Governor debate: Wisconsin's Evers, Michels clash

MILWAUKEE - Gov. Tony Evers and challenger Tim Michels held their one and only debate Friday night, Oct. 14 – giving voters a closer look at their options.

The candidates answered questions from a panel of Wisconsin journalists about a number of topics.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

The latest Marquette University Law School showed Evers with a narrow lead in a race that is essentially a toss up ahead of the Nov. 8 election. Here is what they had to say:

On inflation

Both Evers and Michels said their plan involved lowering taxes.

Evers: "My plan is this, to mitigate against inflation we’re going to lower our taxes on middle class folks in the state of Wisconsin by 10%, we’re going to get rid of the minimum markup law on gasoline, which could save people up to 30 cents on a gallon and also some tax credits to issue."

Michels: "I’m going to do everything I can to put more money in people’s pockets to help them with the price at the pump and the surging price of groceries. We’re going to do massive tax reform, get more money in people’s pockets here in Wisconsin, and the hardworking taxpaying people of Wisconsin will spend more of that money on goods and services, helping make our economy here even more robust."

On shared revenue

Municipalities across the state send tax revenue to Madison. Shared revenue is how much the state sends back. Currently, Wisconsin is sitting on a more than $5 billion surplus.

For many questions, Evers said the solution is increasing shared revenue so local cities and towns have more money to give to things like police departments and schools. Michels said there is plenty of money in government.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

Michels: "I’m going to sit down with the Legislature and the smart people, my lieutenant governor, Roger Roth, to make sure that we come up with the right formulas, and we are going to adequately make sure that there’s funding for the issues that people in Wisconsin are so concerned about."

Evers: "Next budget it is my top priority. We’re going to have a 4% each year of the biennium, and that helps these people do the hard work, whether it’s around crime, whether it’s around social services."

On crime

It's an issue Milwaukee is all too familiar with. The city is on pace to break its homicide record for a third year in a row.

Both candidates were asked what they would do to prevent crime. Michels cited his endorsements from several police unions. Evers said he wants to use shared revenue to properly fund police departments.

Michels: "I’m going to stand with law enforcement. Why? Because the hard-working, tax-paying, law-abiding citizens are really fearful of the surge in crime that we’ve had in Wisconsin over the last two years. I’m going to talk to the bad guys, if you will, on election night in my victory speech."

Evers: "It isn’t just about talking tough, believe me. It is about providing the resources so that those police officers can do their job."

On education

Michels said he supports universal school choice, which would give parents the options to send their kids to private schools and take tax dollars with them. Evers wants to use shared revenue to provide more funding for public schools.

Getting a little more nuanced, they were asked about how race should be taught in schools. Evers used the example of Japanese internment as something that should be taught.

Evers: "We’re a strong state and a strong country. If we can’t talk about things like that we’re in sad shape. Obviously parents have a role in making those decisions, teachers."

Michels: "How are we going to teach race? We’re going to get parents involved. Right now parents show up to a school board meeting, and they’re given the stiff arm. ‘We know what we’re doing. Let us educate your kids best.'"

On abortion

Michels said Evers and his allies were mischaracterizing his position on abortion, "calling me a radical. I am pro life and I make no apologies for that."

Michels said he would sign a bill creating an exception to Wisconsin’s 1849 near total abortion ban for rape and incest. Before he won the August primary Michels did not support exceptions. Michels said he was not against contraception. When asked if he would make it illegal for people from Wisconsin to travel to other states to obtain an abortion, he said "I’m not going to be this radical guy with checks at the border."

Evers supports codifying Roe v. Wade.

"Women should have the ability and the right to make decisions about their health care, including reproductive health care, and that includes abortion," he said. "My opponent is radical on this position ... and not consistent with Wisconsin values."

On guns

Evers voiced his support for so-called red flag laws that would allow for judges to take weapons away from people determined to be a danger and universal gun background checks. He noted that polls have shown broad support among Wisconsin residents for both.

Michels said that "crime is running rampant" and "I’m going to fix it."

"And guns? I have a solution for that," Michels said, without detailing what that solution was.

Michels opposes red flag laws and universal background checks.

"We need to make sure we uphold the Constitution and law abiding gun owners are not having their guns confiscated," he said.

Evers said that wasn’t a concern.

"Responsible gun owners don’t have to worry about red flag laws because it will never be an issue for them," he said.

On elections

Evers defended the 2020 presidential election, which President Joe Biden narrowly won over Trump, saying it was "safe, secure and there was no fraud."

He faulted Michels for raising questions about the validity of the election. Biden's win over Trump has withstood reviews, audits, lawsuits and recounts.

"Voting rights are on this ballot," Evers said. "It is radical to say ‘I’m not sure how this works out’ or ‘fraud happened’ when it didn’t happen."

Michels vowed to work with the GOP-controlled Legislature to increase faith in elections. He also promised to certify every election as governor.

"Under a Gov. Michels administration we will never have questions," he said. "Of course I will certify the election."

On conflict of interest

Michels, who co-owns the state’s largest construction firm Michels Corp., said if elected he will completely divest from the company. State records show Michels Corp. has received more than $1.1 billion from Wisconsin for construction projects since 2014.

"There will be no conflict of interest," Michels said.

Evers said even if he divests, Michels Corp. will still be bidding for state projects.

"I think it’s going to look kind of fishy," Evers said.

Other highlights

• Evers repeated his call for increasing funding for local governments, saying that's the solution to addressing crime. Michels said Evers has failed to reduce crime and also faulted the state parole commission for releasing convicted murderers and rapists.
• Michels described the Evers’ administration as the "Barnes-Evers administration." Mandela Barnes is currently lieutenant governor but he is running for U.S. Senate. The most recent Marquette University Law School poll this week showed U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson with an apparent lead over Barnes, while Evers and Michels were about even.
• In response to a question about climate change, after Michels cast doubt about whether it’s caused by actions of people, Evers responded, "Instead of blah, blah here, I’m going to talk about our clean energy plan."
• Evers, when asked to address attacks made against him in the campaign, said claims that he isn't a hard worker and spends too much time sleeping "is a bunch of crap."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.