With the Wisconsin Democratic recall primary set for May 8, the UW-Whitewater College Democrats hosted a “successful” Democratic candidate forum last Wednesday, according to College Democrats Chair Bryant Plank.

Plank said the group put a lot of work into making sure the event was noteworthy.

“It was about a two-month process to set everything up and finalize all the speakers,” Plank said. “The 300-400 people who attended definitely made the event worth it. I was very happy.”

According to Plank, the forum presented a resourceful way for the public to learn more information about the candidates and their respective policies.

“Hopefully the forum made some students realize that what we have going on right now in Wisconsin is important and they need to pay attention to it,” Plank said.

Gubernatorial Candidates

Some of the featured speakers at the forum included candidates for the June recall election of Gov. Scott Walker.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Walker’s policies have been a failure. Barrett believes he has the plan to fix Wisconsin.

“Walker has divided our state into two,” Barrett said. “My focus is going to be on restoring trust in government, healing the wounds from the divisions in this state and working to create jobs and ending this civil war in Wisconsin.”

Secretary of State Doug Lafollette said he feels he has a good chance to win the election because he’s had a reputation in the past of getting the independent republican votes.

“Wisconsin is broken, but we can get her together again,” Lafollette said. “We can provide the funding for the education, the health care and the environment. We can raise taxes a fair way and close all the loopholes that have been created by Mr. Walker.”

Candidate Kathleen Falk said Walker failed to keep his promise to the Wisconsin people that he would create 250,000 new jobs.

“It takes a lot of hard work to create jobs and our governor’s failed policy has produced the worst record of any state in the nation,” Falk said. “We know there is a better way.”

Sen. Kathleen Vinehout said she is proud of the Wisconsin people for making the recall election possible.

“This is a historic opportunity to bring back our state,” Vinehout said. “I believe Wisconsin needs a fresh start. We need to heal the divisions among us and learn to respect each other again.”