Evers Faces Washington, April Elections Headwinds

Gov. Tony Evers. File photo by Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers faced new political headwinds when he gave his seventh State of the State message last week.

First, there was the uncertainty of what the new administration of President Donald Trump and its blizzard of policy changes – starting with the deportation of undocumented immigrants – will mean for Wisconsin. Evers was not governor when Trump’s first term began in 2017.

“A lot has happened in Washington in the last 72 hours, and I know there is a lot of angst about what may happen in the days, months and years ahead,” Evers said, referring to Trump’s inauguration.

Without mentioning Trump’s name, the Democrat said he opposes the President’s promise to find and deport immigrants in the nation illegally.

“If you work, obey the law, pay taxes, contribute to our communities, and play by the rules just like everyone else, you should have a fair shot at continuing to pursue the American Dream,” Evers said.

“The state of Wisconsin was born of immigrants,” he added. “But today, there are those who would have us forget this….who would have us rewrite the story of ourselves, and they would ask us to believe in a distorted and dishonest history.

“They would have us abandon the values that made us who we are and the people whose blood, love, and labor make our state great.

“The story of our state’s success today is told in the labor of over 3 million Wisconsinites, including tens of thousands of workers whose only transgression to date was not having the good fortune of being born in this country.”

Although Trump Administration officials promise to investigate state and local officials who fight deportation, Evers said he won’t be intimidated.

“We can continue to be a state that enforces our laws when and if they are broken,” he said. “But I will not compromise on our Wisconsin values of treating people with kindness, dignity, empathy, and respect.”

Responding, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Republicans who control the Legislature support Trump’s plans to deport undocumented immigrants. Evers plans to block using state National Guard troops for federal deportations, Vos added.

“Every state is a border state,” Vos declared.

How Evers responds to new Trump Administration policies, and any backlash by Wisconsin voters to that response, will help determine whether the 73-year-old governor seeks a third term next year. Trump won Wisconsin with 1.69 million votes in November.

A second political crosswind is uncertainty over whether the winners of two April elections will be friends or foes of Evers in the next two years.

Because liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, the April Supreme Court election between two county judges – conservative former Republican attorney general Brad Schimel, of Waukesha County, and liberal Dane County judge Susan Crawford – will tip the philosophical balance of the seven-member court.

Important cases are pending before the liberal-majority Court. They include the legality of Act 10, the 2011 change that ended collective bargaining for most public employees; whether an 1848 law banned elective abortions; and what power the Legislature has to block rules adopted by state agencies trying to implement new laws.

Another April 1 election will decide whether an Evers ally, Jill Underly, state superintendent of public instruction, continues in that role.

The Feb. 18 primary between Underly, Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright and conservative Milwaukee-based education consultant Brittany Kinser will decide which two names are on the April general election ballot.

Republican legislators say Underly changed how statewide reading and math test scores are reported to hide how little progress was made in her first four-year term.

A third political crosswind for the two-term governor is who will be the next chair of the state Democratic Party if Chair Ben Wikler is elected head of the national Democratic Party on Feb. 1.

In his five years as party chair, Wikler has raised hundreds of millions of dollars that helped Evers win a second term, liberals take control of the Supreme Court, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin win a third term and Democrats gain 10 seats in the Legislature.

But if Wikler is chosen as DNC chair, will the next state party chair be as effective in fundraising and voter turnout?

Evers is used to opposition from Republicans who control the Legislature. But headwinds blowing from Washington and the April 2 elections, as well as potential changes in state party leadership, pose new challenges.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com