Kleefisch announces bid for governor’s seat

Former lieutenant governor visits Shawano prior to announcing her candidacy
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

Rebecca Kleefisch, who previously served for eight years as lieutenant governor, formally announced her desire to aim higher Sept. 9 as she threw her hat into the ring for the 2022 governor’s race.

Kleefisch wasted no time in announcing how current Gov. Tony Evers has been bad for Wisconsin.

“Tony Evers’ weak leadership has been disastrous for our state,” Kleefisch said. “He failed to stand up to the left-wing mobs while Wisconsin cities burned. Evers tried to raise your taxes during a pandemic, and his administration let the calls of unemployed Wisconsinites go unanswered after he shut our economy down.”

Kleefisch served as Gov. Scott Walker’s right hand from 2011 through 2018. Her campaign noted that she championed workforce and economic development when she was in office and used her position as lieutenant governor to create the Governor’s Small Business Summit as a source of connecting the governor’s office, as well as a free business seminar for minorities and women interested in becoming entrepreneurs.

Kleefisch also has a reputation for pushing for a pro-life scenario and is an avid supporter of Wisconsin’s outdoors programs and the Second Amendment.

“I’m a mother, a cancer survivor and, as your governor, I’ll always put you first and never back down,” Kleefisch said. “I have the backbone to get the job done and, together, we can build a stronger Wisconsin.”

In a video announcing her campaign, Kleefisch started off by attacking Evers’ actions in the wake of the riots in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

“Tony Evers failed to lead,” Kleefisch said in the video. “$50 million up in smoke, our police deserted and disrespected, jobs destroyed. Lives were lost and small businesses were burned, and our governor sided with rioters instead of the people of this community.”

Kleefisch went on to say Evers’ entire time in the governor’s chair has been defined by “weakness” and “failure.”

As far as what she will do if elected, she announced she would stand behind law enforcement by hiring more police officers and banning sanctuary cities, among other things. Kleefisch also said she would be a friend to the business community and advocate for blue-collar workers.

“I’ll fight for those who work long hours and double shifts to provide for their families,” Kleefisch said in the video. “I’ll strengthen vocational training so people can make a good living whether they go to college or not.”

Kleefisch also pitched herself as an education advocate, working to keep schools open and raise educational standards. She also said she would enhance school choice, allowing families to send their children to parochial schools through public tax dollars.

“Tony Evers sided with union bosses and liberal activists to keep our kids out of the classrooms,” Kleefisch said. “It’s a disgrace.”

Prior to her formal announcement for governor, Kleefisch paid a visit to the Shawano County Republican Party on Sept. 3 to talk about issues affecting the state. Richard Kucksdorf, chairman for the county GOP, said he believes any opposition will underestimate her, to their own detriment.

“When she ran for lieutenant governor, she was not the choice of the establishment, and she still won because she worked harder,” Kucksdorf said. “I think she’ll bring that work ethic to the governor’s office; I don’t think we have that same work ethic there now.”

Kucksdorf noted that the governor needs to be in the thick of things, something he believes Kleefisch would accomplish. Evers’ style, he said, is to say hello to everybody and then leave for his “minions” to handle the situation.

“I think that’ll change under Rebecca,” Kucksdorf said. “She’s going to provide actual leadership, and I think Wisconsin needs that.”

Kleefisch could be a better governor than Walker, as well, according to Kucksdorf, because she listens to people and takes action — something her former boss didn’t always do, especially in his 2018 campaign when he lost to Evers.

“You couldn’t talk to Scott Walker. You had to talk to his young college handlers,” Kucksdorf said. “We tried to tell them, ‘You’ve got to address preexisting conditions,’ and they didn’t listen until October, and by then it was too late.”

Democrats were quick to pounce on Kleefisch’s candidacy announcement, labeling her in a press release as a radical who would hurt people in the state as they’re recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

“Kleefisch has fully embraced radical extremism — spreading misleading information about COVID-19 and vaccines, buying into conspiracy theories about the election and using inappropriate, inflammatory rhetoric that disqualifies her from being governor,” said Ben

Wikler, chairman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “Kleefisch is the wrong person for this moment. She wants to drag Wisconsin backwards to the failed days of the Scott Walker era, and has shown she can’t be trusted to follow science and listen to the experts in a crisis.”


lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com