Wisconsin Governor Race: Walker, Evers Make Final Push

WISCONSIN -- Coming into Tuesday's election, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is in a dead-heat with his opponent, Democrat Tony Evers.

Evers is currently the Superintendent of Public Schools in Wisconsin, and Walker is seeking a third term as governor.

A survey from Emerson College released Friday showed that Evers had a slight edge with 51 percent support among likely voters, compared with Walker’s 46 percent.

A Marquette University Law School poll released the Wednesday before the election was even tighter: both Evers and Walker were tied at 47 percent among likely voters.

Regardless of the result of Tuesday's election, Walker won the money race between he and his opponent. According to campaign finance reports at the end of October, Walker out-raised Evers this fall, helping him keep a sizable financial edge.

Sign up for Breaking News alerts and the latest Election Results

According to the latest figures released before election day, Walker raised $7.7 million and Evers raised $6 million between Sep. 1 and Oct. 22.

Walker has raised $32.8 million since winning re-election in 2014. Evers has collected $9.3 million after he dove into the Governor's race in April 2017.

According to the latest campaign finance figures, Evers' has big-time union support. The Wisconsin Education Association Council contributed $122,500. Other unions donating including the IBEW, DRIVE PAC, Wisconsin Pipe Traders Association, Carpenters Legislative Improvement Committee, North Central States Regional Council, and the United Association Local 118.

Recent Patch coverage:

• 'Tell The Truth': Obama Rallies Wis. Dems To Get Out And Vote
• Two Polls, Two Results: Gov. Scott Walker Ekes Ahead, Lags Behind
• Walker Catches Evers Plagiarizing Parts Of Budget Proposal
• Is the Democratic 'Blue Wave' Real? Two Wisconsin Races Show Us
• Replacing Paul Ryan, And Other Big Wisconsin Election Questions

Walker's Toughest Race Yet

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's political path has seemingly never been easy.

He survived mass protests that consumed the state capitol building after proposing and passing Act 10, which limited the ability of public workers of the ability to collectively bargain drew mass protests and demonstrations.

The next year, Walker survived his own recall election by defeating Democratic Opponent Tom Barrett in a rematch of the 2010 election.

Walker put forward a proposal to bring Voter ID to Wisconsin in January 2011. After five years, Voter ID survived many legal challenges before becoming law.

In January 2015, Walker set up a presidential campaign called "Our American Revival." Facing eroding political support and dwindling expenses, Walker suspended his campaign by September, and threw his support behind presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

He survived two John Doe investigations, both of which went on for years as prosecutors investigated Walker's recall campaign financing and at-work campaign activity by Walker staff members when he was Milwaukee County Executive.

Defend Healthcare, Education, Attack Taxes

The final days before election day are often the most grueling for a candidate - especially one locked in a dead-heat.

Republican leaders staged a campaign rally at Waukesha's Mathison Manufacturing Inc. Thursday morning, just days before the 2018 fall primary elections.

The rally, held before a gaggle of media assembled on the factory floor and a handful of company employees and friends, had Walker garner the lion's share of time in front of his audience.

Earlier in his campaign, Walker had already pledged to do something that seemed unthinkable in headier days for the GOP: he pledged to restore two-thirds funding for public education in Wisconsin.

Walker made the announcement public on Monday, Oct. 15. "We will fund two-thirds of school costs in our next state budget. Our good fiscal management and positive reforms, plus a strong economy, allowed us to make the largest actual-dollar investment in schools in our state budget while still lowering property taxes. Looking ahead, we will fully restore the two-thirds commitment made by former Governor Tommy Thompson. Tony Evers wants to undo our reforms. That would take money out of the classroom and away from students and he would allow property taxes to go up to pay for it."

It's something that both he and Evers support for the 2019-2021 biennial budget.

In the campaign's final days, Walker delivered another shocking announcement: he planned to incorporate language from the federal Affordable Care Act into Wisconsin's Badgercare platform in order to keep people with preexisting health conditions on government-run healthcare exchanges.

"As long as I am your governor, everyone living in Wisconsin with a preexisting condition will be covered," Walker said in a Thursday morning speech. "We can protect people with preexisting conditions without protecting the failure that is Obamacare. That's what at stake here."

According to a Journal Sentinel report Thursday morning, Walker's plan on codifying the Affordable Care Act's language into state plans would have been "unthinkable" in previous years given Walker's historic criticisms of the ACA. The report stated that his announcement "would be nearly impossible in the Republican-controlled Legislature" given the current political environment in the state.

Journal Sentinel reporters Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley poked a couple holes in Walker's new announcement, saying that if the Affordable Care Act were to be repealed, federal laws prevent any state laws from regulating private self-insured plans. The implication being that Walker's plan would not apply to private companies in Wisconsin that self-insure.

Sharp Differences

In Tony Evers, Wisconsin voters have arguably the state's biggest opponent of ACT 10, the law Walker signed into law in 2010 that restricted collective bargaining for Wisconsin's public educators.

It's hardly a secret that Evers, the head of the Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction, would work to repeal Walker's landmark legislation. Evers also supports repealing Walker's Right to Work legislation, which which bars mandatory union membership and prohibits unions or employers from requiring non-members to pay dues.

If Evers looks like the anti-Scott Walker in this election, it's likely because he supports unraveling even more Walker-era initiatives, such as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Evers has gone on record in favor of bringing back the state’s old economic development agency, the Department of Commerce. Walker created the WEDC in 2011 after taking office.

While Walker has been a proponent of lowering taxes revenues - even to the point of creating transportation budget shortfalls that affect state roads -Evers said that he is in favor of raising taxes in specific ways.

Evers said he is interested in an income tax code overhaul "to make the wealthy pay more while giving lower-wage earners a break." He's also been on-record in favor of raising gas taxes.

"It will be our goal to keep taxes reasonable in the state of Wisconsin," Evers said in a Capital Times report, noting that his budget priorities would differ from Walker's.

Walker counters, however, saying that Evers wants to raise the gas tax by a dollar per gallon, while also introducing $7 billion in new spending.

"Tony Evers' plan is more spending and higher taxes. He wants to spend more than $7 billion in new government spending. Who do you think is going to pay for that? You are," Walker said during a recent campaign stop in Waukesha. "Tony's taxes will cost us jobs. They're a recipe for a recession in the State of Wisconsin. We went through that recession - I don't want to go back to the days of double-digit tax increases, record deficits and job losses."

Evers, however, is incredulous that Walker would mis-characterize his taxing ambitions.

"The governor loves to distract from his record around roads," Evers said in a Cap Times article. "I have never said we’re going to raise the gas tax a dollar. It’s ridiculous. Who the hell would, frankly?"

Lead Graphic: Campaign Handout Photos

Article Images by Scott Anderson/Patch.com