Wisconsin’s uber-left leaves voters with only bad options for governor
by Scott Walker · The Washington TimesOPINION:
Incompetence and ignorance are the dominating themes among the Democrats running for governor in Wisconsin.
The primary is weeks away, and the outcome may affect the rest of the country.
The current front-runner in the multicandidate primary is state Rep. Francesca Hong, a “democratic socialist.” She comes from an ultra-liberal district in Madison.
Ms. Hong advocates abolishing prisons and defunding the police. She appeared on a June 29 livestream with controversial streamer Hasan Piker. He has said that America “deserved” the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He also said the rapes Hamas terrorists committed on Oct. 7, 2023, don’t matter to the larger debate about Israel.
Ms. Hong raised more than $57,000 from viewers of the show.
She has a strong following because of her unapologetic defense of socialism. The problem is that her ideas, such as government-owned grocery stores, have not worked in the past. What happened in Venezuela is a prime example of socialism’s flaws.
Many years ago, democratic socialist Hugo Chavez was elected to lead a country that was once one of the most prosperous on the planet. He pushed for the government to take over the oil industry and other key sectors of the economy. Since then, Venezuela has experienced one of the world’s largest economic collapses.
The exodus was so massive that it created a refugee crisis. Unlike other countries, this one is based not on famine or war, but rather on the failures of socialism. We do not want that in Wisconsin or anywhere else in America.
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Some establishment types on the left in the Badger State seem concerned about Ms. Hong being the standard-bearer. There was a move in late June to rally behind Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.
The first candidate to drop out and endorse the lieutenant governor was Missy Hughes, a former head of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Soon afterward, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out of the race for governor and endorsed Ms. Rodriguez.
At the time, it began to look like 2020, when the national establishment types on the left were worried that Sen. Bernard Sanders was leading the pack of presidential primary candidates. They foresaw more than a loss in the general election: a negative impact on Democrats’ chances of holding majorities in the House and Senate that fall.
In short order, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race for president and endorsed former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
The move, along with help from Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, helped Mr. Biden wrap up the nomination.
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Things in Wisconsin looked to be heading in a very similar direction this week until Ms. Rodriguez held a press conference to disclose that she had fired her campaign manager over major campaign finance accounting errors. So instead of making a $1 million ad buy heading into the primary election, her campaign has only about $200,000 cash on hand — with bills to pay.
Ms. Rodriguez was ill-prepared to answer any legitimate questions about the massive error. It was, effectively, the end of her campaign.
Democrats are now stuck with some unpleasant choices. The only somewhat mainstream candidate left is Joel Brennan, and he is barely polling above friends and family. The others are socialists with less personality.
State Sen. Kelda Roys has a reasonable amount of cash on hand and is currently running ads. She is a two-time primary loser in races for Congress and governor but was endorsed by the teachers union (that no longer carries as much weight as it did years ago).
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Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was the 2022 nominee against Sen. Ron Johnson and got surprisingly close to winning that election. Many pundits, however, believe that Mr. Barnes’ radical views, combined with personal issues, cost him the statewide election.
Mr. Barnes has less cash on hand than Ms. Roys but does have high name ID from his run for the Senate. That said, it has been surprising that he was not the leader of the pack, as he had previously gotten so close to a win.
Even most Democratic primary voters seem to understand that Mr. Barnes’ lapse in property tax payment, the loss of his driver’s license over past-due tickets and other issues might be too distracting for the campaign into November.
Ignorance and incompetence are the buzzwords for those left in the primary for Wisconsin governor. That said, Wisconsin remains the closest swing state in America. It will likely be so again in November.
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• Scott Walker is a columnist for The Washington Times. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin and launched a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. He lives in Milwaukee and is the proud owner of a 2003 Harley-Davidson Road King. He can be reached at swalker@washingtontimes.com.
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