Doyle at Milwaukee Evers Gig

Governor Jim Doyle was in Milwaukee yesterday, Monday, March 23rd, 2009, for a little bit of groundbreaking of I-94 and to attend to some political duties.

His schedule took him to the Hinterland Gastropub, 222 E. Erie St. for a fundraising event supporting Tony Evers for Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction against Rose Fernandez.

“Who versus who?” you might ask. Your reaction would not be atypical, Doyle told the crowd of 75 supporters, many associated with the Democratic party (the race itself is nonpartisan).
Here we have two candidates with low name recognition, running in a statewide race during a slack time for elections. If you just poll by the names, Doyle tells friends, it’s a fifty-fifty split.
“But if you ask folks, ‘do you think the Superintendent of Public Instruction should have experience in the job?’ then the answer is overwhelmingly yes.”

The issue then is to let the voters know that Evers has been a teacher, principal, superintendent and Deputy State Superintendent since 2001, Doyle said. Fernandez and her “Mom on a Mission” agenda would not serve the state, Doyle said, since we need somebody like Evers who has the experience to immediately implement many new initiatives, even in these challenging times. “You can’t tell a second grader to come back in four years once things get better. We must provide a quality education at all times.”

The Governor was introduced to the audience by District Attorney John Chisholm, fulfilling some of the partisan responsibilities he agreed to undertake when he became the Democrats candidate. Chisholm said public safety, public health and public education are the three touchstones of his attempt to be proactive in keeping Milwaukee’s youth out of the criminal justice system. He said that earlier when he met with Evers to discuss his views he learned that Evers had been the one to hire Chisholm’s wife back in 1990 when he got out of the army and into law school.
“I guess I owe my career to Tony Evers, and I didn’t know it,” Chisholm joked.

Later, Chisholm told milwaukeeworld his community prosecuting unit is doing well, but is scheduled for a staff cut shortly. However, the DA said he is confident he will be able to get funding restored through federal programs.

Among the attendees were Linda Honold, Dennis Conta, Rep. Sandy Pasch, Kathleen Hart, along with judicial candidate Ellen Brostrom and her opponent Christopher Lipscomb. He drives around in a car with a large “Lipscomb for Judge” sign mounted on top (who else but the candidate would?) The license plate is APOST8. Hmm.

Fun Fact: Fernandez and Evers will debate Thursday, March 26th, 2009, at Sensenbrenner Hall at Marquette University at Noon. Limited seating is available free to the public. The debate is moderated by Mike Gousha.

This article was originally published by Milwaukee World.