Democratic gubernatorial candidates at a Pewaukee forum largely agreed on the need for criminal justice reform, increased environmental regs and limits on local law enforcement collaboration with ICE. 

Candidates at the forum, hosted by WISDOM, a statewide network of organizations focused on racial and social justice, were asked yes or no questions such as “Should Wisconsin end prison return for technical supervision violations?” All Democratic candidates agreed on each answer. 

“When I look at the Democratic Party, when I look at the Democrats here at this stage, we are aligned for the most part in where we want to go. We might differ a little bit on the solutions, but we are aligned as a party. We want to make sure that we are supporting the most vulnerable in our communities,” Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said on the same day former candidate Missy Hughes endorsed her.

Each of the six remaining Dem candidates also agreed on the need to reduce Wisconsin’s prison population in part through investing in social services and expanding public health resources.

“I think the current conditions and what is happening with overpopulation of our prison system right now could be considered a state of emergency. There are executive orders that should have been placed during the Evers administration that I was disappointed not to see happen,” Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, said.

Candidates also discussed the executive use of clemency and commutation and agreed it should be used.

“We should be looking at a case by case basis, because everybody’s circumstances are totally different. ….We can’t assume that everybody has been convicted under the same circumstances, and we have to treat everybody as individuals, especially when it comes down to pardons,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said.

Joel Brennan, who served as Gov. Tony Evers’ first Department of Administration secretary, called for the establishment of an accountability commission to collect evidence should federal law enforcement officials break state law.

“I think we put undue stress on local law enforcement just to do their job in their own community, and so absolutely the priority should be local law enforcement working to enforce local laws. There is a place for the state government to make sure that we are working in conjunction with federal law enforcement, where there are warrants involved, where there are judicial warrants,” Brennan said.

Brennan, Crowley, Hong and Sen. Kelda Roys all said statewide restrictions or an all-out ban on 287(g) agreements should be considered; 287(g) agreements are a contract between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement agencies. 

“Collaboration with ICE and turning our local public safety officers into essentially dragoons for the Trump administration will make us all less safe, both by diverting from actual crime prevention and also by eroding the trust of our community that all of us have. We need to make sure that everyone is treated with respect, and that is not what is happening with ICE,” Roys, D-Madison, said.

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes called for immigration reform at the federal level and discussed the need to limit corporate impact across the political system.

“The reason why we see so much middle class decline is because so many of our resources, so much of our wealth has been concentrated into the hands of a few people, and one of the reasons this is the case, because there’s been this ability to allow so much money into our politics, that means so often the most wealthy get to choose who is in office, not the voters, not the people,” Barnes said. 

Also present at the forum was Republican candidate Andy Manske.