How Wisconsin's 2026 Governor Candidates View Bipartisanship

Frederica Freyberg:
We’re continuing our look at some of the biggest issues in the race for governor. As a reminder, you can see the interviews for nine different candidates on our web page, PBS Wisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. Here’s Zac Schultz asking the leading candidates for governor to show us their track record of bipartisanship and working across the aisle.

Zac Schultz:
With a Democratic governor and a Republican Legislature, the last eight years in Wisconsin politics have been defined by gridlock and a lack of trust in the Capitol. And whether a Democrat or Republican wins the race for governor this fall, there’s a good chance the other party will control at least one chamber of the Legislature, meaning the next governor will need to know how to work across the aisle to pass a budget. We asked nine of the leading candidates for governor about their track record of bipartisanship.

Francesca Hong:
I’m incredibly proud to have passed the Asian American education legislation that was Republican led, where we had stakeholders from all across the state. A coalition that was multi-generational and multi-ethnic, where Republicans and I came together to make sure we delivered for working class families and what they were demanding.

Kelda Roys:
Well, I have a long history, again, over 20 years of working with some of the most conservative Republicans to get things done. Whether it’s criminal justice reform, whether it’s helping to pass the first pro-choice legislation in a generation, working with — in a Republican anti-choice Assembly and getting that passed into law, or just earlier this year, where I helped expand access to rural health care options by allowing nurse practitioners to practice. And for a long time, I was the only Democrat on that bill and Governor Evers vetoed that bill several times. We finally got it done. So I have a long history of being able to work well with folks from across the political spectrum.

Tom Tiffany:
So I’ve done bills when I was in the Legislature and as well as in Congress, working on a bipartisan basis. And we’re going to try to do the same thing. The thing that I won’t get away from is my principles, though. And number one is we got to make sure that we have balanced budgets. We cannot spend too much money. The second thing is we got to do a better job with our educational system: public, private, parochial, homeschool, whatever. Every kid in Wisconsin should expect to get a good education regardless of their zip code.

Mandela Barnes:
Yeah, I mean, even out of office, I’ve been working with a bipartisan group on democracy reform because there are a lot of folks, sometimes both sides of the aisle who, you know, may make comments, may say certain things, or, you know, we’ve seen these issues, obviously, January 6th, but other instances where people call into question the integrity of elections and campaigns. And, you know, with a bipartisan group we’ve worked to instill more confidence in the electoral process.

Missy Hughes:
You know, I would say I was confirmed twice by the Republican Senate unanimously as secretary of Economic Development. And if you asked any of them, I believe that they would say they have a record of working with me. I would also say that I’ve had a bipartisan board at WEDC for six years, and in that whole time, we had two close votes. Other than that, the board was practically unanimous in many of our moves approving our budgets, passing programs. So I have a mindset of working with everybody who is willing to come to the table and have good discussions and think about how do we make Wisconsin better.

Josh Schoemann:
I think this has been one of the things I’ve been most critical of recently is the lack of communication between the East Wing and the legislative branches both. I mean, look back to the state budget process, the Democrat minority leader is critical of the Democrat governor for not even giving her a seat at the table in the conversation about the budget. You know, Greta Neubauer and I probably don’t agree on a whole lot. One thing we do agree on is everybody should have a seat at the table. 90% of things we probably disagree, but there’s probably going to be one or two where I’m like, yeah, that makes sense. How do we get to yes?

Joe Brennan:
Well, I think I’m somebody who over the course of 30 years has demonstrated that I am a relationship person first. It’s something that I have made a point of, and I have ensured that as I go throughout my career, I think I check my ideology at the door when I want to roll up my sleeves and get things done. It’s necessary to do in the nonprofit sector. It’s necessary to do in government.

David Crowley:
You know, I spent seven years in the state Capitol. So, you know, having worked under both Governor Evers’ administration as well as Governor Walker’s administration, I’ve had to navigate these political landmines, if you will. And as the county executive of Milwaukee County, I’ve worked with the Republican-controlled Legislature not only to benefit Milwaukee, but every community across the state with the passage of Act 12, but continue to work across the aisle even in this most recent budget, where we’re going to receive reimbursements for our highway patrol, giving us the ability to invest in our public safety building, in our courtrooms to make sure that we can deliver justice for those who need it and take care of those who are in our care. And so I’m going to always show up and deliver for those that I represent. And I want communities all across the state to know I’m going to be a governor for everybody, not just one party.

Sara Rodriguez:
So coming from a redder community, I’m used to having those types of conversations with Republicans. I represented a purple district. My strategy would be able to do things that have, you know, wild popular support in Wisconsin and be able to start with those types of things. So whether that is fully funding our public schools. We know that that’s something that people want to do within Wisconsin. We want to make sure that we’re going to be able to get some relief for healthcare across, across the finish line. I’m willing to work with anybody who’s going to make life better for Wisconsin.

Zac Schultz:
Reporting from Madison, I’m Zac Schultz for “Here & Now.”