Why should voters elect you the next governor of Wisconsin?

I grew up one of 11 kids in Wisconsin, worked five jobs to pay for college, and raised my family here with my wife, Audra. For 25 years, I’ve solved problems in government, business, and nonprofits, running Discovery World, leading the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and serving as Gov. Evers’ top cabinet official. We created a $4 billion budget surplus and grew the rainy-day fund to $1.7 billion. During the pandemic, we helped families, farmers, and small businesses across the state when they needed government to be there for them. I know what it means when the numbers don’t add up for Wisconsin families, who need someone committed to helping them get ahead, not focused on getting even with our opponents.

What is the top issue facing Wisconsinites and how would you address it?

Everything is too expensive. Healthcare, housing, child care, groceries, utility bills. Wisconsin families are squeezed from every direction. I’d address it the way I’ve solved problems my whole career: with real solutions. My Healthy Wisconsin Promise expands coverage and access and cracks down on drug costs. Build Roots, Build Wisconsin delivers 3% state-backed mortgages and builds 100,000 new entry-level homes. Child care is going over a cliff as funding disappears, and we need a long-term solution even as providers are on the verge of closing across the state. Wisconsin residents need utilities and big users to pay their own way instead of sticking families with the bill. Affordability is a crisis with many fronts, and I’m ready to take on all of them.

What is the top policy goal you would like to accomplish in your first 100 days in office?

Building a budget that actually addresses the cost-of-living crisis and reflects what every Wisconsinite needs. We have to get this right because the budget sets the tone for everything else we do as a state. And I know how state budgets work because I’ve built them, as Secretary of Administration under Gov. Evers. I’d move to fix the school funding formula so it’s built around what kids actually need, not their zip code. I’d make child care investment a top priority before more providers close their doors and more parents are forced out of the workforce. And I’d make sure housing and health care affordability are baked into the budget from day one, not negotiated away in the final days of session.

What kind of relationship should Wisconsin’s governor have with the federal government?

I would describe a healthy relationship as respectful, but not deferential, and based on mutual accountability. Wisconsin is a sovereign state, and the governor’s job is to protect Wisconsinites’ interests, not roll over when Washington oversteps. I’d work with the federal government where our interests align, on infrastructure funding, disaster response, and economic development. But where the federal government threatens Wisconsin’s elections, civil rights, or the basic ability of working families to get by, I’ll push back hard, using the courts, executive authority, partnership with the legislature and the power of the office. Wisconsin runs Wisconsin, and too many of our rights have been compromised by the federal government by the Trump Administration.

How would you approach working with the Legislature if there are Republicans in power in one or both chambers?

I’ve done this before. As Secretary of Administration, I worked with Republicans on the state budget, especially capital projects, and I collaborated with local government leaders of all ideological stripes during COVID. During the first year of the Evers Administration, I managed the Foxconn project and started down the path that eventually reduced the state’s exposure from $2.85 billion down to $80 million. My approach is simple: show up, do the homework, and find where real agreement exists, whether that’s fiscal responsibility, government efficiency, or protecting taxpayers. Where agreement isn’t possible, and the legislature acts against Wisconsin families, I’ll use the partial veto and executive authority to protect people. Divided government doesn’t have to mean gridlock. It can be where things get done.

How would you approach working with the Legislature if there are Democrats in power in one or both chambers?

For the first time in 16 years, Wisconsin has a real chance at a Democratic trifecta, and that means we can stop playing defense and start delivering together: lowering costs, expanding healthcare access, fixing the school funding formula, and building housing that families can actually afford. I’d work closely with legislative leadership from day one, building the same kind of real relationships that got things done when I was secretary of administration. Shared goals don’t mean automatic agreement on every detail, and I’d rather work through those differences honestly than paper over them. The job is the same no matter who holds the gavel: deliver real results, and don’t waste the chance when you have it.

What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?

During the Depression in the 1930s, the federal government created three “Greenbelt” communities in the United States, including one in Wisconsin. The planned communities included affordable homes for rent and purchase, a town center, gardens and walkable neighborhoods. The Wisconsin project the city of Greendale in Milwaukee County — still includes the 366 original homes, which were built between 1936 and 1938 by people whose lives had been upended during the Depression. My grandfather, who had lost his job at the outset of the depression, was one of hundreds of Wisconsinites who worked on the project as part of FDR’s Works Projects