Vos on ‘UpFront’ says he may not seek reelection next year

 Republican Robin Vos, the state’s longest-serving speaker, says he’s considering not running for reelection next year.

“I’m considering it,” Vos said on WISN-TV’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “Yeah, I mean, I’m trying to think through, like, I’ve done this for a long time. How long am I going to do it? I don’t know. Now that Tony Evers is leaving, I’m kind of excited about the fact of working with a different governor, so I just have to decide, I won’t decide until sometime in January.

“The last time around before I went through that recall over that whole craziness, I thought about not running two years ago,” Vos added. “And then they launched a recall. They had all the craziness that kind of got me reengaged, right? And I went through the process, and I won pretty handily.”

Vos, who was first elected speaker in 2013, said voters and lawmakers shouldn’t read much into his comments. Democrats are hoping to win back control of the Legislature in next year’s elections.

He said: “I mean, if Democrats think they’re going to push me out, it’s not going to happen, right? I mean, I have won in so many circumstances. I think we’re going to win the Assembly again. I really don’t worry about that. I’m excited about it.”

Assembly lawmakers return to the floor this week. Vos cast doubt the newly introduced GOP medical marijuana bill will pass this session, saying he opposes it.

“I think it’s unlikely,” he said. “There’s a whole group of Republicans that I understand are opposed to it because they think it’s a gateway to recreational marijuana, which would be awful for Wisconsin. There’s another group who want to have legalized marijuana, and that’s the Democrats, so they don’t want to have any real restrictions. So, trying to find a consensus in the middle is super challenging, which is why I thought the bill we had last time, where it was a very skinny version, very scaled down, focusing only on the people who are truly sick and needy had the best chance to pass. But even that had problems. So now this one is much more all-encompassing. I can’t see a scenario where it passes, but only time will tell.”

Vos said Republicans also plan to introduce a new tax cut plan in the coming weeks.

“I think we will probably do that sometime in late October, early November,” he said. “What we’re going to look at is saying how do we provide relief for the citizens who need it, and also how do we work on controlling property taxes? That is something that has been at the forefront of where we are now that we have this 400-year veto, where basically you get almost unlimited property tax increases at the local level.”

In the GOP primary for governor, Vos said he doesn’t know who he will vote for, with Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann the two Republicans in the race.

“I don’t think there’s more that have to get in,” Vos said. “I don’t know who I’m going to vote for yet. I haven’t decided. I think they both have to earn it. I want them to go around the state and show why they’re the best candidate.”

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson recently told WTMJ-AM he was seriously considering another bid.

“Tommy Thompson is a good friend of mine,” Vos said. “He did a great job as governor. He should be in the United States Senate right now if the world was fair, but it wasn’t. So look, I think if Tommy Thompson wants to run, he has to really think to himself, is this what he wants? Is that what he wants for his family, and are the two candidates in there unwinnable? I think they both can win. So I don’t know if we need more in. But, you know, it’s a decision he’s got to make for himself.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Missy Hughes says she won’t campaign on increasing taxes for billionaires and corporations like other Democratic candidates have promised to do.

“I think first growing the economy is the best solution to long-term sustainability and resilience for the whole state when we need to pay for our public schools, when we need to support new fire departments and support our police departments,” Hughes, the former secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., told “UpFront.” “That comes from a strong economy, and so, first and foremost, that’s what I’m going to look at. I think that Wisconsin families right now are paying their fair share of taxes, and we see a surplus in Wisconsin that they’re excited to have that invested in the right way, so I think first and foremost we want to build the economy before we start looking at raising taxes.”

Hughes said she’ll let others decide what her lane is in attempting to win the Democratic primary.

“Certainly, I’m running as a Democrat,” she said. “I worked for Gov. Evers for the last six years. I hold those values. I also really am focused on building an economy that works for everyone, and I think that gives me a really unique lane.”

Hughes said she wouldn’t overhaul the WEDC. Evers proposed such a move when he first ran for governor.

“When I interviewed with Gov. Evers, I asked him, ‘Are you going to close the doors to the job that I’m taking?'” Hughes said. “And he said, ‘No, let’s give it a try.’ And by bringing in a leader like me, someone who is interested in focusing on communities and building strong communities across the state and continuing to grow our economy, I think we’ve really turned WEDC into an economic development agency that works for all of Wisconsin.

“I would probably look at increasing the resources for some of our programs where we go into a community,” Hughes added. “We say what are your priorities, and by delivering the resources to the community so they can execute on their priorities, I think we’ve seen real success as part of the administration.”

A new primary poll in the Wisconsin governor’s race commissioned by Platform Communications shows Tom Tiffany with a commanding lead among Republicans and Mandela Barnes, who is considering a run, leading among Democrats.

The Badger Battleground Poll, conducted by BK Strategies Sept. 28-30, was advised by Republican strategist Keith Gilkes and Democrat strategist Tanya Bjork.

Among a list of declared and likely candidates, Tiffany received 30% of Republican primary voters. Eric Hovde received 14% and Tim Michels 9%, but neither Republican has entered the race. Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann received 4%. Still, roughly 34% of Republican voters said they remain undecided, and 9% said none of the candidates listed.

“What I see is some strength to his candidacy, and I think people will probably be surprised by that, especially considering he’s a congressman from the northern part of the state,” Gilkes told “UpFront,” referring to Tiffany. “The reality is, the strength of those numbers is actually coming out of Southeast Wisconsin as well. And comparing that to a candidate that just ran for U.S. Senate, Eric Hovde, Tim Michels, who ran in 2022 against Gov. Evers, and see him take that frontrunner status in terms of the poll, I think might surprise people.”

Among Democratic voters, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who has not entered the race, received 16% followed by Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez at 8%, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley at 7%, Attorney General Josh Kaul, who hasn’t entered the race, at 7% and both State Sen. Kelda Roys and Rep. Francesca Hong at 4%. Missy Hughes, the newest candidate to enter the race, polled at 2%. Still, roughly 38% of Democratic voters said they remain undecided, and 12% said none of the candidates listed.

“I think whoever wins the fundraising war is going to probably be in the best position to win that primary,” Bjork said. “Because, as we know, money is the message, because you need the money to be able to get your message out there. I think it is a wide-open field. It looks like if Mandela Barnes gets in, he’s going to be hard to beat, but I still believe that it’s a wide-open field.”

Both Bjork and Gilkes stressed the early nature of the race.

“When you look at polling, you’ve got to realize it’s a snapshot in time,” Gilkes said. “It’s not about predicting the future. It just gives you a good understanding of where you’re at and where you’re at in your campaign. And we’ve got a lot of time ahead of us.”

A generic Republican versus Democrat head-to-head showed 43% backing a generic Republican candidate and 40% a Democrat.

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