Rep. Mark Pocan says Foxconn will be demise of Scott Walker and other Republicans

MADISON – U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan predicted the $3 billion incentive package for Foxconn Technology Group will be an albatross for Republicans this fall — one that costs Gov. Scott Walker his job.

Speaking to reporters in his Madison office, the Dane County Democrat said Walker and other Republicans weren’t paying enough attention to the public perception of the Foxconn deal when they approved it in the fall. Now, they’ll pay the penalty at the polls, he predicted.

His comments are the latest sign Democrats plan to campaign heavily against Foxconn in the fall. Last month, Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) said he planned to make the issue a centerpiece in races for the state’s lower house.

Pocan noted Walker did not mention Foxconn when he announced his re-election bid in Waukesha in November.

“The fact that Scott Walker didn’t mention it on his announcement is like a giant billboard behind saying, ‘Oops,’ ” Pocan said. “I think we just have to make people understand that they’re going to be paying for 25 years for his oops.”

Walker spokesman Nathan Craft noted Walker mentioned Foxconn during other campaign announcement stops, such as one in Superior.

"Congressman Pocan should be more concerned with improving the lives of Wisconsin families and less concerned with scoring points in his liberal Madison echo chamber," said a statement from Alec Zimmerman, a spokesman for the state Republican Party. "If he spent more time outside of his Madison-Washington bubble, he'd know Gov. Walker has put taxpayers in charge and helped bring Foxconn and tens of thousands of jobs to Wisconsin — while Democrats like Pocan have nothing more to offer than the tired, failed policies of yesterday."

Walker and lawmakers in September approved the Foxconn deal, which will provide the firm up to $2.85 billion in cash payments over 15 years, provided it meets benchmarks for creating jobs and investing in a planned liquid crystal display screen plant in Mount Pleasant. The company is also eligible for a $150 million break on sales taxes.

Pocan said he campaigned with state Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) in Mason’s successful bid for mayor of his hometown in October. Support for the Foxconn deal was about fifty-fifty in Racine, which borders Mount Pleasant, Pocan said Mason told him.

Support will be much softer further away from the planned plant, Pocan predicted.

Pocan said he met with a chamber of commerce in Beloit around the time the Legislature approved the package and every business leader there opposed the deal.

"Everybody’s got their own idea of how to spend $3 billion and it’s not the way Scott Walker did," he said.

Noting a chamber of commerce is "not exactly the Mark Pocan fan club generally," Pocan said he expected the sentiments he picked up in Beloit to be similar to ones elsewhere.

"They’re not going to see a dime of benefit (in many communities), but they’re all going to be paying for it for at least 25 years," Pocan said.

"If I was in the Legislature right now I would be going into every Republican district and holding a town hall on Foxconn," he said. "Let’s find out what people in Fond du Lac and Waupaca and everyhwere else, what they think about Foxconn."

Pocan also said he believes Democrats will take control of the U.S. House this fall and may take the U.S. Senate as well. He said Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville is the most vulnerable Republican in Wisconsin.

"I think he’s lost total connection to the First Congressional District," Pocan said. "And I think there’s going to be a price to be paid. And the fact that he won’t spend any time in that district is even more troubling."

Ryan spokesman Jeremy Adler was not persuaded.

"Every day Mark Pocan spends in (Ryan's district) is a day that voters will be reminded of how out of touch the Democrat Party has become," Adler said in a statement. " He can recite Nancy Pelosi's talking points all he wants, but it won't move Wisconsinites who know Paul and know that he's working hard on their behalf."