Democratic lawmakers have drafted legislation to more than double Wisconsin’s minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25  for nearly two decades.

The proposed legislation, announced Tuesday by Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and Rep. Angelina Cruz (D-Racine), would raise the wage to $15, then ramp up the minimum to $20 in four years and automatically increase the wage thereafter to keep pace with cost of living, the lawmakers said at a press conference in the Wisconsin state Capitol Tuesday.

“I ran for office to make sure working people have a voice in this Capitol,” said Cruz, a first-term member of the Assembly. “This bill is about dignity. It’s about fairness and it’s about building an economy where if you work hard in Wisconsin, you can afford to live in Wisconsin.”

With the Legislature’s current two-year session just about finished, Tuesday’s announcement was also aimed at sending a signal to voters in November about the Democrats’ policy priorities.

“We’re going to continue working for this bill, but even if it doesn’t pass this session, we know that elected officials will be held accountable this fall,” said Roys — who, in addition to being a lawmaker, is one of more than a half-dozen Democrats seeking the party’s nomination to run for governor.

17 years since last increase

The state minimum wage was raised to $7.25 17 years ago, when Roys was a first-term member of the Assembly. The bill aims to make the minimum wage a “living wage” — “the amount of money that a single person needs to earn to cover the basics of their life, housing, utilities, food, transportation and health care,” Roys said.

Based on the numbers produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology living wage calculator, “a million Wisconsin workers earn less than a living wage,” she said, adding that even the legislation’s initial boost to $15 an hour is less than a living wage in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

“So, this bill is not only long overdue, it’s actually pretty modest compared to what people actually need to thrive,” Roys said.

The legislation would push the state minimum to $15 per hour on enactment; increase the minimum in stages to $20 per hour by 2030; and index the new minimum to the consumer price index starting in 2030, “so as the cost of living increases, people’s wages will increase with it,” Roys said.

For small businesses with 50 or fewer employees, the $20 wage would be phased in by 2035.  

“We believe in supporting workers and respecting the realities facing small businesses,” Cruz said. “Economic justice and small business stability can and must go hand-in-hand.”

The bill would also move the subminimum wage for tipped workers — now $2.33 — to $7.50 immediately and then phase it up to $10 by 2030, after which it would be tied to half the standard minimum wage, Cruz said.

In addition, the bill would repeal a Wisconsin law that currently bars local municipalities from enacting local minimum wage ordinances.

“Communities know their costs, so they should have the freedom to respond,” Cruz said.

‘Backbone of our communities’

About 800,000 Wisconsin workers are paid less than $20 an hour, Cruz said — as “home health care providers, early childhood educators, grocery workers, nursing assistants — the backbone of our communities.”

Wisconsin’s low-wage workers “are essential workers that make our society run,” Roys said. “And nowhere is a living wage more urgently needed than in rural Wisconsin, where many communities have limited employment opportunities. A handful of employers, often massive multinational corporations, can suppress wages because workers have so few alternatives.”

She argued that increasing the minimum wage will strengthen local economies by boosting the average person’s buying power

“Because when a worker in Ladysmith gets a raise, that money’s going to stay in the community in Wisconsin,” Roys said. “But when a national corporation suppresses wages in Ladysmith, those profits go to shareholders in Arkansas or the Cayman Islands. This legislation is an economic development bill for Wisconsin.”

 The band of Democratic lawmakers who joined the news conference were outnumbered by a crowd of service workers in red shirts, most of them members of the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers union — MASH.

“This bill is about making sure that there’s some more power in the market for workers so we all can make a living wage,” said Troy Brewer, a lead cook at the Fiserv Forum sports arena in Milwaukee and a MASH union steward.

Service workers across the state “are withheld access to economic security, while our jobs continue to act as the backbone to our economy,” said Sabrina Prochaska, a shift leader at Anodyne Coffee in Milwaukee, where the union is negotiating its first contract. “The problem is not our jobs, but rather these jobs do not pay a livable wage. It’s not right and we’re done accepting it.”

The legislation also has the backing of a wide range of unions and allied groups. Many of the same organizations joined with MASH at an event in September to launch their demand for a $20 minimum wage.

Rebuilding the New Deal

Peter Rickman, the president and business agent for MASH, said the legislation is part of a larger mission — to reverse the erosion of the New Deal reforms that were enacted in the 1930s.

Rickman said in that era, a coalition that was led by Democrats but included some Republicans helped build the American middle class by fostering collective bargaining and union rights, and by setting a minimum wage.

The minimum wage was intended as a wage floor that would allow people to make a living, he said.

“It was never intended to be a poverty pay for those folks. It was intended to move the whole labor market. That is how we gave birth to the world’s first middle class,” Rickman said. “We built it with public policy. Politicians took the side of working people and said, ‘We are going to make this labor market work for the working class.’”

He said those policies have been dismantled by “another bipartisan coalition — too many Democrats but mostly Republicans,” which pushed wealth up instead of spreading it among workers.

“The greatest redistribution in the history of the world happened: $79 trillion dollars from worker paychecks went to corporate profits,” Rickman said, citing a Rand Corp. study.

The bill was unveiled days after the Wisconsin Assembly concluded its active lawmaking for the Legislature’s current two-year period. The state Senate is expected to follow suit in a few weeks.

Roys, however, appeared unperturbed by the suggestion that the timing would make its enactment this year unlikely. She noted that the impending wrap-up was the work of the Legislature’s Republican leaders, not a requirement

“Republicans choosing to go home and take a 10-month vacation so that they campaign for re-election is a choice that they are making,” Roys said. “They don’t have to. We could come to work every single day for the rest of the year, just like the workers that are standing up here do.”

She said the session’s end won’t stop proponents from talking up the bill. “Maybe this is the last bill of 2025,” Roys said. “And maybe it’s the first law of 2027.”

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State Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) argues in opposition to a bill that would repeal a 2023 partial veto by Gov. Tony Evers that extended an annual $325 per-pupil increase in public school revenue limits by 400 years. (Screenshot/WisEye)

The Legislature’s powerful budget committee voted on party lines Tuesday to endorse a bill repealing Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023 partial veto that enables Wisconsin public school districts to raise their revenue limits by $325 per pupil per  year for the next four centuries.

The measure was the only legislation to get any significant debate during the two-hour session of the Joint Finance Committee, even as its outcome was a foregone conclusion: an 11-4 vote with only Republican support.

The state Senate version of the bill, SB 389, has already passed that chamber on a party-line 18-15 vote. The Assembly version is AB 391.

The finance committee weighed in on the bill — along with the rest of nearly two dozen items it voted on Tuesday — under the Legislature’s rule requiring the panel to consider any legislation that appropriates money, provides for revenue or relates to taxation.

The committee’s action clears the bill for the Assembly floor, where it is likely to pass on a party-line vote before going to Evers to be vetoed.

In the 2023-25 Wisconsin budget, lawmakers agreed to increase schools’ revenue limits for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years by $325 per pupil each year.

In signing the budget Evers used his partial veto power to strike two digits and a dash from the years, extending the annual revenue limit increases through 2425. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in April 2025 that the maneuver was within Evers’ partial veto powers. The change didn’t funnel more money to schools automatically, but instead raised the annual ceiling in how much revenue they are allowed to collect.

The 2025-27 state budget approved in July 2025 did not include any general aid increase, so property taxes are the only source school districts have to pay for the additional $325 per pupil they were authorized to receive by Evers’ 2023 veto. The  increase is not automatic; school budgets are controlled by individual school boards.

At a media session before Tuesday’s meeting and during the debate, the Joint Finance Committee’s co-chair, state Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), blamed Evers’ 2023 veto for property tax hikes around the state.

Past state budgets have increased school aid, sometimes with “record levels, massive increases,” Born said shortly before the committee’s vote.

But Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said that after adjusting those increases for rising costs, per-pupil funding is $3,400 below what it was in 2009. “We’re actually giving them less money in inflation-adjusted terms,” Roys said.

Democrats pointed to the spate of school funding referendum questions over the last two years in which school district voters have agreed to raise their own property taxes to cover funding gaps.

“Referendums were never meant to fund the core operations of our schools,” said Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee). “Yet we see districts year after year leaning more on referendums.”

Rep. Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) told Republican lawmakers that they could have prevented property tax hikes if they had increased general state aid to public schools in the current budget. By not doing so, “you chose to put that pressure on property taxpayers,” he said.

Tax credits after stillbirths

The only other item that produced any debate Tuesday was SB 379/AB 373, creating a state income tax credit for the parents of a stillborn child. As originally created the legislation called for the tax credit — $2,000 for a couple filing jointly or $1,000 for each parent if filing separately or if they are unmarried.

As originally drafted the legislation calls for a refundable tax credit. A taxpayer whose total income tax liability is less than the amount of the credit would get a direct payment for the balance of the credit that exceeds their tax bill.

For example, a person who qualifies for a $1,000 credit but whose state income tax bill is $600 would get a check for the additional $400.

Finance Committee co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) introduced an amendment Tuesday that would make the tax credit non-refundable. For a person with a tax bill of $600, the $1,000 credit would only be worth $600, while a person with a tax bill of $1,500 would get the full $1000 credit, reducing their tax bill to $500.

“It’s very expensive in this country to go through labor, delivery and postpartum, and when someone has a stillborn baby they still have all these expenses,” Roys said. “When you say you’re not making this credit refundable, you’re hurting the lowest-income people.”

The amendment would save the state $200,000, changing the tax credit’s cost from $600,000 to $400,000, a Legislative Fiscal Bureau analyst told Rep. Deb Andraca (D-Whitefish Bay). That would “make it less useful,” Andraca said.

While the amendment passed 11-4, with all the Democrats on the panel voting against it, the amended legislation passed on a unanimous 15-0 vote.

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U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany who is running for governor, said he had not seen the video of the shooting at a Monday press conference, more than 48 hours after the shooting occurred and as video of the shooting has circulated on social media and in major news outlets. Tiffany at his campaign launch in September 2025. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Wisconsin politicians are responding to the shooting of Alex Pretti, the ICU nurse from Green Bay who was killed Saturday by U.S. Border Patrol agents. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the frontrunner in the Republican gubernatorial primary, said Monday he hadn’t seen widely circulated video of the shooting.

Pretti’s death prompted protests across the country including in Green Bay, his  hometown. Gov. Tony Evers  joined a lawsuit challenging the presence of federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities. Other Wisconsin politicians issued a variety of statements reacting to the shooting.

U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, whose district includes Green Bay, called the shooting in Minneapolis a “tragedy” in a statement Monday. Pretti was a graduate of Green Bay’s Preble High School. 

“While we await a thorough investigation, I encourage my colleagues to tone down their rhetoric, which has put both law enforcement officers and the public at risk,” Wied said. “We can disagree on the issue but we must do so in a constructive and peaceful manner. Assaulting and impeding federal law enforcement is illegal and a recipe for disaster. As a country, we need to lower the temperature and allow law enforcement to do their jobs.” 

Video of the moments leading up to the shooting, which shows Pretti being pinned down by a group of immigration agents before being shot in the back, does not support Trump administration claims that he tried to assault or impede the agents.

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor, said he had not seen the video of the shooting at a Monday press conference, more than 48 hours after the shooting occurred and as video of the shooting has circulated on social media and in major news outlets. Tiffany also called for “full investigation” of the shooting by the state and federal government.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tiffany also said people have the right to carry legally registered concealed guns but should consider potential consequences. Pretti was a licensed gun owner, who according to a CNN analysis of bystander video had his gun removed from him before officers shot him. 

“The problem is not the Second Amendment. If I saw a quote accurately this morning… it sounds like (Pretti’s) father had some discussion with him recently, saying, ‘Be careful when you go to something like this, make sure that you don’t get caught up in the chaos,” he said. “And unfortunately, he did.” 

Democrats, including some who are running for governor, criticized Tiffany. 

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker called Tiffany’s claim not to have seen the video “a pathetic excuse from a pathetic man.” 

“Tom Tiffany is, at best, a clueless coward and at worst a liar. Either way, he’s unfit to serve as governor of Wisconsin,” Remiker said.

“You haven’t watched the video yet? Let me sum it up for you,” former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said in a social media post. “Trump’s ICE needlessly killed a US citizen without justification.”

Other Democratic candidates had a variety of responses including calling for immigration agents  to vacate Minnesota and calling for the elimination of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  . ICE is responsible for enforcing immigration laws in the United States’s interior, while Border Patrol is supposed to do so near the country’s border, though according to USA Today, the two agencies have become increasingly hard to tell apart under the Trump administration. 

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) called for the abolishment of ICE after the shooting. 

“ICE under Trump is incompatible with a free society. The Trump regime is making every single one of us less safe and less free. They are destroying public safety. They refuse to respect our constitution, our law, or our rights,” Roys said in a statement. “The organized, violent actions of ICE have left us with no other choice but to disarm, dismantle, and prosecute ICE.”

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), who joined protests according to social media posts, said “Wisconsin stands with everyone resisting ICE in Minnesota” and called ICE an “enforcer of fascism that must be abolished and those responsible for the executions prosecuted.” Last week at a candidate forum with all of the Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls Hong said that “abolishing ICE is a meaningful policy.” 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said that the country needs to “stop pretending that large-scale immigration enforcement operations” in the Midwest are about public safety. 

“People — regardless of immigration status or how federal authorities choose to define them — are in danger when ICE operates this way in our neighborhoods,” Crowley said. “At the same time, I echo Gov. Walz and Minnesota officials in urging people not to respond to violence with violence.” 

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who previously had proposed banning ICE from certain sites in Wisconsin, said that “a government that puts its own citizens in harm’s way has failed its most basic responsibility. And I will never look away when the government gets this wrong. We have a choice about who we are and what we stand for: safety without cruelty, accountability without fear, and dignity for every human being.”

Missy Hughes, the former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO, said that “the lawless and deadly ICE invasion of Minneapolis is unAmerican — and Donald Trump is responsible for it.” 

Joel Brennan, the former Department of Administration secretary, said he “recoiled in horror” watching the video of the recent fatal shooting and mourns for Pretti. He called for the “occupation” to end in American cities. 

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden has repeatedly claimed that the protests against ICE in Minneapolis are equivalent to an “insurrection.” He said on Monday in a Facebook post that he does not “celebrate the death of any American citizen” and the “deaths are tragic, and they never should have happened.” 

But Van Orden blamed Democrats for “fueling hostility toward federal law enforcement.”

“When elected leaders and their allies normalize interference with officers doing their jobs, the outcome is entirely predictable and tragic,” Van Orden said.

Van Orden went on to compare Democratic leaders who have demanded that ICE and Border Patrol agents leave Minneapolis to Civil War Confederates. 

“History has seen this before. In 1861, Confederates in the South demanded that federal troops abandon Fort Sumter. They framed it as de-escalation and local control. In reality, it was a rejection of federal authority and the rule of law. What began as political rhetoric and demands to remove federal presence quickly turned into open conflict, with deadly consequences for the nation,” Van Orden said. “As with any officer-involved shooting, this incident is under investigation. I fully support that process and will be closely following its findings. My support for federal law enforcement, and the rule of law they uphold, remains unwavering.”

CNN reported Monday that Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who has been at the center of the Trump administration immigration enforcement across the country, is leaving Minneapolis and DHS has suspended his access to his social media accounts. Trump is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to take charge of immigration enforcement  operations there.

Rebecca Cooke, who is challenging Van Orden in 2026, said in a social media post that Pretti’s  killing represents “a federal agency out of control. ICE needs to vacate Minnesota and leave our neighbors alone. This is not a policy disagreement, this is a moral imperative.”

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The Democratic gubernatorial field prepares to take the stage Wednesday. Left to Right: Joel Brennan, Kelda Roys, Francesca Hong, Sara Rodriguez, Missy Huges, Mandela Barnes and David Crowley. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)

In a music hall just east of Milwaukee’s trendy Walker’s Point neighborhood Wednesday evening, seven Democratic hopefuls in the 2026 race for governor fielded questions from an assortment of small business owners before a friendly crowd of more than 300 people.

Their answers showed only occasional differences on matters of policy. The greater contrasts were in style, tone, vocabulary and presentation.

Answering an audience member’s question about how each of the hopefuls would address Wisconsin’s teacher shortage, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez drew attention to a new state program to create teacher apprenticeships — enabling working teaching assistants “to get a bachelor’s degree while they are teaching assistants with full-time wages, full-time benefits. They will graduate with no debt.”

It was modeled after a similar apprenticeship program to produce more nurses, noted Rodriguez, a nurse who entered politics in mid-career.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said prospective teachers should be encouraged, but added that working teachers also need support after years of being demoralized by disrespect and inadequate funding from the Republican-led Legislature.

“We have to create a much better pipeline, making sure that we’re supporting those who are currently in the profession and utilizing them to be the trusted messengers to help recruit more young people into the field,” he said.

“Put a stake in Act 10, and repeal it, and ensure that it never happens again,” said state Rep. Francesca Hong — referring to the 2011 law that stripped most public employees of most union rights and that has been blamed for contributing to teacher shortages in Wisconsin. “Fully fund public education. Reimburse special education at 90% from the state, in parity with voucher schools,” she said, adding, end the voucher program “so we no longer siphon away resources from our public schools to private schools.”

State Sen. Kelda Roys, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes also took part in the Wednesday night forum.

With Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ decision this past July not to run for a third term, the 2026 governor’s race is the first in Wisconsin without an incumbent since 2010. It has drawn a broad field of potential successors in Evers’ own party.

Cletus Hasslinger, 78, of Milwaukee, attended a similar forum back in 2018, when Evers was one of 10 candidates seeking the Democratic nod to run for governor. He turned out for the Wednesday night event and was impressed.

“This is a much stronger group!” Hasslinger said. “It energizes me.”

Sponsored by small business advocates

The forum was held at The Cooperage, a venue in the shadow of Milwaukee’s iconic Hoan Bridge, and was organized by Main Street Action, the political arm of Main Street Alliance. MSA is a small-business organizing group with an agenda centered on economic fairness, contrasting many of its interests with those of large corporations.

The group has embraced the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion and state and federal support for child care and paid leave for workers, among other policies. MSA also campaigns for tax policies that would require big business to pay more and stronger government action against corporate concentration.

“We elevate the testimony, the stories of small business owners,” said Richard Trent, MSA’s national executive director, who counts MSA’s national membership at 30,000 people and said Wisconsin is one of the organization’s hubs.

“So much of how we think about our economy, how we think about what’s best for our cities, our towns — that whole narrative is shaped by the largest corporations, the wealthiest Americans,” Trent told the Wisconsin Examiner. “It’s the small business owners who are driving most of the productivity in our economy, yet get almost none of the say in the policies that actually strengthen their communities.”

The eighth Democrat seeking the nomination, former state Rep. Brett Hulsey, was not invited to join Wednesday night’s forum, which qualified participants if they were polling at better than 0% or if they had raised at least $100,000 in donations.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann are seeking the GOP nomination. Trent said there aren’t plans for a Republican forum before that party’s primary, also in August, but that MSA intends to bring the winners of both nomination contests together for a forum in the fall.

Questions draw out similar stances

Moderated by Dan Shafer, who publishes “The Recombobulation Area” political analysis and opinion column on Substack and who holds the title of political editor at Civic Media, the forum ran about 20 minutes over its original allotment of 90 minutes.

Shafer brought a half-dozen business owners and Main Street Alliance members to the stage, each posing a question to the gubernatorial hopefuls, then finished the session with a handful of questions submitted by audience members.

Many of the answers didn’t diverge wildly. Expanding BadgerCare to cover more people had broad support. So did the idea of a BadgerCare “public option,” enabling people to pay into the Medicaid-funded health plan if their incomes were not low enough to qualify them for the program.

Roys suggested another variation, allowing Wisconsin residents to buy into the health plan that is available to state employees.

Support for child care funding from the state was also widely endorsed, as was a paid leave program funded through a payroll deduction.

Rodriguez observed that a paid family leave program was in “the last budget that the governor and I put out” (it was cut by the Joint Finance Committee’s GOP majority). Crowley said after he took office as Milwaukee County executive, his administration created a paid family leave policy for county employees to help recruit workers.

Hong pointed to legislation she introduced in the Assembly in the previous session that would have created “one of the most comprehensive paid leave” programs. And Roys cited a paid leave bill she co-authored in 2011, during her previous time in the Legislature.

“Making this universal is going to help small businesses start,” Roys said. “It’s going to help them attract and retain employees and compete with the big businesses who can afford to offer more generous policies.”

Core themes and personal biographies

All seven participants largely stuck to the core themes they’ve sketched out in their campaigns and the biographical details that they hope will persuade primary voters in August why they’re the best choice to carry the party’s standard in November.

Rodriguez highlighted her current role as lieutenant governor — visiting “all 72 counties every year” since assuming that office. She led a health care workforce task force that Evers appointed in 2024.

Crowley emphasized ways in which, as a county executive, he has to deal with issues at the local level that the forum was putting on the agenda for the next governor: housing, health care costs, family leave policies and preparing for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers to descend on Milwaukee.

Hong stressed her experiences as a restaurateur and as a single mom, and her stark assessment that “as a worker and as an employer, the system is rigged against us where people value corporate power and greed more than anything else.”

Roys presented herself as a fierce challenger to the Republicans controlling the White House and Congress: “We need a governor with a spine of steel who will stand up to this Republican regime in all the ways that they are hurting Wisconsin, and especially our small businesses and our family farmers,” she said.

But Roys also declared herself to be experienced in the operations of state government, having had a state Assembly seat previously during the administration of Gov. Jim Doyle and the beginning of Gov. Scott Walker’s first term. And she cast herself as a visionary who sees “a window of opportunity to make real change” in Wisconsin in the coming years.

Hughes said that in her time at WEDC, “I have worked with small businesses all across the state, with Main Street businesses working to understand the challenges that they face,” including day-to-day operations, finding workers and supporting employees who need child care or other resources.

She called attention to an economic plan she released this week with provisions for education, labor-management partnerships and expanding affordable housing.

Brennan described himself as an experienced problem-solver and relationship builder, and a voice for calm in a time of turmoil.

“We live in times that are unlike any other. And we are angry. We’re angry at Donald Trump for what he has done to really do away with some of the values that we hold dear as Americans and as citizens,” Brennan said. “But when some people get angry, they want to get even. When I get angry, I want to roll up my sleeves and get something done.”

Pandemic relief roles

Hughes and Barnes both emphasized roles in Wisconsin’s Main Street Bounceback program, which provided $10,000 grants for businesses to upgrade their operations, including taking over vacant storefronts, in downtowns across the state. Barnes was lieutenant governor in Evers’ first term, forgoing reelection in 2022 in order to run for Senate against Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, a race he lost by about 26,000 votes.

Barnes’ executive branch duties included helping to promote “our Main Street Bounceback program, which helped so many small businesses across the entire state that had been dealt a bad hand,” Barnes said. “We stepped up, we filled the gap, and we met a need. That’s exactly what I intend to do as governor.”

Hughes brought up the program when Chloe Longmire, a Milwaukee entrepreneur, asked the candidates how they would work with economic development agencies to help women-owned and minority-owned small businesses.

“Coming out of the pandemic, I saw across the state Main Streets where businesses had survived and businesses had not survived, and there were vacant spaces,” Hughes said. Main Street Bounceback was designed to enable businesses to occupy vacant spaces easily, with a one-page application and the support of a community member.

“And we trusted those business owners to invest that money in the ways that needed to happen,” Hughes said, with 9,500 businesses in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties getting aid. “We saw Main Streets at 100% capacity — full, looking for more businesses, looking for more opportunities to move businesses into vacant spaces.”

Brennan, as secretary of the Department of Administration, tracked how the state’s $4.5 billion in pandemic relief was spent. A program focused on movie theaters made a particular impression, he said, with one memorable venue in central Wisconsin that passed through three generations to the granddaughter of the first owner.

“And the $30,000 that they were getting from the COVID relief money was going to pay for utilities, going to pay for their mortgage — it was going to be the light at the end of the tunnel,” Brennan said. “That’s the kind of thing you need to do in a crisis, but it’s also the way you need to be responsive when you’re operating day-to-day, and that’s what we’ll do in a brand new administration.”

After reiterating his involvement in Main Street Bounceback, Barnes pivoted to the original question’s emphasis on businesses owned by women and minorities.

“We should have to incorporate targeted investments in communities,” he said. From there he pivoted again, to a proposal he announced earlier Wednesday for the state to invest in grants for startup grocery stories in food deserts.

“People aren’t able to afford groceries, and we’re going to connect our family farms . . . to bring local food into communities because we can’t have a food desert in a state that produces as much food as we do in Wisconsin,” Barnes said.

A range of answers on taxing the rich

Questions about Wisconsin taxes drew a wider variety of responses.

Roys dismissed the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit, available primarily to larger businesses, as “a giveaway to the wealthiest individuals and corporations in the state” that fails to help economic development.

“We need to restore our progressive taxation system where the amount of money that you pay in to support the public services that all of us enjoy and all of us rely on is based on the money that you earn,” she said. “Right now, working people, the middle class are shouldering a disproportionate burden for paying those services.”

Hong was equally dismissive. “Our small businesses are paying a higher tax rate than some of the wealthiest corporations,” she said. “So, get rid of it. No major corporations should be paying no income tax.”

Crowley said tax credits should focus on small and mid-size companies. “Millionaires and billionaires, let’s face it, they don’t deserve a tax credit,” he said, adding that he would favor a blue ribbon commission to examine state taxes and spending comprehensively.

Rodriguez called for measurable job gains in return for the credit. “If we are going to get tax benefits, we need to tie it to actually increasing the number of people that they are hiring,” she said.

Hughes said that when she was at WEDC and met with business leaders looking to relocate to Wisconsin, they were much less interested in taxes than issues such as the strength of local schools and the university system and the availability of workers.

She demurred on a question about raising taxes on the wealthiest to provide services for people in need and suggested that a sustainable economy is more important.

“My focus is going to be on growing the economy, because my fear is that if we simply increase taxes on the wealthy, the next team will get elected and come back in and take that away,” Hughes said.

“It could mean that we increase taxes on the most wealthy, but in addition to that, we need to be thinking about creating a system that works election after election and administration after administration,” she said. “Growing the economy and making sure that everyone is paying their fair share is the foundation of my candidacy.”

The last question of the night looked to the unease that has been gripping the country after federal immigration agents descended on Minneapolis earlier this month and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Good as she sat at the wheel of her van near her home.

How would each of the Democratic hopefuls navigate “maintaining law and order and avoid being positioned by the right as being soft on crime, while ensuring the state citizens won’t be infringed upon by federal government overreach?” Shafer asked, reading from a written submission.

Rodriguez cited her recent statement calling on lawmakers to apply the same rules for ICE as for local law enforcement: ready identification, body cameras and no masks for agents, and forbidding them from going into “sensitive areas” such as schools without a judicial warrant.

“It is personal to me,” said Rodriguez, whose husband is a U.S. citizen born in Mexico.

Crowley said Milwaukee County is currently discussing how it will respond to an ICE influx. “Standing up for people’s constitutional rights, whether a citizen or not, is not soft on crime at all, he said. “We have to make sure that we continue to protect everybody and make sure that we are a safe community.”

Hong said she’s been in touch with mutual aid groups in Minneapolis, and that “ICE is a rogue agency…. Abolishing ICE is a meaningful policy.” Roys vowed to bring the weight of criminal as well as civil liability down on ICE and act against people who “break our laws and brutalize our people.”

Hughes said at meetings in Eau Claire, community leaders told her they are looking to members of the immigrant community “and understanding what they needed and what they were looking for.” Brennan urged learning from the civil rights work of Martin Luther King Jr., “locked in arms with his fellow man and with the people in his community.”

Barnes said he has spoken with people in Minneapolis, and said the next governor must be unafraid of retribution from the White House. “We need change and somebody who’s going to stand up and be strong in this moment,” he said.

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“We obviously believe that giving the public access to see what we're doing is important, but… just blindly giving money to an organization that's asking us for money, but not giving us any answers, is certainly not the solution at this time,” LeMahieu said. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The Wisconsin Senate passed three constitutional amendment proposals Wednesday, including one to eliminate DEI, one to limit the executive partial veto power and another to prohibit closures of places of worship during emergencies.

With WisconsinEye, the state government video streaming service, still offline, the first floor session of the year for the Senate was livestreamed with the help of the Legislative Technology Services Bureau. 

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) told reporters ahead of the session that after WisconsinEye halted its coverage on Dec. 15, the co-chairs of the Legislative Joint Audit Committee sent a letter with questions to the nonprofit organization. The letter had a Jan. 9 deadline to reply, but the organization did not provide responses until Jan. 21.

“We obviously believe that giving the public access to see what we’re doing is important, but… just blindly giving money to an organization that’s asking us for money, but not giving us any answers, is certainly not the solution at this time,” LeMahieu said. 

LeMahieu said he had not yet reviewed the answers WisconsinEye sent on Wednesday morning. He said the livestream was not a way to explore replacing WisconsinEye.

The state Legislature set aside $10 million in 2023 to help the organization build an endowment. But that grant came with a requirement that WisconsinEye to raise enough money to match the funds in order to access the state dollars. As it ran out of funds, WisconsinEye asked  the state to make money available for its operating expenses without the match requirement. 

LeMahieu noted that the organization had three years to raise funds and request money from the Joint Finance Committee.

“We just want to figure out, really, what’s going on. It’s not proof that we don’t need WisconsinEye…,” LeMahieu said. “The point of today is just so that the general public can see us in action today.” 

During the floor session, the Senate also took up bills on tax exemptions and education.

Constitutional amendments on DEI, partial veto and places of worship

The Senate passed three constitutional amendment proposals, each of which is on its second consideration, during its Thursday floor session. Constitutional amendment proposals in Wisconsin must pass two consecutive sessions of the Legislature before they go to the voters for final approval.

Republicans have relied on constitutional amendment proposals in recent years to bypass Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. According to a Ballotopedia review, Wisconsin voters decided on 258 ballot measures between  the state’s founding in 1846 and April 2025. About 71% — or 185 — measures were approved and 28% — or 73 — were defeated.

In the last five years, Wisconsin voters will have decided on 10 constitutional amendment questions — a divergence from some points in state history when Wisconsin has gone years without a constitutional amendment going before voters. 

The Senate voted 18-15 to pass a constitutional amendment that seeks to target and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts throughout Wisconsin local and state governments, officially setting it to go before voters in November. 

If approved by voters, AJR 102 would amend the state constitution to “prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration.”

Democratic lawmakers said the amendment would take the state backwards. They suggested amending the proposal to enshrine equality and same-sex marriage protections. Those proposals were voted down. 

State Sen. Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee), who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus and has been working to call attention to the proposal over the last few weeks, likened the amendment to lawmakers rolling back Reconstruction efforts after the Civil War. She said the abandonment of Reconstruction efforts to bring justice to those who were enslaved, are the reason why the U.S. lived with Jim Crow laws for so long.

“Lawmakers made a decision to not protect [Americans],” Drake said. “Anything that was built was destroyed. It took nearly 80 years for our country to rectify that mistake with the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and landmark Supreme Court decisions to undo that harm.” 

Drake said the amendment would cause harm and eliminate measures that keep Wisconsinites safe. 

“Republicans will send us back to the pre-Civil Rights era, possibly further,” Drake said. 

Sen. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) said the proposal is “long overdue” and would give Wisconsin voters the final say on “discrimination at all levels of government.” He said that programs including the Supplier Diversity Program, which was established in the 1980s and certifies minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned and woman-owned businesses to provide better opportunities for them to do business with the state of Wisconsin, and scholarships and loans within the state’s higher education system that consider race amount to discrimination.

“Past discrimination, however wrong, cannot be corrected with more discrimination,” Nass said, adding that merit, character and ability should be the only things considered when it comes to programs. 

The Senate also voted on voice vote to pass SB 652, which would amend several programs offered in the University of Wisconsin system to focus on “disadvantaged” students as opposed to considering race. Some of those programs include the minority teacher loan program and minority undergraduate grants. 

Bill coauthor Sen. Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) said the proposal will make it so people are able to receive help based on their specific life experiences, rather than having their life experiences presumed.

“We’ll finally make eligibility based on need,” Wimberger said. 

Drake emphasized that several of the programs, including the Minority Teacher Loan Program that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, were bipartisan efforts at the time they were created. She said lawmakers were forgetting history and abandoning the previous work that was done to address the barriers that students face. She said that the only thing that has changed is the election of  President Donald Trump, who has targeted DEI initiatives, and launched a “war against Black and brown people.”

“Shifting the policy solely to disadvantaged students without acknowledging racial, ethnic disparities risks eroding the progress made to address educational inequities,” Drake said. “That doesn’t solve anything, it covers up the issue.”

Curtailing partial veto powers 

SJR 116, if approved by voters, would prohibit the governor from using the state’s partial veto power to create or increase a tax or fee. It passed the Senate 18-15 along party lines and still needs to pass the Assembly before it would be set to go to voters. 

The proposal was introduced in reaction to Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto that he exercised on the state budget in 2023 that extended annual school revenue limits for 400 years. 

Sen. Melissa Ratcliff (D-Cottage Grove) spoke against the proposal, saying that the partial veto power is one of the only checks that can “correct harmful or irresponsible provisions that come from the Legislature” and will “weaken one of the few checks that protects the public.” 

AJR 10 would prohibit the state from ordering the closure of places of worship during a state of emergency. The Senate concurred in the bill in a 17-15 vote, meaning it will officially go to voters in November.

The proposal was introduced in response to actions taken during a state of emergency declared by Evers during the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no debate on the floor about the measure.

Tax exemptions

The Senate concurred in AB 38, which would mirror federal policy to exempt tips from state income taxes, in a 21-12 vote. Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Jamie Wall (D-Green Bay) joined Republicans in favor of the bill. The Assembly passed the bill last week, so it will now head to Evers for consideration.

The bill would allow tipped employees to deduct up to $25,000 in tips annually from their federal taxable income. Those earning more than $150,000 would not be eligible for the deduction.

According to a Department of Revenue fiscal estimate, the bill would result in Wisconsin collecting $33.7 million less in revenue annually.

The Democratic lawmakers who opposed the bill said it didn’t do enough to ensure that employees make a stable wage. Tipped employees in Wisconsin can currently make a minimum wage of $2.33.

Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said that raising the minimum wage would ensure that a person’s wage doesn’t rely on “the mood that somebody is in” or “somebody’s willingness to be sexually harassed.” 

“We should not put working people through that,” Roys said.

“You don’t get everything you want in life,” Jacque said. “I think this is something that is going to make life a little bit easier for those who work in the service industry.” 

“We don’t make the employers pay these people fairly,” Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said. “These are the same people who have to rely on child care subsidies, who have to rely on Medicaid.”

Pfaff said in a statement that he voted for the bill because “hard working people continue to feel the pressure of rising costs every time they go to the grocery store, pay their rent and utility bills, and receive their new health insurance premium.” 

SB 69, which will allow teachers who spend money on classroom expenses to claim a subtraction on their state income taxes of up to $300, passed unanimously. 

Three education bills pass

The Senate voted 18-15 to concur in AB 602, a bill that instructs Evers to opt into the federal school choice tax credit program. It now goes to Evers. 

A provision in the federal law signed by President Trump will provide a dollar-for-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 to people who donate to a qualifying “scholarship granting program” to support certain educational expenses including tuition and board at private schools, tutoring and books, but governors must decide whether to opt in and have until Jan. 1, 2027 to do so.

Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said during a press conference that the program would help provide additional funding to students without using state dollars. She emphasized that if the state doesn’t opt in, then Wisconsinites could still benefit from the credit by donating to programs in participating states, but those dollars would not go to Wisconsin students.  

“We want to see those dollars stay in Wisconsin,” Felzkowski said. 

Evers has previously said he wouldn’t opt the state into the program. He could veto the Republican bill instructing him to do so when it arrives at his desk. 

Sex ed legislation

SB 371 passed 18-15 along party lines. It would add requirements for school districts that provide human growth and development programs to show high definition video of the development of the brain, heart, sex organs and other organs, a rendering of the fertilization process and fetal development and a presentation on each trimester of pregnancy and the physical and emotional health of the mother. It now goes to the Assembly for consideration. 

Roys, the Madison Democrat, criticized the bill as being part of a “nationwide effort by some of the most extreme anti-abortion… to try to indoctrinate young children.” She noted that some of Wisconsin’s prominent anti-abortion organizations support the bill including the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Right to Life. 

Felzkowski, the GOP author of the bill, said young people deserve to know “what happens to them, what happens to their body, what happens to a fetus… What are you afraid of? Why would a child having knowledge scare you?”

The Senate concurred in AB 457 18-15 and will now go to Evers for consideration. The bill would require Wisconsin school districts to submit their financial reports to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) on time before they can ask voters for funding through a referendum. It was introduced in reaction to Milwaukee Public Schools approving a large referendum and a subsequent financial reporting scandal in 2024.

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There are about 11 months until the primary, which is scheduled for August 11. Gubernatorial candidates at a November forum. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

The first campaign finance reports of the year show that Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is leading the Democratic primary field in fundraising, while U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is ahead in  the Republican primary field. Tiffany has raised about $2 million, the most of any candidate. The reports cover the period from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2025.

There are about 11 months until the primary, which is scheduled for August 11. 

Crowley leads Democratic field

Crowley, who launched his campaign in September, has raised $800,949, including $789,281 in donations and $11,666 in in-kind contributions. About $138,000 was transferred to his governor’s campaign from his county executive campaign committee account. 

According to his campaign finance report, he spent $187,529 and finished the period with $602,181 cash on hand. Seven contributors gave the maximum $20,000 donation allowed in the governor’s race, including executive of the Milwaukee Bucks Alex Lasry. 

“People across Wisconsin are feeling the financial squeeze, and they want a governor who knows how to get things done,” Crowley said in a statement. He said the support is providing him “the resources to build a serious, statewide operation focused on delivering results for working families.”

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who launched her campaign in July becoming the first Democratic candidate in the race, raised $618,284 in donations and $2,034 in in-kind contributions. She spent $174,894 and ended the period with $603,075. 

The Democratic Lt. Governors Association pledged in October to invest $2 million in independent expenditures in 2026 to support Rodriguez’s campaign. She listed a $86,000 contribution from the PAC. 

Former Department of Administration Sec. Joel Brennan, the latest candidate to launch a campaign, reported raising $566,212 in donations and $1,610 in in-kind contributions. He spent $13,873 and reported having $552,339 on hand at the end of the period. 

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes raised $555,647 since launching his campaign on Dec. 2 from 3,790 donations. He spent $88,265 and ended the period with $471,471. Shortly after launching his campaign, Barnes said his fundraising goal is $50 million over the course of his campaign.

According to his campaign finance report, he received donations of the maximum $20,000 from megadonors George and Alexander Soros. 

Former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes reported raising $465,403 and $13,681 in in-kind donations. She spent $63,059 and ended the period with $402,344 on hand. 

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), a Democratic socialist, raised $368,685 in donations and $1,188 from in-kind contributions, though she also spent a majority of the funds during the period. According to her report, Hong spent $234,782 during the period and ended it with $134,588 on hand.

Hong’s fundraising came from over 7,300 donors. According to her campaign, the average donation was $49.96 and about 75% of the total dollars raised came from donors in Wisconsin.

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) raised $355,455 in donations and $23,132 from in-kind contributions during the period. According to her report, she spent $84,930 and reported having $334,032 on hand.

Roys reported four donations of the maximum $20,000, including from her husband and Peter Gunder, a former executive at American Family Insurance, and his wife. 

In a statement, Roys’ campaign said that about 82% of the donations to her campaign came from Wisconsin residents and that she isn’t accepting corporate donations. 

“Kelda’s campaign is funded by grassroots donors from every corner of the state. With our disciplined financial management and a committed Wisconsin donor base that is growing every day, Kelda will have the resources necessary to win the primary on August 11,” Roys’ campaign manager Jasper Bernstein said in a statement. 

Tiffany leads Schoemann in fundraising

Tiffany, who launched his campaign in September, led the field of GOP candidates, reported over $2 million raised — raising the most of any candidate in the Democratic or Republican field. The Republican primary field is much smaller than the Democratic field with only two candidates.

According to his campaign finance report, Tiffany raised $2,122,489 in donations and also received $3,808 in in-kind contributions. He spent $438,160 and ended the period with $1,695,038 on-hand. 

Tiffany also received $20,000 each from Republican megadonors Diane Hendricks, Dick Uihlein and Liz Uihlein. 

The largest donation Tiffany reported was $86,000 from the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans. Wisconsin state law allows for unlimited donations from political parties to candidates.The College Republicans, who boasted raising over $1 million, had received $500,000 from the Uihleins.

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who launched his campaign in early May, reported raising nearly $1 million over the course of the year.

During the reporting period from July to December, he brought in $535,650 in donations and $3,649 in in-kind donations. He spent $381,394 during the period and ended it with $492,495 in-hand.

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Interior of a modern data center. (Stock photo by Imaginima/Getty Images)

Dozens of data centers have been built in communities across Wisconsin, with more planned or in process. In many of these communities, the proposed data centers have sparked significant local opposition. 

Both Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature have proposed bills to regulate the growth of data centers as community leaders across the state have asked for more direction from the state government on the approval of what are often massive facilities. 

So far, the state has had little input on data center construction outside of a provision in the 2023-25 state budget which exempted data center construction projects from paying sales taxes. 

The Democratic bill, introduced last year by Sen. Jodi Habush Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay) and Rep. Angela Stroud (D-Ashland), would require data centers to report the level of energy and water they’re using, fund the development of renewable energy projects and ensure the cost of increased energy demands aren’t passed on to regular consumers.

The Republican bill, introduced this month, also requires the Public Service Commission to prevent energy use and infrastructure costs from being passed on to consumers, requires the data center to use a closed-loop water cooling system to limit the amount of water needed and includes provisions that would require the data center company to cover the cost of restoring the land it’s built on if the data center is closed or unfinished. The bill also includes a provision that requires any renewable energy created to power the data center be sourced on site. 

Last year, the issue of data centers was a common theme on the campaign trail in Virginia’s gubernatorial race, as voters respond to the effects of hosting more of the centers than any other state. 

Here in Wisconsin, communities are grappling with how to make agreements with the big tech companies hoping to build the data centers, how to avoid the broken promises at the top of mind of many Wisconsinites after the Foxconn development in Mount Pleasant failed to live up to its lofty initial projections and how to manage the often huge demands the data centers make on local water supplies and energy. 

Despite those challenges, the construction of a data center can offer benefits to local governments — mostly by boosting property tax revenue from a development that won’t consume many local government services. 

Unlike many other issues, the question of data center development has not become politically polarized, with a range of positions among candidates of both parties. 

“Data centers are a new issue that has not taken on a partisan edge in the public mind,” Barry Burden, a political science professor at UW-Madison, said. “This is likely to change because among politicians Democrats are more skeptical about data centers and Republicans are more enthusiastic about them. If this partisan divide continues or even becomes sharper, the public is likely to begin mimicking the positions taken by party leaders. But at least for a while the issue is likely to cut across party lines.”

In Wisconsin’s crowded open race for governor, most of the candidates told the Wisconsin Examiner they were supportive of some level of statewide regulation on data centers. 

Democrat Missy Hughes’ campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this article. Her public comments on the issue are included below. 

Mandela Barnes 

The former lieutenant governor said in a statement to the Examiner that it’s important that data center construction not increase utility rates, not damage the environment and use Wisconsin union labor. He also said the companies developing the centers need to meaningfully work with the communities they’re trying to build in. 

“A lot of communities feel left out of conversations about what is going on in their own backyard and that is not fair,” Barnes said. “Any development of this scale must meaningfully engage local communities and address their concerns and input throughout their proposal. We must also ensure that data center projects do not drive up utility rates for Wisconsinites or contribute to harmful pollution, and that they invest in training and hiring Wisconsin workers to staff these facilities.”

Joel Brennan 

The former secretary of the Department of Administration said in a statement from his campaign that the desire of tech companies to move fast is in opposition to the government’s need to engage the public transparently. 

“Wisconsinites shouldn’t have to foot the bill for AI or data center projects, period. At a time when affordability is a challenge in every community, taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for construction, operations, or higher utility costs. No one should have to worry about affording their heating bill because a data center has driven up energy prices,” he said. “It’s reasonable for people to have concerns about AI, and I share those concerns. The technology is moving fast, and companies often prioritize speed. Government’s responsibility is different: transparency, accountability, community engagement, and coordination with local communities who stand to be impacted by these projects. Data centers can create jobs and support local economies, but only if they’re done right — protecting taxpayers and our natural resources, and ensuring that the benefits truly serve Wisconsin communities.”

David Crowley 

At a gubernatorial candidate forum in November, Crowley was mostly supportive of data center development, saying the government shouldn’t be picking “winners and losers” and instead “make sure that this is fertile ground for entrepreneurs and businesses to either stay or move right here to the state of Wisconsin.”

In a statement to the Examiner, a campaign spokesperson said Crowley wants to encourage investment in Wisconsin’s economy while enforcing stringent environmental regulations, making sure companies pay the cost of increased energy use and giving local governments the power to say no to a data center project. 

“Growth that drives up rates or drains local resources is not innovation. It’s a bad deal,” the spokesperson said. “Communities will have clear authority to condition or deny projects based on energy and water use, demand transparency, and community benefit agreements, because the people who live with these projects deserve the final say. Crowley’s approach is simple: Wisconsin will lead in technology and economic growth without raising utility bills, without sacrificing our natural resources, and without letting Big Tech write the rules. Development will be transparent, accountable, and judged by whether or not it delivers real benefits to the people who live in Wisconsin.”

Francesca Hong

In a policy framework released last week, the Madison-area representative  to the state Assembly called for a moratorium on the construction of new data centers while the state works out how to responsibly manage their effects. Hong also wants to end sales tax and use tax exemptions for data centers, require the construction of more renewable energy sources and increase environmental protections on data centers. She is also a co-sponsor on the Democrats’ data center bill in the Legislature. 

In an interview with the Examiner, Hong said Wisconsin’s political leaders have a responsibility to listen to local opposition to data centers. 

“Our communities deserve long-term investments and contributions to their local communities,” she said. “The bipartisan opposition that is building coalitions against AI data centers means that elected officials have a responsibility to get more data on data centers, which is what informed our decision to support a moratorium on the construction of new data centers.” 

Hong said that on the campaign trail she has heard from voters who want Wisconsin to be “a hostile environment for AI data centers.” She added that it’s a bipartisan issue, which presents an opportunity to her as a Democratic socialist running for governor.

“I think there’s an opportunity here, not only for us to engage the left and bring them into electoral politics here in Wisconsin, but actually build that coalition amongst voters who are across the political spectrum and recognizing that as working class people, they’re getting screwed and they’re stressed, and they’re right to demand that their government do more to hold corporate power accountable,” she said. 

Missy Hughes 

At the November forum hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council, Hughes, who as the former head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation was involved in efforts to build the Microsoft data center at the former Foxconn site, promoted their positive potential for the state. 

“To have some of these data centers land here in Wisconsin, provide incredible property tax and revenue for the communities that are really determining how to pay their bills, how to build new schools, how to build new fire departments, it’s an opportunity for those communities to access some of that investment and to benefit from it,” she said, adding that a data center isn’t right for every community and local pushback should be considered. 

Sara Rodriguez 

A spokesperson for the current lieutenant governor said that she would issue an executive order to freeze utility rates while state officials develop a long-term data center plan. 

That long-term plan would include ways to prevent energy costs from increasing while making sure local residents get a say. 

“Sara strongly believes data center projects should be developed collaboratively with local communities. That means early community input, clear communication, and transparent planning to reduce misinformation and ensure projects make sense locally,” the spokesperson said. “Data centers aren’t the right fit for every community, but when done right they can bring real benefits — including jobs, redevelopment of otherwise unusable land, and new revenue that can help local governments lower taxes for residents, as we’ve seen in places like Janesville.” 

The campaign added that agreements with local governments must include provisions to prevent developers from bailing out and abandoning communities. 

“Sara also believes all details must be negotiated up front in binding agreements. If utilities make grid investments or communities commit resources, developers must be on the hook if a project is delayed or canceled,” the spokesperson said. “Families and local governments shouldn’t be left holding the bag. Wisconsin can support growth and innovation, but only if it’s fair, transparent, and doesn’t raise costs for working families.” 

Kelda Roys 

The Madison-area state senator is a co-sponsor of the Democrats’ data center bill and in an interview with the Examiner, said that as governor she’d support regulation that follows a similar framework to the legislation. 

“I think there needs to be a statewide strategy with guardrails that protect our workers, our environment and our consumers from massive price increases,” she said. “I’m very skeptical of this idea that the biggest and richest and most powerful companies in the world should get to just come in and pick off local communities and local elected leaders one by one and make these sweetheart deals in the dark that screw over the public. And I think in the absence of statewide standards and transparency, that is what is happening.” 

She said the state should use its sway to insert itself as a negotiating party in agreements with data center developers in an effort to keep energy costs low, reduce environmental impact and protect Wisconsin workers. 

She also said that the state government doing something to ease the budget crunch facing local governments will put those local officials in a better position when deciding whether or not to allow a data center to be constructed. 

“Part of the reason that we’re having this problem is that we have put local governments in an impossible situation because of the fiscal mismanagement and the harm of Republican politicians,” she said. “Communities will have more bargaining power when they don’t feel like, ‘Gosh, we’re desperate for more revenue, and our hands are really tied by the state. This is the only option,’ right? They will be in a stronger negotiating position if this is a nice to have, but not a necessary to have. And that’s the position that we want communities to be in. I want Wisconsinites to be able to have a say in our communities’ future, to be able to have an open and transparent process where we can say, ‘actually, we don’t think that this site is an appropriate one for a data center.’”

Josh Schoemann

The Washington County executive said at the November candidate forum there is an “abundance of opportunity” with data centers but that the state needs to be “very, very strategic and smart about where” data centers are built. In a statement from his campaign, he said the state needs to prioritize developing nuclear power to provide enough energy for data centers and everyday Wisconsinites. 

“I have great optimism about the potential for data centers and AI for Wisconsin, but it must be people focused,” he said. “Our lack of sufficient energy supply and distribution is a real threat to strategic growth and personal property rights. Growing up in Kewaunee, we had clean and efficient nuclear power right in our community. We need to get back to nuclear energy as a large part of a diverse energy portfolio — not just for data centers, but for the multitude of new homes we need for people, as well as more innovation and industry.”

Tom Tiffany 

The Republican congressman and frontrunner in the party’s primary has often opposed the development of large solar farms in and around his northern Wisconsin district, arguing they’ve taken too much of the region’s farmland out of commission. 

In a statement from his campaign, Tiffany said the development of data centers should be handled “responsibly.” 

“As demand for internet infrastructure continues to grow, data centers present new opportunities for economic development, but like any innovation, they must be developed responsibly,” he said. “Wisconsin families and small businesses should not be left footing the bill for increased electricity demand, local residents deserve a seat at the table when decisions are made about these projects, and taxpayer subsidies should not be used to build data centers on productive farmland. Growth should be responsible and transparent, without shifting costs onto existing ratepayers.”

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“Costs, like everything else, are out of control, and coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like,” Joel Brennan said in his launch video. (Screenshot from campaign video)

Joel Brennan, formerly the Department of Administration (DOA) secretary under Gov. Tony Evers, announced his campaign for governor Thursday, saying that President Donald Trump’s “chaos and incompetence” are hurting the state and that “the numbers just aren’t adding up for Wisconsin families.”

“Costs, like everything else, are out of control, and coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like,” Brennan said in his launch video. “I’ll be a governor who will stand up to Trump’s dysfunction and be laser focused on improving the lives of people across our state.”

In the video, Brennan introduces himself, saying many voters “probably don’t know much about me.” He talks about growing up as one of 11 children in a family that was “long on potential, although sometimes a little short on resources.” He relates that he worked in many jobs including landscaping, retail and deep frying egg rolls to help put himself through college and that his first car had no working blinkers.

“I’ve raised two great kids with my wife, Audra, passing on lessons like rolling up our sleeves to get things done and showing up for our community, and for 25 years I’ve worked with businesses and non-profits to create jobs and strengthen Wisconsin’s economy.”

Brennan served as the DOA secretary from 2019 through 2021. The agency is responsible for assisting the governor with the state budget, providing centralized purchasing and financial management for state agencies and working with the 11 federally recognized Native Nations in Wisconsin on gaming and coastal programs. 

“It’s easy to forget how broken things were after [former Gov.] Scott Walker and his right-wing Legislature had spent eight years gutting state government,” Brennan said. “We got to work putting the state on firmer financial footing, generating a budget surplus of nearly $4 billion dollars and growing our rainy day fund to $1.7 billion, then COVID hit and all of that progress was put at risk. We stood up to the extremists and delivered help to tens of thousands of small businesses, farmers, and families across Wisconsin.”

Prior to his time in Evers’ administration, Brennan worked as the executive director of Discovery World, the largest science museum in Wisconsin. 

Brennan stepped down from leading the DOA in December 2021 to serve as the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC). The private-sector, nonprofit civic organization works to foster economic development and cultural growth in Wisconsin’s largest metro area.

According to the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Brennan is stepping aside from the role as he runs for governor. 

Brennan joins a crowded field of hopefuls seeking the Democratic nomination next year. Candidates include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey. The primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2026.

Roys criticized Brennan in a statement after his announcement over a position the GMC took on a Milwaukee Public Schools referendum last year, saying that Wisconsin needs “a leader who knows how to deliver higher wages, lower costs and the freedom to thrive.”

“While I look forward to a spirited primary, I will not be able to overlook the fact that only one of the candidates in this race tried to defeat a desperately needed referendum to fund our biggest school district,” Roys said. 

The GMC, under Brennan’s leadership, was one of the city’s business organizations that opposed the $252 million operational referendum successfully sought by Milwaukee Public Schools in 2024. GMC expressed concerns at the time over transparency and the “failure to clearly articulate a measurable plan for how these additional financial resources will improve student outcomes.”

The Republican field for governor is not as expansive with just two candidates: U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the frontrunner in the race, and Washington Co. Executive Josh Schoemann.

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