Candidates court millennials

Evers, Flynn, Mitchell, Roys attend Milwaukee forum

Four Democratic gubernatorial candidates in the best financial position to challenge Gov. Scott Walker this fall said Sunday their party should be more inclusive, stop ignoring people of color between campaigns, reject state incentives for Foxconn Technology Group more forcefully, and be more friendly to small businesses.

State Superintendent Tony Evers, former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Matt Flynn, Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin president Mahlon Mitchell and former state Rep. Kelda Roys made their comments during a freewheeling forum focused on millennial issues hosted by NextGen America.

“The thing that concerns me the most is the Democratic Party tends to have litmus tests and if you don’t meet the litmus test, you don’t belong or you can’t move forward,” Evers said when the candidates were asked on what issue they disagreed with their party. “Are we saying in this party that a devout Catholic who believes that abortion is wrong can’t be a good Democrat? That concerns me because we absolutely have to have a big tent.”

Flynn, who is airing a TV ad statewide against a $4 billion incentive package for Foxconn, said what separates him from other Democrats is his willingness to promote the idea of stopping the package from being implemented.

Flynn said he rejects Democratic proposals to add more accountability to the bill that provides the incentives, and suggested he would instead seek to repeal the bill passed in 2017 altogether.

“It can be stopped,” Flynn said. “The fact is it could be stopped and it should have been stopped a long time ago . ... They’re getting out of the state.”

Roys, who owns a real estate technology group, said Democrats should embrace the business community and state lawmakers should provide ways for businesses to decouple benefits from employment, and provide universal paid leave for employees.

“I think you can be pro-business and be a Democrat,” Roys said. “I think that we have to understand that economic development and family-supporting jobs don’t come from corporate welfare deals like for Foxconn, they come from actually helping make Wisconsin a place where people can start businesses.”

And Mitchell said he disagrees with the Democratic National Committee on the use of superdelegates at party conventions, but above all he wants to change the state party’s attitude toward people of color.

“Every three-and-a-half years we go to black churches, or Latino churches, or folks of color churches, overpromise and underperform and take it for granted when we actually don’t do anything,” Mitchell said. “So I disagree with how we organize communities of color. We don’t see a lot of candidates in between the four years they’re running for office ... when we are in office, no matter who it is, we need to make sure we actually do something.”

The four candidates met Sunday days after their campaigns reported raising the most money of the eight candidates still vying to take on Walker in this year’s general election.

Evers, Flynn and Roys last week used their financial advantage to purchase TV time to air ads as the field battles in the last four weeks until an Aug. 14 primary election.

Flynn’s ad, which was set to air Friday statewide, pillories Walker for a $4 billion taxpayer-funded incentive package for Foxconn. Roys’ ad will focus on keeping abortion legal.

Evers also plans to air TV ads but has not yet released details.

The forum, held by NextGen America’s millennial-outreach arm, featured unusual questions for each of the candidates like which actor or actress would portray the candidates.

Evers named Charlton Heston, who died in 2008; Flynn said Pierce Brosnan; Mitchell said firefighter friends have said Cuba Gooding Jr.; and Roys tagged Kate Winslet as the actress who would best portray her in a film.

Among the candidates at Sunday’s forum, Evers remains the most wellknown and supported among voters polled in the most-recent Marquette University Law School poll.

Though 38% of those polled don’t know who they’d vote for, 31% said they would vote for Evers. Meanwhile, Flynn earned 5% support, Mitchell received 6% and Roys saw 3% say they’d support her.

While Evers’ support among voters polled eclipses his opponents, Mitchell has raised the most money — the only candidate to exceed $1 million. Meanwhile, Roys and Flynn have the most cash heading into the final weeks of the race.