Are you looking for a nonpartisan voter guide to the Scott Walker vs. Mary Burke Governor's race? One that will give you an unbiased, no-spin comparison of candidate positions on key issues? That's what our Campus Election Engagement Project guide will give you! We are a national nonpartisan initiative working with college and university administrators, faculty, and student leaders to increase student participation in America's elections. For the 2014 elections we have created and distributed voter guides to campuses in more than 20 states so they can provide their communities with accurate information for informed voting. Because these guides have been so well received and are useful for all voting citizens who want to be better informed, we are also posting them here.
We developed our guides by analyzing information from trusted resources such as www.votesmart.org, www.ontheissues.org, www.ballotpedia.com, www.politifact.com, www.factcheck.org, www.vote411.org and from candidate websites, public debates and interviews, and statements in major media outlets. We also showed them to groups like campus Young Republicans and Young Democrats at the schools we work with to verify their fairness and lack of bias.
So here are the issue-by-issue stands for Scott Walker and Mary Burke, with additional links at the bottom for each candidate if you'd like to dig deeper. . See also a recent Journal Sentinel summary of key differences.
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Walker: No--Cut funding in 2011 in response to budget shortfall--then froze in 2013
Burke: Ambiguous--Has talked about making public school funding a priority, but without specific commitment.
See Journal Sentinel summary of education differences
Education: Do you support the effort to standardize and increase school standards under the Common Core initiative?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Education: Do you support providing vouchers to parents to send their children to private schools with public money?
Walker: Yes--Would invest more money in vouchers, hold line on public school funding
Burke: No--Would stop expansion of vouchers, route money to public schools
Education: Do you support increasing funding for higher education?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Elections: Do you support requiring registered voters to present a photo-ID in order to vote?
Walker: Yes
Burke: No
Elections: Do you support increasing restrictions on campaign donations?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes (Burke supports banning all donations from individuals who are not residents of Wisconsin.)
Environment: Do you believe that human activity is a major factor contributing to climate change?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Environment: Do you support taking government action to limit the levels of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Environment: Do you support government mandates and/or subsidies for renewable energy?
Walker: No (Strongly opposes both mandates and subsidies and has signed the No Climate Tax Pledge, which states "I pledge to the taxpayers of my state, and to the American people, that I will oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.")
Burke: Yes
Gay Marriage: Do you support gay marriage?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Gun Control: Do you support enacting more restrictive gun control legislation?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Healthcare: Do you support the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Healthcare: Should your state accept federal funds so Medicaid will cover people earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Immigration: Do you support colleges and universities awarding in-state tuition rates to state residents who are not citizens?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Marijuana: Do you support efforts to decriminalize and/or legalize marijuana?
Walker: Supported legalizing low THC extract for childhood epilepsy; otherwise opposes medical marijuana
Burke: Supports medical marijuana
Minimum Wage: Do you support raising the minimum wage?
Walker: No--Has said he won't repeal it, but doesn't think it "serves a purpose" compared to promoting job growth in general
Burke: Yes
Social Issues: Should abortion be highly restricted?
Walker: Yes
Burke: No
Social Issues: Should employers be able to withhold contraceptive coverage from employees if they disagree with it morally?
Walker: Yes
Burke: No
Taxes: Have you signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge to oppose any tax increases to raise revenue? (The answer to this question is taken from the database of signatories of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, created by Americans for Tax Reform. Signers to the pledge promise to oppose "any and all tax increases" meant to generate additional revenue.)
Walker: Yes
Burke: No
Taxes: Would you increase taxes on corporations and/or high-income individuals to pay for public services?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes, potentially. Still finalizing specific plan (See Journal Sentinel article for more detail on Burke's evolving plan and a comparison of candidate views on taxes.)
Unions: Should public employees, such as firefighters, police, and teachers, have the right to bargain as a group for wages and other benefits?
Walker: No
Burke: Yes
Learn more about the candidates:
Walker: Scott Walker Vote Smart pages and Scott Walker On the Issues pages
Burke: Mary Burke Vote Smart pages
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Other gubernatorial candidates include Robert Burke (Libertarian) and Dennis Fehr (Peoples). Due to limited space, we can't include their positions, but invite you to check out their websites.