, while legalizing cannabis and pardoning people for cannabis-related offenses. While people are incarcerated, we need to use that time for rehabilitation and repaying their debt to society so they are well prepared to reintegrate and be productive upon release – drug treatment, literacy, skills and vocational training, education, counseling. After incarceration, we need meaningful reentry support with housing, employment, and transportation, while ending crimeless revocation that overcrowds our prisons and increases recidivism. I’ll use the powers of clemency and parole appropriately where justice has been denied.

    I’ve led the fight on these issues in the legislature, as the lead author of bills to end prison gerrymandering, stop the shackling of pregnant and postpartum women, ending life sentences and segregation for children, expungement reform, ending prison slavery, and many other issues. Even when other Democrats shied away from taking on criminal justice reform, I’ve never hesitated to do the hard work of advocating for change.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific transformations do your justice system policy proposals guarantee that will shift our application of justice in Wisconsin from punitive to restorative, especially in terms of incarceration and sentencing disparities?

  • Body cameras and consistent use-of-force reporting aren't restorative justice on their own, but they're the accountability foundation that has to exist before restorative approaches can build real trust. A community can't move past a punitive relationship with policing if it can't even get a straight, timely answer about what happened when something goes wrong. Cannabis legalization is the other piece I'd move on — treating a public health issue as a public health issue instead of a criminal one.

    One of the areas that was a revelation to me during the campaign happened during a conversation with criminal justice reform advocates from other midwestern states. Discovering that Wisconsin has much longer periods of extended supervision than Michigan or Illinois, and that a revocation for an offense unrelated to the original one results in the “clock starting over” for extended supervision was startling and disappointing. Just modeling our efforts after our neighbors can make a demonstrable difference, and we will do that.

  • No response.

  • I believe that if we want to be tough on crime, we need to be tough on the causes of crime. We have years of data showing that throwing unlimited money at the carceral system hasn’t worked. I will support local governments by investing in what local leaders already know works to reduce violence; for example, community violence intervention programs have contributed to a major reduction in gun violence in cities like Milwaukee and neighborhood-level physical improvement programs have significantly improved public safety by enhancing street lighting and restoring vacant lots into public spaces. Unemployment and low wages correlate with increases in crime: when people don’t have the resources to live decent lives, it puts a lot of stress on families and neighborhoods. That’s why my green jobs program promises good work at fair wages for important neighborhood projects, and why my public bank will offer low-interest loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses — meaning it’s much easier to get off the ground and build something in your community.

    I am a proud coauthor of the Conditions of Confinement package, which formally abolishes slavery as a punishment for crimes and adds transparency requirements and basic dignity for incarcerated people (like hygiene products, bathing periods, and heating and air conditioning). My platform invests in reentry programs and wraparound services like mental health treatment and housing support so people who leave prison can stay out, offers medication-assisted treatment inside jails and prisons. Additionally, I have plans to legalize cannabis, get people out of prison and clear their records for cannabis-related convictions, help them find good jobs in the new industry, and invest the proceeds in state infrastructure like rural broadband.

  • As governor, I will tax and regulate cannabis instead of criminalizing it, expand our treatment alternatives and diversion programs, and redirect law enforcement resources towards preventing and solving serious crimes. I will invest in youth opportunity, violence interruption, and community based prevention so fewer kids ever enter the system, improve safety and working conditions for correctional staff while expanding programming that prepares people to reenter and succeed. In schools and communities, a restorative justice model should be the frontline response to antisocial behavior, and the tools and healing that restorative justice allows should be available to all victims of crime. I also helped pass bipartisan laws to fund victim services, clear the sexual assault kit backlog and prevent a new one, and support survivors. Finally, I will make aggressive use of the governor’s powers of parole and clemency, including pardons and commutations, and administratively reform the Department of Corrections to reduce our unnecessarily high prison population that makes us all less safe.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION FOUR:
AFFORDABILITY

Examples include:

  • Policies that address housing access and affordability

  • Policies that address utility affordability

  • Policies that address the minimum wage

  • Policies that address taxation

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to affordability..

  • I'd expand WHEDA's low-interest mortgage programs for first-time buyers, push zoning reform to allow more housing built through local control rather than a state mandate, and crack down on out-of-state and Wall Street investors buying up Wisconsin housing stock. I'll raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, indexed to inflation, and repeal the state preemption that blocks cities from setting their own minimum wage. I'd restore the Child Care Counts program, cap what families pay out of pocket, and build a state/employer/family cost-sharing model. I'd require data centers to cover 100% of their own energy costs instead of shifting costs onto ratepayers, expand weatherization assistance, and close the corporate and capital-gains loopholes that let the wealthy shelter income from Wisconsin taxes.

  • No response.

  • - Universal childcare: affordable, high-quality childcare with either no out-of-pocket costs, subsidies, or strictly capped prices, plus increased reimbursement rates, higher childcare wages, and provider loan forgiveness.

    - Guaranteed paid leave: wrote a universal paid leave bill providing fully insured paid leave for all workers, including the self-employed.

    - Fair wages: a $20 minimum wage indexed to the cost of living in Wisconsin.

    - Taxing the rich to cut property taxes: fund K-12 with a progressive tax on large corporate profits and household income over $1 million a year, which could cut all of our property taxes by about 44%.

    - Housing: public-bank financing for affordable construction; an affordable housing zoning overlay; community land trusts and limited-equity co-ops; renter protections and slumlord regulation; statewide Right to Counsel; a whole-home repair program.

    - Public groceries: wrote a bill to create publicly-owned grocery stores to serve Wisconsinites with universal access to healthy, affordable food.

    - 2% utility rate cap for energy-burdened households, plus an energy burden relief fund.

    - Public bank / affordable loans for small businesses and regular Wisconsinites.

  • The affordability crisis is made up of both high costs, especially on the biggest ticket items like housing, healthcare, childcare, and utilities – but also the stagnant wages that have not reflected workers’ productivity gains. That’s why the most important thing I will do as governor to help our economy and alleviate the affordability crisis is to raise wages. As the lead author of the Living Wage bill, I’ll raise the minimum wage from $7.25/hr to $15, and restore collective bargaining rights for public and private sector workers so we can rebuild a strong middle class.

    I have detailed plans to lower costs on health care and prescription drugs, housing, childcare, higher ed and utilities – not just bullet points but bills that are ready to pass, which you can read on my website. My health plan will allow people and employers to buy into the state’s own employee health insurance plan, at cost – saving money, improving coverage, and reducing uncompensated care. For universal paid leave and early childhood education, I’ll cap per-kid costs at 7% of a family’s income, paid for by legalizing cannabis. I’ll also restore tax fairness and progressive taxation to Wisconsin so that everyday Wisconsinites and small businesses aren’t forced to shoulder the responsibility of paying for public services while millionaires, billionaires, and big corporations get a free ride.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific improvements do your affordability policy proposals include that will correct the harmful imbalance of Wisconsin’s economic landscape?

  • Wisconsin's wealthiest investors currently pay tax on 70 cents of every dollar of capital gains income, while a worker's wages get taxed on every cent — closing that loophole, along with corporate loopholes, is how I'd fund affordability priorities without asking working families to carry more of the load. Across housing, child care, and utility policy, the same principle applies: don't let the people with the least leverage absorb costs that corporations and investors should be paying instead.

  • No response.

  • We live under a rigged system that funnels money from regular people into the hands of billionaires and massive corporations. While others offer incremental fixes, I'm building a movement rooted in permanent affordability — universal childcare, fully funded public schools, paid leave, and lower healthcare costs. I will right-size the way funding flows throughout the state; cutting huge tax loopholes for the super-rich, getting millionaires and huge corporations to pay their fair share, and investing in our public schools and our state infrastructure — massive economic programs. I’m also a champion for affordable housing: the market, left alone, won’t build housing working families can afford to live in, so I’ll use my public bank and a zoning overlay to both bring down the costs of construction and administration for developers in exchange for tight regulations around affordability.

  • There’s never been a moment in American history when workers take home a smaller share of the wealth we create, while those at the very top take home more. That’s why, throughout my career, I’ve championed workers rights and economic justice. Beyond meaningfully and immediately raising the minimum wage to $15/hr and then $20 by 2030, eliminating the tipped minimum wage, and allowing local control of higher minimum wages, I will lay the foundation for economic fairness with paid leave, affordable childcare and health care, and dignified retirement. It will be my continued focus to help all workers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses compete and succeed, giving all Wisconsinites the same head start they need to succeed in an economy that has become increasingly one-sided.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION FIVE:
PUBLIC EDUCATION

Examples include:

  • Policies that address Wisconsin’s voucher program

  • Policies that address Wisconsin public school funding disparities

  • Policies that address Wisconsin public school facility and infrastructure improvement

  • Policies that address disciplinary equity in public schools

  • Policies that address curriculum changes to combat racial insensitivity and historical omission

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to public education..

  • I'd modernize the school funding formula — one still based on 1993 assumptions — around what kids actually need today, with extra weight for English language learners, low-income students, and students with disabilities. I'll fully fund the state-mandated School Breakfast Reimbursement at 15 cents a meal, send 100% of billed Medicaid matching funds back to schools instead of the current 60%, and fund universal free breakfast and lunch for every K-12 student. I'd resource DPI to support Act 20 implementation with real coaching, prioritizing rural and small districts, set a statewide minimum standard for school-based mental health counselors paired with rural counselor pipeline investment, and invest in mandatory recess, cell phone restrictions, and early mental health intervention in schools.

  • No response.

  • - Fully fund public schools, public universities, and tech colleges; change the funding source from property taxes to income taxes on the super-rich — cutting your property taxes by up to 44%.

    - Free school meals: wrote a bill to provide free healthy school meals to all children.

    - Roll back voucher laws: a responsible transition away from the unfair voucher program, which gives financial advantages to private schools over public ones.

    - Special education: increase state support to 90% of costs

    - Higher education: fully fund universities and tech colleges and restore collective bargaining power for their workers.

    - Anchor teacher salaries to state legislator salaries; let public school teachers enroll in the state employee health plan; add teacher representatives to school boards; establish paid preparation time;.

    - Wisconsin Tribal Education Promise Program: expand to the full UW system and tribal colleges.

  • Wisconsin used to have the nation’s best public schools, and I aim to make Wisconsin the education state once again. Public education is my top budget priority. The state must finally meet its commitment to fund two-thirds of the cost of public schools, so we can reduce property taxes, end the cycle of referendums, and ensure equitable funding for all kids. We also need to reimburse districts for 90% of the cost of special education services, and to fix our outdated funding formula so that rural and high needs districts aren’t shortchanged. Finally, we need to bring the failed voucher scheme to a responsible end and stop subsidizing private, religious schools that discriminate. I’m the only candidate with a plan to do that – because public dollars should be for public schools, period. I also have a plan to create universal paid family leave and early childhood education, funded by legalizing cannabis, and to reinvest in public higher education once again so every young person who wants to attend a UW school or tech college can, regardless of wealth.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific systemic and physical barriers do your public education policy proposals aim to remove to eliminate disparities in funding, access, and discipline equity?

  • The core barrier is the funding formula itself, a 1993 snapshot that doesn't account for how enrollment, poverty, and student needs have actually changed. Seventy-two Wisconsin districts went to referendum this spring, sixty of them just to maintain current operations, which shows the formula is failing rural and urban districts alike.

  • No response.

  • Wisconsin public schools have been made to provide an ever-expanding set of services while enduring funding cuts and the siphoning of dollars to an unaccountable voucher program. Limitations on municipal revenue means Wisconsinites face an endless series of property tax referenda. I wrote a bill separating school funding from property taxes, instead fully funding public schools through a progressive income tax on the ultra-wealthy, including a new tax bracket on the millionth dollar of household income or corporate profit. Additionally, if schools serve as health centers, dental clinics, and family support programs, then we should fund them as such and allocate dedicated public health funds to maintenance of essential services instead of asking schools to do more with less.

    When the two-way pressures of growing need and declining funding is exacerbated by broader socioeconomic issues like apportionment (or lack thereof) of community investments and housing construction — a direct consequence of unquestionably racist policies like redlining — it's inevitable that struggling schools will struggle further. But I believe a model which siphons money from these schools and funnels it into unaccountable, opaque voucher schools, which tamper with whatever data they share by manipulating their student populations, is fundamentally unjust and deprives public schools of the resources they need to care for all Wisconsin students. I support a responsible sunsetting of voucher programs and a total reinvestment in our public schools.

  • A high quality public education is the birthright of every Wisconsin child - from early childhood to higher ed. As governor, I’ll restore that commitment. We need to restore the core purpose of state government, which is to educate our kids in a comprehensive, equitable way. I will restore the state’s commitment to two-thirds funding for public education, with a 90% reimbursement for special education services, while fixing the inequitable funding formula that creates winners and losers based on an outdated, unfair formula which shortchanges rural and high needs districts. I’ll also make the first two years of WTCS schools free via a last-dollar tuition credit and expand Bucky’s Tuition Promise statewide so wealth isn't a barrier to higher education, and I’ll expand our meager loan forgiveness programs so that graduates who serve in high needs areas like mental health, early childhood, and nursing, aren't burdened by massive debt. Finally, we need to make schools places where everyone feels safe, valued, and respected. I will restore collective bargaining rights for educators, reestablish respect and autonomy for teachers as professionals, get distractions and screens out of the classroom, and prioritize passing responsible gun safety laws so that all of us can be safe where we live, work, learn, and play.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION SIX:
DATA CENTERS

Examples include:

  • Policies that address a statewide data center moratorium

  • Policies that address statewide data center regulation

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to data centers..

  • I'd pause new data center approvals until real guardrails are in place: developers cover 100% of their own energy costs, generate at least 30% of their power on-site, commit 30% of their demand to grid response programs, meet clean energy and water standards, use Wisconsin union labor, and negotiate binding community benefit agreements before anything breaks ground, with no more nondisclosure agreements that keep residents in the dark.

  • No response.

  • - One-year moratorium on data center construction — the only candidate running for governor who's called for it — giving the state time to develop environmental, economic, and energy cost protections.

    - CONTROL-ALT-DELETE package: any community-approved new construction must use union labor and follow three rules: (1) it generates long-term community benefit: no tax breaks for private profit; (2) it funds new renewable or clean energy infrastructure and adheres to strict environmental protections" (3) that infrastructure is publicly owned.

    - Redirect the $2 billion we spend a year in data-center tax breaks to housing, a greener grid, community institutions, schools, and transit.

  • Big Tech is steamrolling communities, damaging our environment, and using massive energy. I have the strongest plan to stop unregulated development of data centers immediately and put local communities in the strongest bargaining position, including establishing an expert public negotiating team to support local communities who pursue data centers. My plan includes day one directives to the PSC and DNR to enforce existing protections, while passing stringent new state laws to require transparency, meaningful local control, environmental and worker protections, and absolute protections for ratepayers. I’ll end data center subsidies, charge them higher rates, and require upfront payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to stop speculators and ensure taxpayers aren’t hurt if a project goes bust. That money will capitalize a public infrastructure bank that will give no-interest loans to schools and municipalities to make clean energy upgrades like geothermal HVAC and solar panels, to help us meet our 100% renewable energy by 2050 goal. But we can’t just regulate the buildings, we must regulate the products, too. That’s why I’ve authored more bills than any legislator in the state to regulate AI, social media, crypto, and big data.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific measures will your data center policy proposals take to protect Wisconsin communities from known and unknown threats associated with unchecked data center development?

  • Wisconsin let this industry in without setting any rules, and ratepayers and communities are the ones paying the price. The energy cost-coverage and on-site generation requirements protect ratepayers specifically; the community benefit agreements and NDA ban protect communities' ability to know what's being proposed and negotiate real terms before a project is approved, not after.

  • No response.

  • I am the only candidate calling for a moratorium on data center construction; a position I came to very early in this race, last year, while talking to people all across our state. These massive buildings have extreme energy demands, are a hazard to public health, and provide little to no ongoing benefit, with externalities that compound upon low-income, vulnerable, or dispossessed populations at massive public expense. We should not allow tech companies to freeload on our publicly funded water and electricity infrastructure and we must not offer billions of dollars in tax subsidies to subsidize Big Tech’s gambling with our economy.

    My "Control-Alt-Delete" plan is a clear, uncompromised proposal to handle the data center question — unlike every other candidate in this race, I have received no campaign funding from data center interests. The rush to build these projects should not supersede good policy, which we don't currently have in place — and what little policy protections we do have are poorly enforced due to anemic funding for the Department of Natural Resources. That’s why the first step in my data center proposal is calling for a full moratorium of one year — giving us time to enact the regulations that protect our environment, our economy, and our energy costs.

    If a community decides it wants to build a data center, any new construction must use union labor and follow three rules: one, it generates long-term community benefit: no tax breaks for private profit; two, it funds new renewable or clean energy infrastructure and adheres to strict environmental protections; three, that infrastructure is publicly owned — so whatever the long-term outcome of data centers, we build something useful for all Wisconsinites.

  • My goal is to pass stringent statewide standards so that Wisconsin communities are in the strongest possible bargaining position to be able to get significant long-term benefits from the development of data centers, or to flat out reject data centers if they don’t want them. Wisconsinites should benefit from AI’s incredible promise, like delivering better, more efficient public services to testing cancer drugs to improving our energy grid. But we must also protect ourselves from the significant risks. I have the strongest, most detailed plans of any candidate to stop unregulated data center development and regulate AI. I’ll require protections for workers, the environment, ratepayers, and local communities. I’ll end subsidies for data centers, require upfront payments of hundreds of millions of dollars to capitalize a public infrastructure bank, and require that these large projects use well-paid Wisconsin union labor. I’ll require clear disclosure and stringent privacy for the use of AI, and prohibit the use of algorithmic software to drive up prices, discriminate, or replace human judgment in critical areas like healthcare, law, public safety, and education. You can read my detailed policy proposals to regulate big tech and stop the unregulated development of data centers on my website.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION SEVEN:
ENVIRONMENTAL CARE

Examples include:

  • Policies that address fossil fuel consumption

  • Policies that address renewable resource energy expansion

  • Policies that address pipelines

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to environmental care..

  • I'll push legislation requiring Wisconsin utilities to reach 100% clean energy by 2050, with 70% as a near-term benchmark building on SB 729, reinstate the utility long-range planning tool utilities lobbied to kill in the 1990s, and tie utility earnings to whether they're actually meeting affordability and clean energy goals. I'd hold polluters accountable for PFAS and other contamination, including a Wisconsin "Make Polluters Pay" climate superfund law, secure long-term reliable funding for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, and invest in climate resilience infrastructure while restoring DNR enforcement capacity.

  • No response.

  • - Coauthor of the Climate Accountability Act: requires Wisconsin to create a viable plan to reduce carbon emissions by 52% by 2030 and be carbon-neutral by 2050.

    - A binding clean electricity standard: 60% renewable power by 2030 and 100% clean electricity by 2040.

    - Faster EV adoption: purchase rebates, port-creation incentives, EV-ready building codes, electric school bus incentives.

    - State green bank to attract private investment in solar, efficiency, and resilience.

    - Clean-energy labor standards: project labor agreements, prevailing wages, and community-benefit agreement requirements.

    - 2% utility rate cap and energy burden relief fund.

    - PFAS and lead: comprehensive public testing in schools, childcare centers, and surface water; refuse to buy PFAS-added products in state contacts; Cabinet-level PFAS and lead commission; immediate relief (free well testing, bottled water and filtration, municipal water connections); Require polluters—not taxpayers—to fund cleanup.

    - Conservation: a fully funded 10-year reauthorization of Knowles-Nelson, no limits on project size,.

    - Restore the DNR: adequate staff and resources; science-based leadership appointments with tighter revolving-door regulations.

    - Support small farms and regenerative agriculture: expand producer-led Watershed grants, permanent county conservationist funding, local control and bonding for CAFOs, and public bank support for agricultural co-ops.

  • As a longtime conservation leader, I’ll take immediate executive action directing state agencies to rigorously enforce existing protections for our environment and water. All Wisconsinites deserve clean, safe drinking water from their tap. Whether lead, PFAS, nitrates, or other contaminants, it’s difficult and expensive to remediate harm to our watershed once it's done. That’s why we must regulate and prevent it on the front end. The DNR needs the power and staffing to do regular testing and reporting, and to enforce strong regulations with punitive consequences for polluters, not just fines that are easily dismissed as the cost of doing business. I’ll direct the DNR to review and strengthen our administrative rules to protect our water, air, and soil, and to use evidence-based scientific standards rather than political ones to protect our health and environment. I’ll properly fund the agency so it has the resources to actually enforce environmental law and order. I’ll also restore the DOJ’s Public Intervenor, a special attorney empowered to take legal action to protect our natural resources. As data centers put our water at risk, the climate crisis worsens, and the EPA is no longer a reliable partner, we must be aggressive about protecting our environment.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific plans do your environmental policy proposals include that will stop and repair the harm to our natural environment to improve the lives of Wisconsinites and protect the futures of generations to come?

  • Hold polluters accountable, and make sure cleanup money actually reaches the communities that need it, instead of Wisconsin sitting on funds while families keep drinking contaminated water. The clean energy transition follows the same principle: renewables are now the cheapest resources available, so getting the transition right lowers costs for families instead of raising them.

  • No response.

  • I am a proud sponsor of the Climate Accountability Act, which requires Wisconsin to create a viable plan to reduce carbon emissions by 52% by 2030 and be carbon-neutral by 2050. Our campaign's goal is 60% renewable power by 2030 and 100% clean electricity by 2040.

    We will pass legislation to allow for faster electric vehicle adoption in Wisconsin through purchase rebates, port creation incentives and EV-ready building codes, and electric school bus incentive programs; create a state green bank, which uses public funds to attract private investment in solar, energy efficiency, and resilience projects; and enact labor standards that allow all workers and communities to benefit from clean energy, including project labor agreements, prevailing wages, and community-benefit agreement requirements.

    Clean drinking water is a basic human right. Yet exposure to PFAS, or "forever chemicals," is putting communities around our state in jeopardy. The state Natural Resource Board has failed to implement science-based limits on PFAS in drinking water and a Republican legislature has shielded polluters from financial responsibility for the harm they cause. At the same time, lead pipes have exposed hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites, disproportionately children, to dangerous lead levels in their drinking water. This is intolerable.

    Among my first acts as governor, I will direct the DNR and the Department of Health Services to carry out comprehensive public testing for PFAS and lead in schools, childcare centers, and surface water across the state; refuse to spend public money on products to which PFAS have been intentionally added, such as firefighting foam; and develop a state-level taskforce to fund and accelerate lead pipe remediation in public schools and communities with disproportionate lead exposure, both with short-term publicly funded filtration fixes and long-term construction work.

    My "Cranes and Trains" proposal calls to reroute existing data center tax breaks (over $2 billion in lost state revenue) and direct it to projects including publicly owned clean utilities. Public investments in clean energy can return real financial benefits to working people in good union jobs, lower energy rates, and an end to ratepayer-subsidized fossil fuel infrastructure.

  • Wisconsin needs to be 100% powered by clean energy by 2050. Combating climate change is our century’s challenge, and upgrading our energy grid for efficiency and renewables will help lower energy costs while reducing pollution and improving human health. The future of Wisconsin’s energy economy is in clean, renewable power, especially solar, wind, and geothermal, and more efficient use of our grid and energy resources. Wisconsin has no fossil fuels, so every dollar we spend on hydrocarbons leaves our state. Fortunately, wind and solar are now the cheapest and fastest new sources of energy – meaning it makes financial sense to be investing in renewables. But more than that it's the right thing to do for our environment.

    To help make the switch, I’ll require upfront payments from large data center projects to capitalize a public infrastructure bank, which will provide no-cost loans for clean energy upgrades to public buildings like schools and courthouses, and to help farmers, small businesses, and low-income Wisconsinites so that we can benefit from conservation and clean energy upgrades. I’ll build climate resilience and energy independence, lower utility costs, and create good-paying clean-energy jobs while giving farmers and rural communities more control over their economic and energy futures.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION EIGHT:
STATE PREEMPTION

Examples include:

  • Policies that address Wisconsin’s revenue-sharing policy

  • Policies that address state preemption of local zoning

  • Policies that address state preemption of local labor and employment policy

  • Policies that address state preemption of local municipal broadband

  • Policies that address state preemption of local tax and fee policy

PROMPT:
Please summarize your policy proposals that relate to state preemption of local control..

  • I'd repeal the state preemption blocking cities from setting their own minimum wage, oppose top-down state zoning mandates by treating land use as a local decision, and push for a shared revenue funding structure that keeps pace with inflation instead of forcing municipalities back to referendum voters every few years just to maintain existing services.

  • No response.

  • - Revenue-sharing reform: Lifting restrictions on how much a local government can levy to fund essential services, indexed to local costs; giving counties and municipalities financing options beyond property taxes.

    - Local option income tax: Wisconsin state law prohibits towns, cities, and counties from making their own decisions about how to fund necessities like road repair, libraries, public transit, and parks. A local option income tax will let communities decide how they want to take care of themselves without constantly resorting to property tax increases.

  • Wisconsin has a long tradition of local control and home rule, and as governor I would restore that promise. Every Wisconsinite deserves the protection of strong state standards, and every local community deserves to be able to make its own determinations about its future. As governor, I’ll restore local control over decisions of taxation and levy limits and policy matters. The state should set a floor for regulation – on issues from minimum wage to tenant protections to watershed management – and then local communities should be able set higher standards for themselves.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific changes will your state preemption policy proposals enact regarding local control in Wisconsin communities?

  • My approach asks whether local variation actually makes sense for a given issue. Zoning is a good example of where it does — communities should decide their own land use, not the state. County-level ICE cooperation agreements are the opposite case: a piecemeal, county-by-county approach means trust in local police depends on which county line you're standing on, which is why I'd support a statewide standard there instead.

  • No response.

  • The state has not been a good partner to Wisconsin’s municipalities. Act 12 was an 11th-hour Machiavellian political deal hammered out quickly after decades of ignoring local government. Fighting over scraps makes municipalities and the state distrust each other—that’s no way to make a better Wisconsin. I’ve talked to elected officials all over Wisconsin and understand we can’t afford a policymaking process like this. I’ll form an advisory commission bringing members of the governor’s office, state legislature, county boards, and municipal governments together to collaborate on what local governance looks like in Wisconsin and build a new shared revenue formula that takes politics out of money and makes sure counties and towns have what they need to invest in themselves. In practice, that means restoring real fiscal authority to local governments: lifting the restrictions on how much a local government can levy to fund essential services, indexed to local costs; giving counties and municipalities access to means of financing beyond property taxes, including a local option income tax so communities can decide how they want to take care of themselves without constantly resorting to property tax increases; and enabling Regional Transit Authorities with dedicated revenue options and local governance authority. State and local governments are partners, not rivals.

    I would use preemption sparingly and only in the floor direction, and I'd work to repeal the ceiling-style preemptions currently on the books that exist only to protect industry interests from municipalities that know their own needs better than Madison does.

    The distinction I care about is that of the floor versus the ceiling. Preemption that sets a statewide minimum — a wage floor, a baseline tenant protection, a minimum labor standard — while explicitly allowing municipalities to go further is a tool for protecting working families, because it guarantees no community gets left behind while still respecting home rule. Preemption that sets a ceiling — banning municipalities from raising their own minimum wage, from passing rent control, from regulating short-term rentals — does the opposite: it strips power from the communities most willing to act and hands it to whichever industry lobbies the Capitol hardest.

  • I’ll restore local control over taxation and policies ranging from housing and landlord-tenant laws, minimum wages and labor policy, DEI, public safety, spending, advisory referenda, and other aspects that have been preempted by the state.

  • No response.

  • No response.

SECTION NINE:
OTHER POLICIES

Examples include:

  • Policies not captured in the above categories

PROMPT:
Please summarize any other policy proposals you feel are important and are not captured in the above categories.

  • I'll repeal Act 10 and restore collective bargaining, end Wisconsin's Right to Work law, require Project Labor Agreements and prevailing wage on state construction, and ban companies that repeatedly violate labor law from state contracts for a defined period. I'll create a Wisconsin Paid Family and Medical Leave program funded through phased employer and employee contributions, expand Youth Apprenticeship programs and remove four-year degree requirements for state jobs that don't need one, and restore UW System funding to competitive levels, grant UW-Madison bonding authority, and restore shared governance protections to state statute.

  • No response.

  • - Public bank: Build a state public bank, similar to one in North Dakota, which can be used to offer targeted assistance to small business owners and qualified individuals with low-interest loans

    - Labor & Unions: drive a stake through the heart of Act 10 and nail the coffin shut with a constitutional right to organize; repeal right-to-work and prohibit noncompetes and captive-audience meetings; restore union dues tax deductibility.

    - Right to Repair: compel manufacturers of electronics, agricultural equipment, mobility aids, and motor vehicles to make repair documentation, parts, and tools available for independent repair.

    - Disability: remove the Medicaid income cliff; establish ABLE accounts; paid parental caregiving for parents of minors with disabilities; establish a living wage for home health aides.

    - Veterans: end veteran homelessness as a cabinet-level priority; fund a Veterans Benefits Navigator program; invest in veteran mental health; expand, fast-track, and cut red tape in state services; double retraining grants.

    - Agriculture: break up Big Ag; prioritize cooperatives for development funds; establish a Wisconsin Farmland Trust; enforce protections for all farm workers including immigrants.

    - Business & government: cut contractor waste; antimonopoly regulation; crack down on private equity.

    - Cannabis legalization with expungement and reentry employment, proceeds invested in state infrastructure like rural broadband

    - Voting & Democracy: fight Citizens United; form an independent redistricting commission; expanded early voting, keep ICE away from the polls, free voter ID, automatic voter registration, campaign finance transparency, revoke corporate privileges to spend on elections; fund election workers and election defense in collaboration with the Wisconsin Election Commission and the attorney general.

  • As governor, I’ll secure reproductive freedom because no politician gets a say in our personal healthcare decisions. Reproductive freedom is a policy area that I think too many people stopped talking seriously about after 2022. After Dobbs, there was a surge of attention and activism, but since then, Republicans have continued advancing restrictions, criminalizing abortion and killing women while much of the political world moved on. Access to abortion and contraception is still very much an issue. Wisconsin urgently needs to repeal our many abortion bans and restrictions that put politicians in charge of your life, and put doctors in legal jeopardy.

    It’s not enough to be pro-choice on paper– we need a governor who will fight to remove all of Wisconsin’s draconian barriers to access, such as our procedure and gestational age bans, our provider ban, funding bans, mandated delay, biased counseling and forced ultrasound laws, among others. I will ensure that all of us have the freedom to make our own decisions and that doctors are never threatened with prison for caring for patients.

  • No response.

  • No response.

QUESTION:
What specific outcomes will these other policy proposals garner that support and protect the freedom, safety, justice, and joy for all Wisconsinites everywhere?

  • Restoring collective bargaining and ending Right to Work is about the freedom to organize without employer interference. Paid family leave and workforce apprenticeships are about the safety of not having to choose between a paycheck and a family emergency, or between debt and a career. Reinvesting in public higher education is about whether the next generation of Wisconsinites gets to build a life here instead of leaving for it.

  • No response.

  • I am the proud author of the Economic Justice Bill of Rights, which demands the right to: a job that provides dignity at work and pays a living wage; adequately funded public education and affordable, accessible child care; a union, public or private, and collective bargaining; affordable, accessible, and comprehensive high-quality health care; a clean, sustainable environment and healthy planet; decent, sustainable community infrastructures including safe, affordable housing, transportation, and broadband; equitable access to capital, investments, financial institutions, and retirement; a fair, restorative, and equitable justice system; recreation and participation in community and civic life; and life, self-determination, and freedom from oppressions for all Wisconsinites, regardless of documentation status. As a single mother, a community organizer, and one of the few legislators with a night job, each of these principles touches on something I've experienced in my own life and discussed with thousands of Wisconsinites, and they are the pillars of my policy platform.

    Every policy I’ve listed in this questionnaire emerges from these principles. We don’t need to accept less from our government or be satisfied with half-measures: together, we make better possible.

  • I’ll reinvest in the arts – arts education, public art, and the theater, music, and cultural events that make life vibrant and give us a sense of joy and connection. At a time of great economic and political strife, especially when we are battling authoritarianism, all of us need opportunities to come together, to laugh, to feel a sense of belonging and purpose, and the arts give us that chance. Arts are essential for life and society.

  • No response.

  • No response.