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| Mary Burke |
Madison — With a recently leaked poll, the first contours of the 2014 race for governor are coming into view.
Democrats have contended for months that they see Gov. Scott Walker as vulnerable, but they have not offered a candidate to run against him. But last month, a poll was conducted testing the viability of Mary Burke, a former state commerce secretary and former Trek Bicycle Corp. executive.
The poll was conducted around the same time an unknown person registered five Burke-themed Internet addresses, such as BurkeForWisconsin.com and BurkeForGovernor.com. None of the websites are active.
Burke, who was elected to the Madison School Board last year, has not responded to interview requests since the poll surfaced in June. Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party, issued a statement at the time saying Democrats were conducting polls for "several potential strong challengers" to Walker.
Democrats are hungry for a victory after Walker became the first governor in the nation's history to survive a recall election last year. Republicans are equally motivated to keep him in office after having to elect him twice for one term.
Democratic strategists said Burke is seriously considering a run but has not made a final decision. They noted others could run, but they hoped to have just one candidate to avoid a Democratic primary.
Democrats said they liked Burke's background in business and economic development — as well as the personal funds she could bring to the race — while Republicans pointed to her ties to former Gov. Jim Doyle and other issues as matters they could exploit.
"I think Walker and the Republicans have failed in getting jobs to this state, and I think it's time to turn it over to someone with experience," said Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Somers).
Having a woman candidate would help Democrats make the argument that Republicans have strayed too much into social issues by putting restrictions on abortion that threaten to close clinics, he said.
"I think she can illustrate the war on women that the right wing has staged in the Legislature," Wirch said.
But Joe Fadness, director of the state Republican Party, said it will be pocketbook issues, not social ones, that motivate voters in 2014. He said Burke would take Wisconsin back to the "billion-dollar deficits and massive job loss" of the Doyle era.
"All they're doing is pushing old policies of the past," he said.
The Republicans already are homing in on statements by Burke that they see as problematic.
Burke in 2011 told the Madison weekly Isthmus she was unhappy living in Milwaukee when she first returned to Wisconsin in the 1980s after living in New York City and Washington, D.C.
"I'd been living in big cities for a while," she told the newspaper. "It was like, 'Wow, what am I doing here?'"
In response, Fadness said, "Voters should find it offensive that this liberal Madison millionaire would belittle Wisconsin and its hard-working people."
Burke has a finance degree from Georgetown University and a master's of business administration degree from Harvard Business School. At Waterloo-based Trek, which was founded by her father Richard, she served as director of European operations and later director of forecasting and planning.
In a meeting last week with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters, Walker said he believed he'd met Burke once or twice as commerce secretary. He said he did not think his approach to his re-election bid would be much different "no matter who's on the ticket."
"I think there will be a stark contrast with the Democrats, whether or not people want to go back to the policies of my predecessor... that would take us back to the days of double-digit tax increases, the billion-dollar budget deficits and, unfortunately, some record job loss that we saw," he said.
Democrats see Walker's biggest weakness as his inability to deliver on his promise to create 250,000 private-sector jobs during his first term. In the first two years, about 62,000 jobs were created, meaning Walker is one-fourth of the way there, well below what his pace needs to be to meet his pledge.
"Instead of the 'laser-like focus' on jobs he promised after surviving the recall election, Scott Walker has doubled-down on the same failed policies and divisive rhetoric that led to huge losses for Republicans nationally and in statewide elections here in Wisconsin," said a statement from Tate, the Democratic Party chairman.
A run by Burke would sharpen another policy debate because of Burke's role as commerce secretary. Walker dissolved the Commerce Department in 2011 and replaced it with the quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., saying it would be more nimble and better able to meet the needs of business.
The economic development corporation received a tough audit earlier this year that found it didn't require financial statements from companies receiving incentives, gave awards to ineligible businesses and didn't adequately follow up to see if businesses receiving incentives were creating jobs. Walker has said all the problems the audit found have been fixed or are being fixed.
But the Commerce Department faced its share of controversies as well. A 2006 audit found the state had more than 150 economic development programs that often overlapped and were not adequately tracked. Burke served as secretary from February 2005 to October 2007 and the audit came out during her tenure.
Details about the Burke survey became public because the pollster happened to call Patrick Hogan, who served as the Wisconsin political director for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
According to the state Republican Party, the pollster asked respondents how they felt about Burke taking a snowboarding sabbatical and avoiding work for stretches of her life, as well as outsourcing jobs overseas by her family's business.
Burke has not taken public stances on a number of major issues.
Burke signed the petition to recall Walker, which was prompted by his move to all but eliminate collective bargaining for most public workers. On another issue, Burke recently told the Capital Times in Madison she opposes a plan to raise property taxes in her school district by more than 7% and wants to keep the increase to the rate of inflation.
Burke joined the Madison School Board last year after pouring more than $128,000 of her own money into the race. Both Republicans and Democrats have taken note of her spending in that race, as well as her steady political and philanthropic giving over the years. She has been active with a family foundation and has served as president of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, where she was in charge of a $6.25 million fund-raising campaign.
How much of her personal wealth could find its way into a race for governor is unknown.
Democrats have contended for months that they see Gov. Scott Walker as vulnerable, but they have not offered a candidate to run against him. But last month, a poll was conducted testing the viability of Mary Burke, a former state commerce secretary and former Trek Bicycle Corp. executive.
The poll was conducted around the same time an unknown person registered five Burke-themed Internet addresses, such as BurkeForWisconsin.com and BurkeForGovernor.com. None of the websites are active.
Burke, who was elected to the Madison School Board last year, has not responded to interview requests since the poll surfaced in June. Mike Tate, chairman of the state Democratic Party, issued a statement at the time saying Democrats were conducting polls for "several potential strong challengers" to Walker.
Democrats are hungry for a victory after Walker became the first governor in the nation's history to survive a recall election last year. Republicans are equally motivated to keep him in office after having to elect him twice for one term.
Democratic strategists said Burke is seriously considering a run but has not made a final decision. They noted others could run, but they hoped to have just one candidate to avoid a Democratic primary.
Democrats said they liked Burke's background in business and economic development — as well as the personal funds she could bring to the race — while Republicans pointed to her ties to former Gov. Jim Doyle and other issues as matters they could exploit.
"I think Walker and the Republicans have failed in getting jobs to this state, and I think it's time to turn it over to someone with experience," said Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Somers).
Having a woman candidate would help Democrats make the argument that Republicans have strayed too much into social issues by putting restrictions on abortion that threaten to close clinics, he said.
"I think she can illustrate the war on women that the right wing has staged in the Legislature," Wirch said.
But Joe Fadness, director of the state Republican Party, said it will be pocketbook issues, not social ones, that motivate voters in 2014. He said Burke would take Wisconsin back to the "billion-dollar deficits and massive job loss" of the Doyle era.
"All they're doing is pushing old policies of the past," he said.
The Republicans already are homing in on statements by Burke that they see as problematic.
Burke in 2011 told the Madison weekly Isthmus she was unhappy living in Milwaukee when she first returned to Wisconsin in the 1980s after living in New York City and Washington, D.C.
"I'd been living in big cities for a while," she told the newspaper. "It was like, 'Wow, what am I doing here?'"
In response, Fadness said, "Voters should find it offensive that this liberal Madison millionaire would belittle Wisconsin and its hard-working people."
Burke has a finance degree from Georgetown University and a master's of business administration degree from Harvard Business School. At Waterloo-based Trek, which was founded by her father Richard, she served as director of European operations and later director of forecasting and planning.
In a meeting last week with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters, Walker said he believed he'd met Burke once or twice as commerce secretary. He said he did not think his approach to his re-election bid would be much different "no matter who's on the ticket."
"I think there will be a stark contrast with the Democrats, whether or not people want to go back to the policies of my predecessor... that would take us back to the days of double-digit tax increases, the billion-dollar budget deficits and, unfortunately, some record job loss that we saw," he said.
Democrats see Walker's biggest weakness as his inability to deliver on his promise to create 250,000 private-sector jobs during his first term. In the first two years, about 62,000 jobs were created, meaning Walker is one-fourth of the way there, well below what his pace needs to be to meet his pledge.
"Instead of the 'laser-like focus' on jobs he promised after surviving the recall election, Scott Walker has doubled-down on the same failed policies and divisive rhetoric that led to huge losses for Republicans nationally and in statewide elections here in Wisconsin," said a statement from Tate, the Democratic Party chairman.
A run by Burke would sharpen another policy debate because of Burke's role as commerce secretary. Walker dissolved the Commerce Department in 2011 and replaced it with the quasi-public Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., saying it would be more nimble and better able to meet the needs of business.
The economic development corporation received a tough audit earlier this year that found it didn't require financial statements from companies receiving incentives, gave awards to ineligible businesses and didn't adequately follow up to see if businesses receiving incentives were creating jobs. Walker has said all the problems the audit found have been fixed or are being fixed.
But the Commerce Department faced its share of controversies as well. A 2006 audit found the state had more than 150 economic development programs that often overlapped and were not adequately tracked. Burke served as secretary from February 2005 to October 2007 and the audit came out during her tenure.
Details about the Burke survey became public because the pollster happened to call Patrick Hogan, who served as the Wisconsin political director for Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
According to the state Republican Party, the pollster asked respondents how they felt about Burke taking a snowboarding sabbatical and avoiding work for stretches of her life, as well as outsourcing jobs overseas by her family's business.
Burke has not taken public stances on a number of major issues.
Burke signed the petition to recall Walker, which was prompted by his move to all but eliminate collective bargaining for most public workers. On another issue, Burke recently told the Capital Times in Madison she opposes a plan to raise property taxes in her school district by more than 7% and wants to keep the increase to the rate of inflation.
Burke joined the Madison School Board last year after pouring more than $128,000 of her own money into the race. Both Republicans and Democrats have taken note of her spending in that race, as well as her steady political and philanthropic giving over the years. She has been active with a family foundation and has served as president of the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, where she was in charge of a $6.25 million fund-raising campaign.
How much of her personal wealth could find its way into a race for governor is unknown.
Read more and see the video from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/democrats-testing-the-waters-for-scott-walker-challengers-b9948722z1-214488951.html#ixzz2h7lioEoP
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