Takeaways From The 2022 Republican Primary Debate For WI Governor

MILWAUKEE, WI — Three Republican candidates looking to run for Wisconsin governor against Democratic incumbent Tony Evers met on stage Sunday evening for a debate ahead of the Aug. 9 primary vote.

Participants included former Wisconsin Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, construction company executive Tim Michels and State Rep. Tim Ramthun. Not present was Adam Fischer.

The debate was hosted by TMJ4 at Marquette University's Varsity Theater and moderated by the television station's reporters Shannon Sims and Charles Benson.

The winner of the Republican primary in August will go on to compete against Evers in the statewide fall election where voters will decide Wisconsin's next governor.

Key takeaways from the debate included new comments on abortion, changes to Milwaukee Public Schools, plans to overturn the 2020 election or change voting laws, and concerns about the economy. The latest poll from Marquette University Law School found Michels and Kleefisch as frontrunners in the race.

Here are some takeaways from Sunday's debate:

Candidates Largely Agree With Wisconsin Abortion Ban

Kleefisch said she supported the 1849 Wisconsin abortion law that is on the books, which bans abortion except when the mother's health is in danger, and decried efforts from Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul to dispute the law.

Kleefisch did note she doesn't consider ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage care abortions.

Ramthun said he doesn't support abortion, and said there should be a focus on pregnancy crisis centers and adoption.

"We've got to trim back on the bureaucracy around that process, cut down on the costs and accelerate the time so kids can get with families that want them," Ramthun said.

Michels said he is "pro-life." He said it's more than just being anti-abortion, and said the problem was "pro-abortion zealots" who are "screaming in their ear 'you have to abort the baby.'"

"Let's give them all the options all the solutions that are out there," Michels said. "Let's talk to them about adoption, let's talk to them about monies that are available for infants and toddlers, that's what being pro-life means."

"Hopefully they'll make the decision to save life," Michels said.

In a June Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin, 27 percent of people said abortion should be legal in all cases and 31 percent said it should be legal in most cases.

Eleven percent said it should be illegal in all cases, and 24 percent said it should be illegal in most cases, according to the poll.

Candidates Would Support Paid Parental Leave

Amid the talk on abortion, the debate moderators asked candidates if they would support paid parental leave. All signaled support for the measure in some way, with Michels using his company's paid leave standard as an example.

Ramthun argued that societal issues often start in the home and that helping parents bond with children may bring fewer issues down the road.

Kleefisch said it would definitely be something she would look at if she was elected governor.

Milwaukee Public Schools Could Face Being Split Up Under Every Candidate

When it came to education, each candidate endorsed the idea of breaking up the Milwaukee Public School District. The measure was already attempted earlier this year.

At the debate, Kleefisch took credit for the idea to break up the district, while Michels said the district would be "bankrupt" if it were a business, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

When the idea was proposed earlier this year, State Superintendent Jill Underly said it was detached from the needs of students.

Ramthun Wants 2020 Election Overturned; Other Candidates Focus On Voting Laws

When the subject of overturning the 2020 presidential election came up, Ramthun remained steadfast in the idea of "decertifying" the election.

Ramthun continued to claim there was fraud and manipulation and appeared to assert that the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on dropboxes might apply backwards to 2020.

The ruling clarified that going forward dropboxes are not legal under state law.

Michels said he get's really upset about the issue, when moderators pressed him on the idea of "decertifying" the 2020 election, he said it is not a priority.

"I want to make sure that we don't have these questions ever again in Wisconsin," Michels said, adding there would be no more unmanned ballot boxes or indefinitely confined status.

Kleefisch said she thought the 2020 election was rigged, and noted she was the only one on the stage who has sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission but did not say overturning the election would be a priority.

She said she would abolish the WEC, ban the use of central counts, ban ballot boxes, and will create an "Office on Election Integrity" under the state's Department of Justice to purge voter rolls "of dead voters and people who registered 300 to an empty lot."

No candidate offered evidence that there was fraud in the 2020 election. Biden's win in Wisconsin has withstood two partial recounts, multiple lawsuits, a non-partisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm and an investigation headed by a previous Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who was hired by Republicans, according to AP.

Gun Violence

Michels said the problem with gun violence has come from societal changes and said red flag laws are not the answer, arguing it may conflict with due process.

Kleefisch condemned officials in the criminal justice system, saying there needs to be 1,000 more cops on Wisconsin streets and that Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm should be fired.

"It is bad district attorneys and bad judges who just let bad guys go with rap sheets a mile long to have a revolving door of criminal justice," Kleefisch said, pledging bail and sentencing reform.

When moderator Sims further pressed Kleefisch on policy ideas to prevent straw purchases and further implement background checks, Kleefisch responded by saying that straw purchases are already illegal and asserted there already are background checks.

"I want to make sure that we're preserving our 2nd Amendment rights, preserving due process and preserving Wisconsin's sporting heritage," Kleefisch said.

Ramthun said he would confront the criminal justice system and argued for mandatory minimum sentencing changes and law enforcement increases.

Education

Ramthun spoke against Social Emotional Learning curricula, and shared a desire for schools to focus on reading and mathematics. When mentioning SEL, Ramthun also mentioned "CRT."

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction defines social and emotional learning "as the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions."

When pressed by moderators, Ramthun said "growth and character and giving people the tools to have interpersonal skills and understand how they can navigate their life is a critical element to education."

"But we have to get back to the basics as well and I think in the last several years we've pulled away from that," Ramthun said.

Michels said parents should have more control, saying that is possible through universal school choice.

"Competition is a great motivator, it's a great motivator at Michels Corporation," Michels said. "If we're not innovating every day, we're losing, if we're not getting better every day we're losing."

Michels added that parents can go to local school boards and administrations to voice opinions, suggesting parents can speak about "CRT."

Kleefisch said she would sign a "Parents Bill of Rights," ban "critical race theory" and support universal school choice.

Critical race theory is a decades-old legal and academic framework that looks at and critiques how race and racism shaped the U.S. laws and institutions that remain in place today and help perpetuate racism and a kind of caste system that continues to the disadvantage of people of color.

The phrase has become a catchall of sorts for various claims about racism and curriculum in schools, and has often been used for claims about racism and race relations in the United States that have nothing to do with critical race theory itself.

The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing to this story.