Why are you running for office, and how does your background and experience shape your ability to be an effective public servant, specifically when it comes to serving young people, specifically under the age of 35, in BIPOC, working-class, rural, and immigrant communities of Wisconsin?
Wisconsinites are living in a rigged system where the rich get richer while the rest of us get left behind scrambling for crumbs. I know it firsthand. I grew up in the heart of the 53206 zip code—that’s the state’s poorest and most incarcerated zip code in the entire country. I got my start as a community organizer and I’ve spent my entire career fighting to make life better for families across Wisconsin. I got elected at the age of 25 to the state legislature by ousting a Democratic incumbent, and then helped Tony Evers beat Scott Walker to become youngest Lt. Governor in the country. But right now, families are working harder than ever yet they still can’t get ahead—and Donald Trump is doing everything he can to make it worse. That’s why I am running for Governor—to reject the broken Washington Way and get things done the Wisconsin Way. We are going to tax the rich, freeze utility rates, and keep Wisconsin safe.
What do you believe to be the top concerns and specific challenges facing young people under the age of 35, in communities across Wisconsin? How would you prioritize and advance these priorities once in office?
The top concern for every single voter is the cost of living. Costs are out of control because we have a president whose sole focus is on making he and his billionaire donors rich off the backs of working people.
As Governor, I’ll do everything I can to bring down costs, especially for young people as it’s harder than ever to get ahead. It starts by taxing the rich and making out-of-state corporations pay their fair share to cut taxes for middle class families. I will fight to finally expand BadgerCare and create a public option to lower healthcare costs.
We will lower utility bills by freezing the rates and take on the greedy utility monopolies by capping their executive pay and banning ratepayer dollars from being used to buy politicians. I will deliver universal childcare to address the broken system that is forcing families to make impossible decisions.
How do you assess the current state of housing affordability in Wisconsin as it relates to residents under the age of 35? What factors do you believe are contributing to rising housing and rental costs, and what specific policies or actions would you support to make housing more affordable and accessible?
The cost of housing is shameful. Buying a home is far closer to a dream than a reality for young people in the state of Wisconsin. My administration will make it easier for younger Wisconsinites to buy their first home by empowering the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority to provide low-interest loans to first time home buyers, and establish a tax credit for those purchasing their first home to bring down the upfront costs. Out-of-state hedge funds have been buying up single-family homes en masse and pricing working families out of their communities. I will take action as governor to stop those Wall Street executives from making housing more expensive and do everything in my power to bring down costs.
For renters, we need additional protections to ensure that landlords aren’t allowed to exploit families with endless rent increases and poor housing quality. I’ll do everything in my power as Governor to bring down costs and ensure that families are able to live in homes with dignity.
Climate and environmental decisions made today will have long-term impacts on Wisconsin residents under the age of 35, including energy costs, public health, infrastructure, and economic opportunity. As Wisconsin sees growth in large-scale developments, including data centers and other energy-intensive projects, how would you balance economic development with environmental sustainability and affordability? What specific policies or actions would you support, and how would you measure their impact on young adults?
No one in this race for Governor has more experience than me when it comes to protecting the environment and investing in renewable energy. As chair of the Climate Change Task Force, I helped put together comprehensive proposals for how Wisconsin can lead the way on lowering costs and creating good paying union jobs by investing in renewables. We brought together farmers, industry, and advocates to find common ground. That work helped produce the Clean Power Plan and put our state on a path to leading the nation in renewable energy.
Following my time as Lt. Governor, I founded an organization called Forward Together WI which worked to get over $1 million in clean energy tax credits to schools and low-income homeowners to make energy efficiency upgrades at no-cost. This brought down utility bills, lowered emissions, and created good-paying union jobs.
As Governor, I’ll look to bring back those tax credits at the state level while cutting red tape to invest in the construction of renewable energy across the state.
How do you assess the current state of employment, education, and workforce training opportunities for Wisconsin residents and what actions would you support to improve outcomes specifically for young adults under the age of 35?
Wisconsinites are living in a broken system where billionaires get ahead and the rest of us get left behind. We need to end the paycheck-to-paycheck economy and bring about a new era of opportunity.
That starts by fully funding our schools and giving our students the resources they need to succeed. The state legislature has completely failed to meet our state’s constitutional obligation to provide two-thirds funding to our school districts. As Governor, I will ensure our schools are fully funded—including special education—so that every district has what they need to provide every kid in every zip code with a high quality education.
We also need to ensure young people have every opportunity to succeed once they graduate, including having affordable options for college and other training. Wisconsin ranks 44th in the country for state support for our universities. That is shameful. As Governor, I will increase funding for our universities and explore options for eliminating tuition expenses for UW technical and community college programs.
Rural communities across Wisconsin face unique challenges in accessing education, training, and career opportunities. How do you assess these barriers for residents under the age of 35 in rural communities, and what specific policies would you support to improve access to technical education and workforce pathways?
Corporations across Wisconsin—in Milwaukee and in rural communities—are shipping good-paying jobs overseas to save money while leaving WI in the dust. I’ll do everything in my power to fight that corporate greed and ensure Wisconsinites in every corner of the state have access to opportunity.
My grandfather moved to Milwaukee after his service in the Navy during WWII and got a job as a union steelworker. He was able to retire with comfort and dignity. But those jobs and the factory he worked at are gone now—shipped overseas so corporate executives could save a few dollars. The same story is playing out in rural Wisconsin where corporate consolidation is killing family farms and small businesses.
We need to end the corporate greed by denying tax breaks to every single out-of-state corporation that ships jobs overseas or lays off workers because of outsourcing to artificial intelligence.
We need good jobs in rural Wisconsin—I will fight to expand apprenticeship programs with unions and trade schools to ensure that when companies invest in Wisconsin, they're employing Wisconsinites.
Wisconsin’s statewide safety net - including healthcare access, unemployment benefits, housing assistance, and education or job training opportunities - helps people navigate periods of transition and hardship. How well do these systems meet the needs of Wisconsin residents specifically under the age of 35, what gaps exist, and what specific policies would you support to make these resources more accessible and effective for young adults?
We need to make sure Wisconsinites aren’t falling through the cracks, especially when it comes to healthcare. My day one priority is to expand BadgerCare and provide a public option so everyone has access to affordable care. Expanding BadgerCare would provide insurance to thousands of uninsured Wisconsinites, and a public option would help fill in the gaps for folks who are between jobs. It would also help bring down costs for the whole healthcare system by forcing insurance companies to compete with an efficient system.
But for a BadgerCare public option—as well as unemployment insurance and other social services—does nothing to help people if the system isn’t accessible to Wisconsinites. We need to ensure we are being proactive to stop folks from falling through the gaps and reducing the bureaucracy that prevents vulnerable families from getting the services they deserve.
What do you believe are the primary drivers of affordability challenges for Wisconsin residents under the age of 35, and what specific policy solutions would you pursue to lower costs and improve economic security for young adults?
As someone who has been on food stamps, BadgerCare, and laid off, I know firsthand how hard it is as a young person to make ends meet. As Governor, I’ll fight to end the paycheck-to-paycheck economy and create a new era of opportunity.
It starts by taxing the rich. Right now, the wealthy aren’t paying their fair share, and out-of-state corporations and billionaires are exploiting tax loopholes. When I am Governor, I’ll tax the rich, close those loopholes, and use that money to cut taxes for middle class families.
My fight is to bring down costs the Wisconsin Way. Beyond taxing the rich, I will fight for free universal childcare, freezing utility rates, a BadgerCare public option, and use every other tool in the toolbox to lower costs for families.
As governor, what steps would you take to engage young adults under the age of 35, outside of electoral cycles to strengthen year-round participation in community and civic life?
There’s nothing more important to our democracy than ensuring every American has the ability to vote and make their voices heard in the halls of power.
As Governor, I will do everything in my power to protect the security and freedom of our democracy and the rights of every Wisconsinite to cast a ballot. I would fight to implement automatic voter registration across Wisconsin. As Trump and MAGA Republicans look at every single tool possible to disenfranchise voters, I will fight to make voting as free and fair as possible by ensuring every Wisconsinite is automatically registered when of legal age and residence so they can cast their ballot without obstruction.
If Wisconsin residents between the ages of 18 and 35 take away just one message from your responses, what do you hope it is, and why?
I know firsthand how the system is rigged against Wisconsin families. I grew up in the poorest and most incarcerated community in the state. No one will fight harder to take on the billionaires and the status quo.