A Wisconsin firefighters union president declared his plans to run for lieutenant governor in the state recall election against current Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch on Monday, pledging to focus on creating jobs and restoring collective bargaining rights if elected.

Mahlon Mitchell, 33, has been a firefighter in Madison for 15 years and currently serves as president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin. He is also the youngest and first African American to serve in the post.

“As a firefighter, if there is an emergency, we respond,” Mitchell said in a conference call. “We have an emergency here in Wisconsin. I’ve been traveling the state. A lot of people need help and to make the situation better we’re going to need all hands working.”

When asked which of the Democratic candidates for governor he would like to see elected, Mitchell did not endorse any specific candidate and said any of the candidates running would be better than the current administration. 

If elected, Mitchell said he would work to balance the budget, restore collective bargaining rights and create jobs. 

“We need to work like hell to put our state back to work,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got promises from the governor of 250,000 jobs, and all we’ve had is six straight months of job losses.”

Mitchell also said there is a lot of confusion about what the lieutenant governor’s duties actually are and if elected he would make it clear and open to the public what his role in the governor’s administration would entail. 

He also plans to continue his work as president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and serving as a Madison firefighter during the election.

Mitchell is the second to file to for a run against Kleefisch. Ira Robins, a 71-year-old private investigator from Milwaukee, was the first to file with the Government Accountability Board last week. 

Robins said in his 49 years as a police officer, private investigator and investigative consultant will provide ample experience to restore integrity to Wisconsin government.

In a statement following the press conference, the Wisconsin GOP said it was confused by Mitchell’s criticisms of Walker since he originally put out a press release applauding the governor’s decision to leave the police and firefighter unions out of the budget repair bill.

When asked about the press release during the conference call, Mitchell said it was a mistake that he withdrew several days later. Mitchell took full responsibility for putting out the statement and said he had not read the entire bill before releasing the statement. 

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate released a statement following Mitchell’s announcement, commending him for his work as a firefighter and saying it was inspiring to watch him rush in to respond to “the emergency caused by (Gov.) Scott Walker’s extreme agenda.” 

Mitchell has been a consistent speaker at many rallies throughout the state over the last year, including the Reclaim Wisconsin Rally held March 11 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the approval of the budget repair bill.