Wisconsin governor race: Democrats forum, Republican responds

MILWAUKEE - With partisan primaries in the race for Wisconsin governor less than a month away, five Democratic candidates shared the stage and discussed child care and wages on Sunday. 

Democratic primary shakeup

The backstory:

Earlier this month, Crowley suspended his campaign and backed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. She then suspended her own campaign following a campaign finance scandal. But with Gov. Tony Evers' endorsement, Crowley resumed his campaign and got back in the race on Saturday.

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It all unfolded in a matter of days. On Sunday, all five Democrats with active campaigns for governor had a chance to share their pitches to voters on how they plan to address the state's child care crisis.

The latest Marquette University Law School poll found 65% of Democratic primary voters were undecided, though that poll was done long before this major shakeup.

Five Democrats on child care, wages

What they're saying:

The five Democratic candidates still in the race are former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Greater Milwaukee President Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State Rep. Francesca Hong and State Sen. Kelda Roys.

Each shared their own message Sunday on how they hope to expand child care access for Wisconsinites. Voters from across the state had the opportunity to ask the candidates about their proposed policies and what can be done to make it more affordable for families. 

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Barnes: "Families are struggling to pay for quality childcare and childcare providers struggle to be able to retain talent because of the difficulties being able to pay staff adequately without raising costs on families.

"There's so much money that we have left on the table, states like Minnesota and Illinois and Michigan have taken advantage of it. They have been able to do good things for their children with those additional resources, and it is important that Wisconsin does not leave a single dollar on the table."

Brennan: "One of the first things we need to do is emergency funding going into child care in the first days of the administration.

"Ensuring that we increase eligibility of Wisconsin Shares, increasing reimbursements, those are all things we can do and there are resources available to do it."

Crowley: "We need to raise the minimum wage. The fact that we have a $7.25 minimum wage here in the state of Wisconsin is just mind-blowing to me. And the reason it’s mind-blowing is because I got my first job at 14 years old, and I made $7.50 an hour.

"I also believe that K4 needs to also be universal, because that's an extremely important age before any of our children get to the school system."

Hong: "It is imperative that we look at sustainable and continuing direct provider payments that are flexible, investing in a universal program for families who are looking, subsidized for families making up to 400% of the poverty level.

"$20 an hour is not a livable wage. And right now our local governments do not have the ability to raise local minimum wage to a living wage, so we have to remove that state preemption, and abolish the tipped minimum wage which is an abysmal $2.33 an hour."

Roys: "I’m proud to be the lead author of the living wage bill that will raise minimum wages to $15 an hour with a path to $20 by 2030.

"To solve the provider shortage, we have to raise wages. To solve the affordability portion for parents, we need to make Wisconsin Shares universal, and the reason that's the smartest path for doing that is because the feds are covering a huge chunk of that."

Leading Republican responds

The other side:

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who the Republican Party of Wisconsin has endorsed in the race, responded.

"I would encourage any candidate proposing a $20 minimum wage to sit down with employers across rural Wisconsin and hear firsthand how a mandate like this would force them to cut jobs, reduce hours, and raise prices, hurting both workers and consumers," he said.

When is the election?

What's next:

Wisconsin's partisan primaries are on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Election clerks told FOX6 News that they expect lower turnout in August's partisan primary before the general election in November. 

As of July 20, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reports 71,000 voters have returned absentee ballots. If voters vote absentee and turn it in, and then change their minds, they no longer get a re-do.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Stephanie Quirk and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

Editor's note: This story as updated to include new information.