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Aug. 11 is the partisan primary in Wisconsin. Currently there are five Democratic and two Republican candidates for governor.

On the Republican side Trump-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany will be the candidate in November. His 27-year-old opponent has no chance.

The Democratic contest has no clear leader but who wins will be extremely important for Wisconsin.

In this article I provide some thoughts and information to help people make their decision for a Democratic candidate.

All the Democratic candidates have similar positions the issues and good plans for governing. All are talking about the real problems that need to be addressed.

The critical question is which candidate is most likely to defeat Tiffany?

As I have asserted in past articles, Tiffany will be a disaster for the people of Wisconsin. Democrats must not weaken themselves with internecine divisions or nitpicking on philosophy and policy.

Who is most electable? Who can best rally the base, appeal to independents, sensible Republicans and younger voters?

This is the decision Democratic primary voters must make.

All of the Democratic candidates have detailed, comprehensive proposals for addressing the problems affecting Wisconsinites. On their campaign websites, all discuss how to reduce the costs and improve access to healthcare, childcare, higher education and housing. They propose solutions to the funding crisis in K-12 education while reducing property taxes. They suggest specific legislative and regulatory changes needed for environmental problems, workplace issues, reproductive health, retirement security and many other issues.

I recommend reading each candidate’s campaign website. The information about candidate’s policy agenda, background and experience can help you decide who to vote for or who is more electable.

Also read Tiffany’s website. The contrast is stark and informative.

Tiffany’s website contains attacks on Democrats, culture war sound bites, false or misleading statements on issues and partisan MAGA talking points. It is about fear mongering and parroting Trump’s agenda on immigration, border protection, crime, education, gender issues and social programs.

His “solutions” are vague with no specifics and no realistic proposals to actually help people. It is all campaign attack ad misinformation.

Tiffany should be easily defeated by any of the Democratic candidates. No Republican has won since Scott Walker. The statewide governor’s race is not gerrymandered as are the congressional districts (in favor of Republicans).

Democratic candidates have won most statewide races in recent years. Most notable are the four Supreme Court races won by four women.

Tiffany will have to appeal to more than the MAGA base and congenital, diehard Republican voters. As the Trump endorsement proves, he is a MAGA sycophant. He has consistently voted against his constituents’ best interests. This will be a hard sell statewide, especially in the urban areas. 

So let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the five Democratic primary candidates.

According to several polls Rep. Francesca Hong is leading by a slight margin. She is the youngest candidate at 37 and appeals to younger voters. Hong was the first Asian American in the Wisconsin legislature (she is 2nd generation Korean) and resigned from her third term in the Assembly to run for governor.

Francesca is the most liberal candidate, with a lot of energy, but short on formal qualifications and administrative experience. She is a proud member of the Democratic Socialists of America (not a bad thing) but this will hurt her with many independent and older voters. The Republican attack ads will be misleading, vicious, but unfortunately effective.

Sara Rodriguez is the current Lt. Governor. In 2020 she successfully flipped a conservative Assembly seat. She served one term before winning the 2022 lieutenant governor primary by a wide margin. She is a nurse with several advanced degrees and administrative experience in the medical field. But her political experience is slim. She has good positions on all the issues. She appears to be a good campaigner but can she win statewide?

Mandela Barnes was Lt. Governor in the first Evers administration. He also served two terms in the Assembly (2013-17) He was the first African American and youngest Lt. Governor. He ran for U.S. Senate against Ron Johnson in 2022 and lost by 1%.

Mandela is second in the polls. He is a solid progressive Democrat. One poll says he can beat Tiffany 48-44 (but it has a 5.3% margin of error). Unfortunately there is still a lot of overt and latent racism in Wisconsin. As a Black man, can he win? Many commentators think his candidacy is risky.

Kelda Roys has good legislative experience. She served two terms in the Assembly and is in her second term as a Senator. She serves on the legislature’s Joint Finance Committee. She is also an attorney with extensive nonprofit experience and a small business owner (discount fee real estate). She is excellent on all issues and has proposed several new, creative ideas for health insurance access and and retirement security for everyone.

Joel Brennan is the more moderate, old-white-guy candidate. He was the Department of Administration Secretary under Tony Evers for three years and has good administrative experience. He is good on the issues and has detailed plans for governing. He previously led the Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority. He should run well with mainstream Democrats, independents, disaffected Republicans and the business community. But I don’t think he can fire up the youth or liberal party base to win.

This governor’s race is extremely important, especially if Democrats fail to win a majority in the legislature. So Democratic voters – and the candidates or party establishment – can not be complacent. They must all come together to elect a progressive governor, lieutenant governor and a legislative majority.

I would suggest that Wisconsin needs an old -ashioned back room deal between the five candidates to set aside their egos and personal ambitions, unite behind the candidate most likely to succeed and build a team to elect progressive candidates at all levels.

In my opinion probably Barnes or Roys would be the strongest candidates. Given the recent success of women, Kelda may be the best. But they will need support from the other candidates to ensure a win.

If the other candidates will actively support the primary winner, using their strengths to deliver their supporters, and to reach out to the full range of other voters, Wisconsin can begin a new progressive era and have the good governance Wisconsin needs.