Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke visited the University of Wisconsin campus Monday, stressing the need to get out to vote early.
Burke’s visit fell on the same day as the first day of early in-person voting, which allows voters to cast their ballot with their municipal clerk during business hours. Early in-person voting runs through Friday, Oct. 31.
Rachael Lallensack/The Badger Herald
Both Burke and Gov. Scott Walker have stressed the importance of early voting in the election. The Republican Party of Wisconsin also held several early voting events around the state Monday.
During Burke’s remarks before several dozen UW-Madison students at the Memorial Union, Burke reiterated points from the recent gubernatorial debates, emphasizing the need for affordability of higher education for all Wisconsin students as a way to propel the state’s economy forward.
“What we’ve seen under Gov. Walker are the largest cuts to public education on a per-pupil basis of any state in the entire country,” she said.
Keeping college graduates in Wisconsin by having a growing economy will help the state prosper, Burke said.
Burke also addressed issues of higher education with college media outlets from UW-Oshkosh and UW-Madison in a conference call.
Burke answered pre-submitted questions about the two-year tuition freeze Walker signed into law last year, keeping well-respected faculty at UW System schools and increasing affordability and accessibility of higher education.
Burke said Walker’s two-year tuition freeze was good for the higher education system because the reserves were available to offset it.
However, she said in order to apply another tuition freeze additional state aid would be needed to support academic programming.
“I would support it as long as we are sure it is not going to undermine the quality and accessibility of our UW System,” Burke said.
The UW-Madison College Republicans released a statement Monday saying Burke refused to commit to another tuition freeze.
“UW-Madison students deserve to know if she is planning to raise tuition if elected like her predecessor Jim Doyle chose to do,” Charlie Hoffman, chairmen of College Republicans, said in the statement.
Burke said she attributes a rise in tuition over the past decade to a coinciding decline in contribution from the overall state budget.
“Right now, we’re spending more on Corrections than we are on our UW System,” she said.
There are several ways to reduce the cost of college in addition to increasing state aid, she added. She said refinancing would cut the cost for students already living with existing loans.
She said she would work with universities to determine what is standing in the way of lowering costs.
Overall, Burke said not enough was being done to alleviate financial hardships for students, and that more can be done.
On getting out the vote, Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said he cast his ballot at the clerk’s office Monday.
Resnick said he was proud to support Mary Burke and other Democratic candidates on the ballot.
He also stressed the importance of the student vote in not only this election but in future elections as well.
“[Students] will be a huge voting block in the upcoming mayoral race,” Resnick said.
Resnick said he knows firsthand how important the student vote is, since much of his district is made up of students.
