A 22-Year-Old Yale Grad Could Be Democrats’ Key to Protecting Gov. Evers’ Veto. Will He Win?

He is “6’3 but 6’4 in boots.” His former Twitter bio? “My [Wisconsin] accent is thick like custard.” He graduated from “a small college in New Haven, Conn.” That college was Yale University. And at 22-years-old, his race could be Democrats’ key to protecting Gov. Tony Evers’ coveted veto powers. Wisconsin State Assembly candidate Jacob Malinowski’s not a politician, but he could change state politics.

Their problem? Malinowski doesn’t believe in blind party loyalty. His positioning as a moderate is comparable to South Carolina Congressman Joe Cunningham and Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips, both freshman representatives in the U.S. House who’ve crafted signature branding that revolves around kitchen table issues like healthcare instead of hot-button issues like abortion.  

But Democrats are hopeful that Malinowski, and a slew of other suburban candidates who are locked in competitive races for the state legislature, will flip State Assembly seats and protect Gov. Evers’ veto. Republicans need to net six seats—three in both of the legislature’s upper and lower chambers—to override the governor’s veto ahead of 2020 redistricting later this year.  

“I’m not afraid to buck the Democratic Party,” Malinowski said, in an hour-long FaceTime call about the race for District 82 with reporters in early September. “I’m not interested in towing the line—I just don’t care, a lot of people don’t care.” 

And to make history, Malinowski must beat an 82-year-old incumbent, six years his senior, who’s spent four terms in the state legislature. That incumbent, State Rep. Ken Skowronski, is an old family friend of his grandpa.   

Skowronski was elected to the state Legislature in a December 2013 special election. Since then, Skowronski’s never faced a serious challenger and wins with at least 60 percent of the vote. Experts are unclear about how Malinowski will fare with changing trends towards Democrats in the suburbs.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Associate Professor of Political Science Paru Shah analyzed Malinowski’s chances in an Oct. 28 phone call.

“White suburban women who went for Trump decided to switch this time around, that’s what’s happening nationally,” Shah said. “He’s [in] a more entrenched Republican-based district–there’s additional barriers for young people to run and be seen as credible.”

According to Malinowski, Skowronski has refused to participate in any debates or candidate forums. And there’s been limited press coverage and polling on the race.

“The last time I had a conversation with him was at my grandfather’s funeral,” Malinowski said.  

Media Milwaukee reached out to a press representative from The Republican Party of Milwaukee who told me that Skowronski’s campaign is completing  limited media requests. Additional direct requests to the party and Skowronski’s campaign were not returned.  

Malinowski, like fellow suburban candidates Deb Andraca, Emily Siegrist, and Sara Rodriguez, has brought in record-breaking amounts of campaign cash. For reference, Malinowski’s raised $223,311.55 to date this year, according to campaign finance filings from the Wisconsin Ethics’ Commission Campaign Finance Information System. His opponent’s raised $53, 325.37, according to a report from the same time frame.  

But Democrats believe that money talks and Jacob Malinowski could flip the 82^nd Assembly District. The district that’s long been noted as a Republican stronghold because it includes Franklin, regarded by many as a conservative town, is now competitive. And Democratic Party of Milwaukee Chairman Chris Walton is confident in Malinowski’s chances.  

“Jacob is an amazing candidate—I see no reason why he can’t win this race and it’s not really a race he should be able to win,” Walton said. “He’s made it competitive in Franklin, which is one of the most conservative areas in Milwaukee County.” 

Democrats credit changing demographics and Malinowski’s political brand with his campaign’s success during a divisive election season.  

“Jacob is intelligent and he’s young,” Walton said. “He has something many [Democratic] candidates have generally lacked and he has a lot of energy.” 

And in Wisconsin, younger people serving in government is not uncommon. Retiring State Representative Romaine Quinn, a Republican, was elected at 24 in 2014. Democrat Kalan Haywood, a current Wisconsin State Representative, represents a district urban Milwaukee and was first elected to the legislature at 18-years-old in 2018. In April 2020, first-time candidate for the legislature Josefine Jaynes beat a Democratic primary challenger by 11 percentage points.  

Francesca Hong, a Madison-area chef and restaurant owner, who won an April primary election against seven others to replace retiring Rep. Chris Taylor has frequently appeared in social media posts and at in-person socially distanced “lit” drops with Malinowski. In a text message to a Media Milwaukee reporter, Hong called him a “friend” and also credited Malinowski’s age.

“He is a good person and his youth is his strength,” Hong said. “The only thing I have against him is he likes ketchup on his brats.”  

However, Malinowski’s opponent has criticized his age and experience, which was chronicled in a FOX6 Milwaukee interview that explained the policy and personal differences between the two candidates. And Malinowski’s age has created further controversy. 

On Oct. 20 2020, conservative talk show radio host Dan O’Donnell released an article, “Greendale Assembly Candidate Trashed Greendale in College Application,” that featured excerpts from Malinowski’s college admissions essay to Yale University. 

In the article, O’Donnell cites Malinowski’s essay, where he wrote “everyone in this town lives a very typical life. This is because Greendale is detached from reality” and “Greendale separates itself from the real world. Actually, it’s known as the ‘bubble’ because nothing bad can permeate it, and nothing ever leaves.” 

In a Nov. 1 text message response to Media Milwaukee about O’Donnell’s article, Malinowski wrote “Five years ago, as a 17-year-old who had never left my hometown for more than a week, I was anxious and unappreciative of where I grew up.”  

He continued by writing, “by reading past the headlines, I think my essay in context explores the feelings of lots of young folks in Wisconsin and I want to build a state that young people choose to stay in.” 

While Malinowski called O’Donnell’s work “fair” in an Oct. 20 Facebook post about the article in the Franklin Community Forum, commenters’ views were mixed.  

One commenter wrote, “So a 17 year old calling his Milwaukee suburb an “alike bubble” while in high-school? OUTRAGE!” Another commented, “This is just the typical ‘two weeks to go to the election’ surfacing of essentially irrelevant info.”  

In contrast, one resident compared Malinowski’s story to the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing, “Well being in high school doesn’t matter, I remember the sh*t show the liberals put on with Justice Cavanaugh they were even looking at his year books.”  

These types of mixed reviews represent the mixed views of the 82^nd District. When asked why his campaign has appealed to a wide range of support from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Malinowski has a simple reply.  

“I decided to work my a** off,” Malinowski said.

On Nov. 3, voters will decide if it paid off.