Scott Walker says Democrats would make Wisconsin more dangerous

Patrick Marley , Mary Spicuzza | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Scott Walker hit a new campaign theme this week, arguing Wisconsin would be less safe with a Democrat in charge.

"You see, all those other things — health care, education, none of that matters unless you're safe," Walker told supporters Thursday as he kicked off a campaign bus tour at Maynard Steel Casting Co. in Milwaukee.

In response, his opponents said he was lying and trying to scare voters.

Eight Democrats are running in Tuesday's primary, but Walker named just two of them — state Schools Superintendent Tony Evers and former state Rep. Kelda Roys — in contending his opponents' hopes of cutting the prison population in half would endanger Wisconsinites.

"If that was done today, that means there would be thousands of violent criminals out on the streets," Walker told reporters.

Evers said, “I think he’s lying about whatever I said about that. He’s fear mongering. I will not be releasing violent criminals.”

Evers said his goal is to bring down the prison population by finding more effective ways to rehabilitate people, such as with more diversion programs and drug programs. Those approaches have saved money in Texas and other states, he said.

Walker as governor has never visited one of the prisons he runs and this week said there would be "no value" in him doing so.

RELATED: Gov. Scott Walker says he sees 'no value' in visiting state prisons as he hits Democrats' promises to slash the number of inmates

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On Thursday, he sidestepped answering why he did not want to see firsthand one of the new juvenile lockups the state plans to build to replace a problem-riddled teen prison that is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.

"I think anybody who's talking about that is driving away from the real issue in this race," Walker said. "I don't hear from voters about visiting anybody other than visiting victims of crime, who want me to focus on making sure that the violent criminals who'd be let out under the Democrat plan are not going to be let out any time soon."

Walker and lawmakers approved plans this year to close Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls by 2021. Problems there have cost taxpayers more than $20 million in legal costs and two former guards have been told they could be prosecuted as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged prisoner abuse and child neglect.

MORE: Democrats enter last mad scramble for votes heading into jam-packed Aug. 14 primary

Evers said Walker would learn important information about the corrections system if he would visit prisons and talk to some of the thousands of officers and other state workers who run them.

“Hands-off leadership doesn’t work,” Evers said.

In a statement, Roys said it was "ridiculous" that she would want to make Wisconsin less safe. She noted Minnesota has about half as many inmates as Wisconsin.

"Scott Walker is lashing out in a desperate attempt to cover up his abysmal record on criminal justice," she said in her statement. "Walker's cheap scare tactics and fear mongering come straight from the playbook of Donald Trump."

Another Democrat running for governor, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, promised he would cut Milwaukee's murder rate in half by 2022 if elected by working with local officials.

"Scott Walker is clueless when it comes to keeping Wisconsin safe," Soglin said in a statement.

Walker has lumped the Democrats together, but Evers and Roys have developed different plans to reduce the population of about 23,500 inmates.

Roys has said she would cut the prison population in half in four years, while Evers hasn’t set a time frame for reducing the prison population and has said cutting it by half is a goal, not a firm promise.

RELATED: Democrats running for governor call for slashing prison population

Walker for months has warned a "blue wave" could hit Wisconsin this fall and he said Thursday that prospect remains "very real."

He said he expects Trump to visit Wisconsin this fall to campaign for the Republican candidate challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Walker said he would campaign alongside the president if that happens.

"This election isn't going to be about the president, whether you love him or not," Walker said. "This election is going to be about who should be governor for the next four years."

The Republicans seeking to challenge Baldwin are Delafield businessman Kevin Nicholson and state Sen. Leah Vukmir of Brookfield.

In the Democratic primary for governor with Evers, Roys and Soglin are former state Democratic Party Chairman Matt Flynn, liberal activist Mike McCabe, firefighters union president Mahlon Mitchell, lawyer Josh Pade and state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma.

In his campaign stop, Walker touted his investments in education, tax cuts, job training programs and a years-long tuition freeze at University of Wisconsin schools.

Walker plans to hit 21 stops on his bus tour between now and Tuesday, when Walker faces a nominal opponent in his own primary.

Democrats crashed the governor's campaign stop Thursday, when someone dressed in a fox costume posed behind Walker after he climbed off his tour bus.

The fox, who was wearing a black bandit mask, held a white sack with a dollar sign in one hand and a hot pink sign reading "Thanks for the billions!" in the other.

His name is "Scottie K. Fox the Foxconn Con-Fox," said T.J. Helmstetter, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party.

Helmstetter said the fox was there to show that voters want investments in health care, roads and schools rather than more than $4 billion being spent on incentives for Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, which is building a plant in Mount Pleasant.

"I think this won't be Scottie K. Fox's last appearance," Helmstetter said. "I think you'll be seeing a little bit more of him."