AMY STOCKLEIN
Roys says her path to victory includes targeting voters under 50 and suburban, married women.
Kelda Roys is on the move. The former Madison lawmaker has been running full time for governor since December. Two months out from the Aug. 14 primary, she has elbowed her way to the front of the chockablock pack of Democrats vying to take on Republican Gov. Scott Walker in November.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Daniel Bice tweeted his observations of the candidate’s performances at the Democratic Party’s state convention in Oshkosh earlier this month. He also talked to party insiders there. In a race where the contenders have struggled to gain traction, Bice says Roys is getting noticed.
“A top Democrat told me relatively recently that [Roys] didn’t have a path to victory. And then a few weeks ago he said he was wrong and that she could end up winning this thing,” says Bice. “She did extremely well at the convention and it cemented the fact that she is probably one of the top three candidates in this race.”
Roys says her campaign has been gaining steam since liberal-leaning Rebecca Dallet won her state Supreme Court race this April. She says the momentum is “palpable.”
“We’ve won every single straw poll in this race. We’ve been working like hell,” Roys tells Isthmus during an interview at her home, which is now doubling as her campaign headquarters, in the Nakoma neighborhood. “A big key to this race is getting Democrats excited. I think it’s important to have a candidate that people can relate to and say, ‘I trust her with my kids’ future.’”
The test for Roys, now, might be how she fares under the spotlight.
“There’s been some scrutiny and criticism on the background of some of these [gubernatorial] candidates. Andy Gronik has a number of stories about him. Matt Flynn has come under attack for his role in the archdiocese,” Bice says. “We haven’t seen that yet with Kelda and I’m sure it’s coming.”
Roys is the youngest candidate in the race for governor. She’s one of two women among the 10 Democrats running — the other being state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma). Roys has a law degree from UW-Madison, where she worked with the Wisconsin Innocence Project. She served as the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin for four years. Before turning 30, Roys was elected to the state Assembly, representing the north side of Madison, Waunakee and Mazomanie for two terms. For the last five years she has served as the CEO of an online real estate company she founded.
Roys’ last foray into politics was an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2012 — a race that may haunt her. In the Democratic primary she ran against her Assembly colleague, Mark Pocan, and two other candidates to replace Tammy Baldwin, who was on her way to the U.S. Senate.
Pocan ended up winning by nearly 50 points. But not before Roys was roundly criticized by fellow Democrats for a series of attacks against Pocan that questioned his progressive credentials. State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison) and former Rep. Andy Jorgensen (D-Fort Atkinson) rushed to Pocan’s defense. Madison state Rep. Brett Hulsey called Roys’ attacks “silly and desperate.” Former Rep. Fred Clark (D-Baraboo) rescinded his endorsement of Roys after she released a campaign ad where the word “FAILED” was stamped multiple times across an image of Pocan’s face. Clark called the ad “inappropriate.”
There was also a bizarre incident at the 2011 Capitol Pride parade where numerous attendees claimed she misrepresented herself as a member of the LGBT community.
Six years later, Roys says her campaign tactics against Pocan have not come up. She also points out that unlike this year’s election for governor, the congressional primary race in 2012 “was the race,” since the district is overwhelmingly liberal, making it hard for Republicans to mount a challenge.
“I learned a lot from that race. I’m using that knowledge to run a very smart, disciplined campaign. And that’s why voters are responding,” Roys says. “Mark Pocan is a great congressman and I endorsed him the moment the [2012] race was over.”
Roys says the 10 Democrats running for governor have been civil towards each other because they all agree on one thing: Walker has gotta go.
“The big show is in November,” says Roys. “People want to vote for someone they feel passionate about.”
UW political science professor David Canon says Tony Evers, state superintendent of schools, appears to still be the candidate to beat in the crowded primary race. He’s run successfully statewide three times since 2009. Evers is widely seen as a safe bet against Walker, who may be vulnerable after eight years in office.
“I think what voters are struggling with is that there is not that much that separates the [Democratic] candidates on the issues. They all strongly distinguish themselves from Scott Walker on the central issues of the day,” Canon says. “So it comes down to background and experience.”
In May, Roys received the endorsement of NARAL Pro-Choice America. She also has endorsements from the National Organization for Women (NOW) and Feminist Majority. Roys received nationwide attention in April for launching a web ad that featured her breastfeeding her infant daughter Avalon. She was also one of the four top vote-getters in an online survey — conducted by the liberal groups Our Wisconsin Revolution and the Wisconsin Working Families Party — to help winnow the Democratic field.
“She certainly stands out in a crowd of mainly older white males. She would also be an interesting contrast to Scott Walker,” says Bice. “On the other hand, she hasn’t demonstrated she can win statewide or even a decisive race. But she’s doing all the right things right now. It’s also going to help her a great deal that it’s becoming the year of the woman in politics.”
Roys says her plan to beat Walker centers on two groups: Voters under 50 and suburban, married women. She says that some former Walker voters are now seeing the downside of his policies. She cites Act 10 — the signature accomplishment of the governor’s first term, which neutered public sector unions across the state — as an issue that may sour voters on returning Walker for a third term.
“People want their kids and grandkids to go to good schools. Act 10 was supposed to solve all our problems but look what happened in Walker’s home [school] district,” Roys says. “[The Delavan-Darien district] tried to pass a referendum. It failed. They laid off 20 percent of their teaching staff — 20 percent. And they closed one of their three elementary schools.”
During a May 15 taping of Congressman Sean Duffy’s “Plaidcast” podcast, Walker told a crowd full of Wisconsin College Republicans that the way he gets young voters excited about the GOP is by likening Democrats to taxi companies and Republicans to ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft.
“Taxis are in big cities where Democrats overwhelmingly ran, and they require you to have a license, pay a fee. They restrict how long you can work, where you can work. There’s all sorts of restrictions,” Walker said in the podcast. “Republicans are like Uber or Lyft. They don’t care whether you do one car ride a day or 50 car rides a day. They don’t care whether it’s a hobby or full time. They don’t really care as long as you don’t hurt the health and safety of your neighbor. As Republicans we say just go out and do your own thing.”
But Roys has a different message for young voters.
“We need jobs where people can earn a living wage. Not jobs where people have to work 70 hours a week at multiple jobs and still not have enough to make ends meet,” Roys says. “Republicans are still living in this fantasy where work is the way out of poverty. For so many Wisconsinites, they are working really hard. And yet they are still living in poverty.”
Roys is banking on Gen Xers and Millennials to capture the Democratic nomination on Aug. 14 and to beat Walker on Nov. 6.
“The gig economy doesn’t have reliable benefits for people. With the future of work being uncertain, how are people my age or your age going to have any kind of future?” asks Roys. “Whether it’s health care. Whether it’s paid family leave. Retirement security. All of these things, we need to decouple from work ... for the health of our economy. I’m not thinking four years in the future. I’m thinking 20.”
