State’s voters tell candidates what they want to hear
Inflation, education, the economy and the future of our country’s elections were on the minds of a panel of voters at a town hall Wednesday to explore what matters most to voters this election season.
It was the first of four town halls part of “Main Street Agenda,” a statewide project of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Ideas Lab, the La Follette School of Public Affairs and Wisconsin Public Radio. Wednesday’s event was held at Centennial Hall in Milwaukee Public Library Central Branch.
The project seeks to encourage dialogue across political lines and to host conversations with Wisconsin residents about the issues most important to them as Election Day nears.
With less than two months to go before the Nov. 8 midterms, polls have shown Wisconsin’s two big political races for governor and U.S. Senate are awfully close. The latest poll from Marquette University Law School showed the Senate race between Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Republican incumbent Ron Johnson as a toss-up, while Democratic Gov. Tony Evers held a narrow lead over his Republican challenger, Tim Michels.
The panel of voters that spoke Wednesday was made up of two Democrats, two Republicans and an independent, all from southeastern Wisconsin.
Though they didn’t individually identify their political affiliations, the divisions became clearer when they started talking about the issues important to them.
One thing they could agree on? That they wanted more specifics from candidates.
“I want the candidates to earn my vote, talk about the issues. Let’s have some lively exchanges,” said Mary McGrath, a former preschool teacher who is now retired and volunteers registering people to vote.
Dwight Dreger, a Yorkville resident who worked in finance and accounting before retiring, agreed.
“I certainly would like to hear more on the issues,” he said. “We’ve got a candidate for Senate who says he’ll bring jobs back to Wisconsin. That’s a great idea. Tell me how . ... Tell me how you’re going to make Wisconsin stand out.”
One of the common refrains at the town hall was inflation. Voters on the panel and in the audience wanted to know what officials could do about it.
“Going to the grocery store is a nightmare a lot of the time,” McGrath said. “Is there not price gouging going on? ... What can be done at the state level to try to make the corporations pull their weight?”
Dreger said he was concerned about how families would pay for food and utilities, especially come winter.
“I don’t think people are going to be able to afford it,” he said.
Speaking to a reporter after the town hall, Venora McKinney, a spectator from Glendale, was critical of the lack of diversity on the panel.
The panelists were overwhelmingly white and skewed older.
“That should not happen,” she said. “It needed at least two more people” of other backgrounds.
When asked about the issues important to her, McKinney listed off the electoral system, income inequality and racism. She is particularly concerned about gerrymandering of state legislative districts.
“To me, that’s one way to end democracy, to fix it so only one group of people is in charge,” she said.
Even if you missed Wednesday’s event, you can still register for any of the other upcoming events:
● 7 p.m., Oct. 6, Ingleside Hotel, 2810 Golf Road, Pewaukee. Focus: Inflation and the state of the U.S. economy. To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/pewaukeeagenda.
● 7 p.m., Oct. 11, Brown County Public Library, 515 Pine St., Green Bay. To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/ greenbayagenda.
● 7 p.m., Nov. 1, UW Stevens Point– Wausau Campus: UW Center for Civic Engagement, 625 Stewart Ave, Wausau. To register, go to https://tinyurl.com/ wausauagenda.