In their first gubernatorial debate Friday, Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Mary Burke butted heads over questions related to voter identification, abortion and higher education.

The Eau Claire-hosted debate began with a question from Wisconsin Public Radio’s Shawn Johnson on Walker’s recently blocked voter ID law and the state’s future plans on that front. Johnson asked whether or not voters were better off with the ban and for clarification on what the plans were from Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to still have the law in place on election day.

Walker said he stands by the law as a method to prevent voter fraud. There have been cases of voter fraud in the state that make the law “more than common sense,” he said. While he is uncertain of Van Hollen’s plans to still have the law in place on election day, he said he believes in the end the law will be upheld, although he hopes to focus the remainder of his campaign on job creation and building up Wisconsin’s economy.

Burke stood in agreement with the Supreme Court’s ban. She said the implementation would cost millions of dollars to implement and put unnecessary restrictions on voters.

“It’s shocking to hear that the governor would say he doesn’t even care whether there was just one instance of fraud and yet he’ll put these roadblocks in front of 300,000 people who would find it difficult to get that ID and to vote,” Burke said. “Even though there’s no identified cases of fraud and it could cost millions and millions of dollars to implement. That’s just not common sense.”

Mike Thompson from WBKT Lacrosse asked the candidates what each plans to implement in the coming years to encourage job creation that is different from what has already been done in the past.

Walker said his plan involves building upon what he has done in the past.

“I want to build off those successes, put more money in the hands of small business owners,” Walker said. “Not the top down approach from those who support bigger governments.”

Burke said her plan to create employment in the state involves reducing the cost of college. She said her jobs plan shows that Wisconsin will need to have 670,000 more degree holders in the state to compete for jobs in 2025.

She said her plan is to bring more financial aid to students, decreasing the financial aid waiting list of 41,000 students for universities and technical colleges.

When asked about minimum wage, Burke said she hopes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. She said she wants the working people of Wisconsin to have the ability to earn minimum wage and still have the pride of not having to rely on government assistance.

“At $7.25 an hour, that’s just ridiculous,” Burke said.

Walker said in response that his plan was, while keeping minimum wage where it is at, to instead increase the skill level in Wisconsin so that work becomes more valuable.

Walker said as someone who earned minimum wage at McDonald’s as a high school student, he saw it as something temporary and hopes that other residents of Wisconsin can see their work in the same way as they seek to earn higher-skilled jobs.

“We don’t have a job problem, we have a work problem,” Walker said.

Burke responded saying that at a minimum wage of $7.25, expecting people to support themselves is unrealistic. She said raising the minimum wage would increase money that gets spent at local economies, create more jobs and decrease the level of people that need public assistance.

On the topic of abortion, Burke said she disagrees with Walker’s position in which abortions should not be given regardless of any circumstance, saying that politicians in Madison should not be making those decisions about a woman’s body.

She said under Walker, five clinics have been shut down that were giving health care to women including cancer screenings and birth control, while following the mandated invasive pregnancy screenings that had been in place under Walker. Burke said the decision on abortion should be something that stays within a woman and her own religious beliefs, her family and her doctor.

Walker said while his stance is pro-life, he can “only imagine” the difficult decision a woman is faced with when debating whether or not to end a pregnancy.

He said the issue is larger than his own personal stance on the matter, saying that the laws do leave the decision between a woman and her doctor.

When asked about Walker’s decision to turn down federal Medicaid assistance, despite 27,000 people who are now uninsured, Walker said he stands by his decision. He said he wants to keep insurance in the patients’ hands, and took it into the context of Obamacare.

“I think Obamacare has failed to live up to its promises,” Walker said. “I’d like to repeal it. That’s the difference between my opponent and I. My opponent would like to expand it in the state, I want to repeal it.”

Burke said in response that she has spoken with people who have gone without insurance because of Walker’s decision to turn down the $206 million in federal medicaid assistance. She said accepting that money allows Wisconsin residents to have access to affordable health care and brings money into the state’s economy.

“The majority of governors in the United States took it, including eight Republican governors. They were right, and governor Walker was wrong,” Burke said.

The next gubernatorial debate will take place on October 17 at 7 p.m at Milwaukee Area Technical College.