Milwaukee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett held a live video chat conference with Wisconsin residents Sunday, where he pledged to create jobs and strengthen the state’s educational system if elected next fall.

Barrett said he believes the state needs a governor that will be proactive and aggressive, as well as a cheerleader for the state.

“We need to have a governor that will stand up for us in tough times and make tough decisions,” Barrett said.

To create jobs and jumpstart the economy, Barrett said the state needs to invest in biotechnology efforts, as well as to support green energy jobs.

Wisconsin has no coal mines, oil wells or natural gas reserves, he said, so the state needs to realistically look at what it needs to do to keep energy costs down. Wisconsin is currently spending $16 billion a year on energy costs.

Barrett also pledged to strengthen Wisconsin’s educational system and said he cannot think of a time in Wisconsin’s history when education has been as important as the present.

Barrett added the state’s universities and technical colleges serve as “economic engines.” Jobs and education are inextricably linked together and these educational entities can help Wisconsin stay competitive in the global world.

“I want to make sure that this historically strong relationship between our universities and economic development … grows even stronger,” Barrett said.

He added he is concerned by some of the proposed cuts in education the other gubernatorial candidates support.

“We have to make the commitment that we cannot have drastic cuts in educational financing,” Barrett said. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure our educational system has the resources it needs.”

Jamie Stark, vice chair of the University of Wisconsin College Democrats, said he was impressed at how knowledgeable Barrett was on important issues, especially on economic development.

“The job market is just so scary right now and we’re graduating soon,” Stark said. “It’s good to know he’s thinking about it.”

In terms of the other candidates, Stark said he believes businessman and Republican candidate Mark Neumann will fail to win the Republican primary and that the final race will come down to Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.

Stark said he believes Walker is far more conservative than most people realize and some of his campaign pledges are unrealistic.

“Small government sounds nice, but there’s a certain level of government you need,” Stark said. “Walker and Barrett are both for small government that’s feasible, but Barrett is more realistic about it.”

Jill Bader, spokesperson for Walker, wrote in an e-mail to The Badger Herald that Walker also has been connecting with voters, most recently through his “Kitchen Table Town Halls,” where families can sit at their own kitchen tables and participate in a live town-hall conversation with the candidate.

“Scott will continue to use innovative ways to reach families across Wisconsin to share his plan to get government out of the way so the people of Wisconsin can create 250,000 jobs by the end of his first term,” Bader wrote in the e-mail.