Tony Evers
Anthony Steven Evers is an American politician and educator who has served as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since January 7, 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, Evers previously served as the Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Born and raised in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Evers was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, eventually receiving a Ph.D. After working as a schoolteacher for several years, he became a school administrator, serving as a principal and, later, district superintendent. Evers first ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1993 and again in 2001, losing both elections. Evers was instead appointed deputy superintendent, a position he served in from 2001 to 2009. In 2009, he ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction again, this time winning. He was reelected twice, in 2013 and 2017.
On August 23, 2017, Evers announced his candidacy for governor of Wisconsin, challenging two-term Republican incumbent Scott Walker. Walker was seen as a vulnerable incumbent and had been criticized for his education policies. Evers won the Democratic primary in August 2018. Former state representative Mandela Barnes won the primary for lieutenant governor, becoming Evers's running mate. The pair defeated the Scott Walker-Rebecca Kleefisch ticket in the general election.
Early life and career
Evers was born in 1951 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, the son of Jean and Raymond Evers, a physician. Evers attended Plymouth High School. He earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He began his professional career as a teacher and media coordinator in the Tomah school district. From 1979 to 1980 he was principal of Tomah Elementary School, and from 1980 to 1984 he was principal of Tomah High School. From 1984 to 1988 Evers was superintendent of the Oakfield school district, and from 1988 to 1992 he was superintendent of the Verona school district. From 1992 to 2001 he was administrator of the Cooperative Education Service Agency in Oshkosh.State Department of Public Instruction (2001–2019)
Evers first ran for state superintendent, a nonpartisan post, in 1993 and was defeated by John Benson. In 2001 he came in third in the primary to Elizabeth Burmaster. After her election, Burmaster appointed Evers Deputy Superintendent, a position he held until Burmaster was appointed president of Nicolet College. Evers served as president of the Council of Chief State School Officers and from 2001 to 2009 was Wisconsin's Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction.State Superintendent
Evers then ran again in 2009, this time winning. He defeated Rose Fernandez in the general election. In April 2013 Evers defeated Don Pridemore and won reelection. In 2017 Evers defeated Republican candidate Lowell Holtz, a former Beloit superintendent, with about 70% of the vote.In 2009 Evers used government email accounts for fundraising purposes. He and another government employee were fined $250 each for soliciting campaign donations during work hours.
In October 2018, a divided federal appeals court found that Evers had violated neither the U.S. Constitution's Free Exercise Clause nor its Establishment Clause when he denied busing to an independent Catholic school because there was a nearby archdiocesan school.
Student mental health
In 2017 Evers secured increased state investment in order to increase the number of trained professionals in schools and more funding for mental health training and cross-sector collaboration.Relations with Tribal Nations
As Superintendent, Evers worked with the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council and the federally recognized tribal nations in Wisconsin to begin an MOU process with each tribal nation to outline the working partnership the state seeks to establish and grow with each sovereign nation.Funding formula proposal
Evers proposed the "Fair Funding for Our Future" school finance reform plan. The plan sought to address some of the challenges with the Wisconsin school funding system and proposed changes to ensure equity and transparency in the quality of Wisconsin schools. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker never included Evers's plan in his proposed state budgets, citing the cost.Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
In March 2016 the United States Department of Education announced that Evers had been selected to serve on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Title 1, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act. The federal committee was charged with drafting proposed regulations for two areas of the ESSA.Rotunda
Sparsity Aid
Sparsity aid was enacted in Wisconsin based on recommendations from Evers's Rural Schools Advisory Council. The council stressed that declining enrollment and escalating fixed costs put added pressure on small, sparsely populated districts. Since it was implemented, hundreds of school districts have benefitted from sparsity aid.Governor of Wisconsin (2019–present)
2018 gubernatorial campaign
On August 23, 2017, Evers announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin in 2018. He cited his 2017 reelection as state superintendent with over 70% of the vote, as well as his criticism of Governor Walker, as key reasons for deciding to run. Evers launched his first campaign advertisement against Walker on August 28, 2017. Evers won the eight-candidate Democratic primary on August 14, 2018. On November 6, 2018, Evers defeated Walker in the general election.Tenure
After the 2018 election, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature met in a lame-duck session and, three weeks before Evers took office, passed legislation to reduce the powers of the incoming governor and attorney general. The legislature also enacted legislation to restrict voting rights, including limits on early voting in Wisconsin and restrictions on the use of student identification cards as acceptable identification for voters. Walker signed all the legislation into law, over Evers's strong objections. The move was "widely criticized as a power play" and challenged as unconstitutional in four lawsuits variously filed by Evers, other Wisconsin Democrats, and labor unions. The changes to Wisconsin voting laws were struck down by a federal court.In February 2019 Evers withdrew Wisconsin National Guard forces from the border with Mexico, where President Donald Trump had called for a "national emergency." Evers said, "There is simply not ample evidence to support the president's contention that there exists a national security crisis at our Southwestern border. Therefore, there is no justification for the ongoing presence of Wisconsin National Guard personnel at the border."
In February 2019 Evers's administration prepared a budget proposal that included proposals to legalize the medical use of marijuana for patients with certain conditions, upon the recommendation from a physician or practitioner. Evers also proposed to decriminalize the possession or distribution of 25 grams or less of marijuana in Wisconsin and to repeal the requirement that users of cannabidiol obtain a physician's certification every year. Evers's marijuana proposals were opposed by Republican leaders in the Legislature.
In March 2019 Evers replaced 82 appointments that Walker made in December 2018 after a Wisconsin judge ruled that the confirmation of those appointees during the lame-duck legislative session violated the Wisconsin constitution.
As of August 2019, Evers had a 54% approval rating among Wisconsin residents. As of November 2019, his approval rating was 47%.
COVID-19 pandemic
On March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Evers declared a public health emergency in the state. The next day, he ordered all schools in the state to close by March 18, with no possibility of reopening until at least April 6. On March 17, Evers instituted a statewide ban on public gatherings of more than 10 people, following an advisory from the federal government. This was expanded to a statewide "safer at home" on March 25, originally set to expire on April 25, with people allowed to leave their homes only for essential business and exercise. A poll conducted between March 24 and 29 gave Evers an approval rating of 65%, up 14% in one month, and also showed that 76% of voters approved of his handling of the pandemic.On April 6, Evers issued an executive order to delay the state's April 7 presidential primary, as well as other coinciding elections. The move came in response to inaction by legislative Republicans to delay or otherwise modify the in-person election despite the widely perceived risk of worsening the spread of the virus if the election went ahead as planned. Evers had said on April 2 that he had no legal authority to issue such an order, and Republican leaders in the legislature used his own words against him when challenging the order in court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court blocked the executive order just hours after it was issued on April 6, and the election took place as scheduled on April 7.
On April 16, Evers ordered an extension of the statewide lockdown to May 26, and mandated all schools in the state to remain closed through the end of the academic year. The legislature promptly sued to block the order, in a case now pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Evers responded to the suit by accusing legislative Republicans of a "power grab", and said they cared more about political power than people's lives. Republicans have called the extension an "abuse of power."
On April 20, Evers announced a recovery plan called the "Badger Bounce Back," laying out details of his plan for reopening Wisconsin's economy gradually as the pandemic subsides. The plan calls for daily death tolls from the virus to drop for 14 continuous days before "phase one" can be initiated.
On May 13, 2020, a conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Evers's stay-at-home orders.
Political positions
Evers has said his top three priorities are improving the Wisconsin public school system, making health care more affordable, and fixing Wisconsin's roads and bridges.Education
Evers supports directing more funding towards K-12 education and would like to work with Republicans to do more to help underperforming schools. He would like to expand Pre-K education to all students and continue the freeze of the in-state tuition price for higher education.Health care
Evers has said that Scott Walker's decisions regarding health care in Wisconsin led to higher insurance premiums for residents. He has pointed out that Minnesota accepted a Medicaid expansion and has been more proactive about healthcare overall, resulting in 47% lower insurance premiums than Wisconsin's. Evers supports legislation that would protect residents from being charged higher costs for health insurance due to old age or preexisting conditions. He also supports allowing children to stay on their parents' health insurance plans until the age of 26. He plans to remove Wisconsin from a national lawsuit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act.Roads
Evers has cited studies showing that Wisconsin has some of the worst roads in the United States. He ran for governor on a promise to focus on improving roads and bridges, and has stated he is open to imposing a gas tax to fund the projects.Income taxes
Evers has proposed to cut income tax by 10% for Wisconsin residents who earn less than $100,000/year and families that earn less than $150,000/year. He would fund this by raising taxes on manufacturers and farmers with a turnover of over $300,000/year.Medical marijuana
Having campaigned on his support of cannabis in Wisconsin, Evers announced in January 2019 the inclusion of medical marijuana in his state budget as a "first step" towards legalization. He also indicated support for recreational marijuana legalization, but prefers a statewide referendum on the issue.Abortion
In April 2019 President Trump falsely claimed that Evers vetoed legislation that would prevent doctors from "executing" newborns. The New York Times described the claim as "false", noting that Evers vetoed a Republican bill that would subject doctors to prison terms if they did not resuscitate newborns that were still alive after an abortion. The New York Times noted that abortions after 20 weeks are extremely rare, and that infants are hardly ever born alive after an abortion attempt; doctors may, for example, induce birth when the mother's health is at risk, such as during pre-eclampsia. During those situations in which the newborn is unlikely to survive, doctors and parents may opt not to adopt extreme measures of resuscitation. Under the Republican bill, the doctors would have been forced to undertake those resuscitation efforts.Immigration
Evers supports permitting undocumented immigrants living in Wisconsin to obtain driver's licenses, and has called this position "common sense."In December 2019, in response to Trump's executive order requiring states' consent for refugee resettlement, Evers sent the administration a letter stating that Wisconsin would accept refugees, calling them "part of the fabric of state", and criticizing Trump's refugee policies as "overly cumbersome and inappropriate." In February 2020, Evers sent U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a letter to asking him to halt negotiations with the government of Laos regarding deportations of Wisconsin's Hmong refugee population, who had previously been protected from deportation due to a long record of human rights violations in Laos.