Wisconsin voters are turning their attention to the governor's race and the Aug. 11 partisan primary. Democratic candidate Joel Brennan is hoping his leadership experience in and out of government can land him the job.
Housing, healthcare, and school funding are at the top of Brennan's priority list.
Voters are worried about rising property taxes and are increasingly being asked to spend more with a record number of school referendums. The current school funding formula is being challenged in court.
Watch: Joel Brennan talks school funding and campaign issues in run for governor
TMJ4'S Chief Political Reporter Charles Benson asked Brennan if the current school funding formula is fixable. "Is it fixable? It is irreparably broken right now," Brennan said.
Brennan said a new child-centered formula is needed.
"Every kid who is in a public school, in a public charter school, they start with a fundamental, this is how much that kid is worth. If they are an English language learner, there's more. If they are in rural or urban poverty, if they're a special education, you build your formula around that, and that's how you actually get to a point where every kid has value, and you're using the kid at the center," Brennan said.
He's also calling for reinstating enrollment caps on the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program, now set at 10%.
"There's a cap on the number of voucher students statewide that comes off at the end of this school year. We need to ensure that we put a cap back on that, and in some ways, if we can, we start to move that back, Brennan said
On housing, Brennan is calling for 100,000 new homes.
He said this would happen with the help of local and state government, with the state offering 3% loans — half the current mortgage rate — for first-time buyers or long-time homeowners ready to move out and downsize. I asked how much money would be needed to secure that 3% rate.
"There's going to ultimately be an investment in that, but we have $10 million. It's $110 billion biennial state budget that we just passed. Like if we can't find a couple $100 million to invest in what that means for families in Wisconsin, then those aren't our Wisconsin values because the ultimate, the ultimate benefit of this is less in immediate financial terms," Brennan said.
Brennan has seen the inside of government while working for former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and for Gov. Tony Evers as his administration secretary overseeing the state's day-to-day operations.
Outside of government, he ran Discovery World and was recently the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, an organization driven to improve economic, educational, and community needs.
Milwaukee is home to Brennan, who is raising a family in a neighborhood about a mile from City Hall. When asked what his neighborhood tells him about who he wants to be as governor.
"It is diverse — it is a place where people look out for each other," Brennan said.
"I think that's what is missing now - they see ideological fights - they see dysfunction and division going on, especially at the federal level - they don't see how it means something in their own day-to-day lives," Brennan said.
Brennan is hitting the road to talk about these ideas as he tries to build a path to victory.
It is no easy task in a crowded field with not a lot of name recognition, but Brennan sees one slight advantage from his upbringing.
"I grew up the 10th of 11 children, you find ways to elbow your way to the table - but you also have to listen and learn," Brennan said.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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