Voices of UWM Voters: Midterm 2022

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students expressed nuanced views on the issues, and they broke down across political lines when asked who they supported for Wisconsin governor in midterm 2022.

Some wanted Democratic Gov. Tony Evers (who ended up winning). Others supported his Republican opponent, businessman Tim Michels.

A team of UWM journalism students set out to randomly interview students on campus the day before the Nov. 8, 2022, election.

They found a pattern of students concerned about crime, policing, and public safety. Other students were worried about individual freedom questions and issues like abortion and marijuana legalization.

Several expressed a concern about the glut of political advertisements and negative attacks.

Here are their voices.

Voting as an Independent

Dominique Hamilton is a 22-year-old JAMS major from Milwaukee, studying Journalism and Media Studies at UWM. Hamilton plans to vote in the upcoming midterm election, but said she is not fond of either the candidates for governor. She describes herself as an independent voter.

“I don’t necessarily like either of the people that are running,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s important to vote, but I wouldn’t say I’m super fond of any of the people who are campaigning.”

Having watched the various political advertisements for the governor’s race, Hamilton said she has not appreciated the way that both candidates have attacked each other.

“I try to just review all aspects of everything and then just go with what I truly believe would be the best person running,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said her political opinions do not fully align with one party or the other.

“I am fiscally conservative, socially liberal, because I just agree with a lot of business aspects of the conservative side, and I agree with a lot of the social reforms of liberals,” Hamilton said.

The candidates’ partisan campaigns are troubling to Hamilton. 

“In a perfect world, I’d want somebody who is independent like I am,” Hamilton said. “I think that both conservatives and liberals, especially the two parties that are running, are so focused on pleasing their own specific constituents in whatever party they affiliate with that they are not seeing the bigger picture and creating compromise.”

One issue that Hamilton hopes to see addressed is the state of the economy following the pandemic.

“At first, there were a lot of jobs that needed to be filled, and now I would say it’s hard for employers to find people to fill these roles,” Hamilton said. “So, I think maybe just helping boost our economy and getting things back to normal post-COVID is important.”

–By Ainsley Feigles

Common Sense Beliefs Led Him to Support Michels

Senior architecture student John Hirestein was ready to vote in this year’s Midterm election. He cast his early vote last week and is eager to see the results on Tuesday.

“I voted because I think my vote matters, and it’s time for a change from the extreme radical left. So, Tim Michels was the vote for me. I vote red and I back the blue,” said Hirestein.

One of the major issues on the ballot this year in Hirestein’s eyes was public safety and keeping our police properly funded.

“Mandela Barnes wants to defund the police. That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If you or a loved one is at home and someone breaks in, who are you calling for help? If the police are defunded no one is going to show up,” says Hirestein.

According to Hirestien, our choices as voters come down to ‘common sense beliefs’ and picking the party that is most likely to fix the corruption in our country.

“I think my generation is confused. There are two genders, the 2nd amendment is our right, freedom of speech is our right and we should do anything to protect it. I fear that once we lose these values the damage is done and we won’t be able to undo the harm. I want our generation to be informed with non-biased news and I’m hoping my governor Tim Michael’s will accomplish this,” said Hirestein.

Aside from public safety and ‘common sense beliefs,’ Hirestein had admiration for Michels’ service in the military.

“I fully support our troops and veterans across America. ‘All gave some, some gave all.’ If he’s willing to sacrifice his life and risk death for our country, I don’t see why you wouldn’t vote for him,” said Hirestein.

-By Brian Kohr Jr.

Motivated by marijuana legalization and abortion to support Evers

Tyler John, 24-year-old film student was walking through the union as he explained that he has always voted and has already voted early this year.

“The major issues driving my vote in the governor’s election is the legalization in marijuana, safe and legal access to abortion and the support of education of all levels in the state.”

When asked who John wants to win the election, he said, “I have already voted for Tony Evers and I want him to win because I believe a career educator is a better candidate to run the state of Wisconsin successfully than a businessman.”

There are many campaign ads running against the other candidates, which John noted as one of the aspects in the governor’s race that stood out to him.

“There were many commercials that stood out to me talking about Tim Michels overseeing rampant sexual harassment and sexual assault in the Michaels corporation and him maligning abortion and gay rights and other social justice causes,” he said. “I think it’s a poor reflection of his character. A man who cannot successfully run a private enterprise that supports all employees should not be able to run a government that supports and is representative of 6 million people across the state.” [Editor’s note: Michels said there were 5 such complaints in 60 plus years at Michels Corp. Some resulted in settlements.]

-By Olivia Kopesky

Construction and education are main concerns

Information Technology major John Margraff said his main concern for the governor’s race is construction and education. 

“The roads in Wisconsin are terrible, I know Tony Evers says he wants to push for smooth travel. I know he also supports public schools, while Michels wants to completely destroy them,” Margraff said.

Margraff said he choses to not vote for Tim Michels because of his recent history with abortion related concerns.

“I saw that Tim Michels was accused of tracking women near abortion clinics in an advertisement,” Margraff said.

Though Margraff supports Tony Evers, he’s not 100 percent satisfied with him.

“I wish there were more candidates to choose from,” Margraff said.

-By Nick Sanfelippo

Worried about police and the economy

Kerrigan Fritz is a 24-year-old Business Student UWM pursuing her master’s degree. She is voting in the governor’s election.

“I care about safety in the city of Milwaukee,” she said. “I feel like Tim Michels will help with safety by supporting the police, but I’m mixed because he has no politics and since Tony Evers has been in office, Milwaukee has gotten more dangerous.”

Kerrigan has had a hard time finding candidates she fully supports. She likes to spend time researching each candidate and the issues they speak on.

“I think Michels is the best candidate because some of my issues have not been resolved since Evers has been governor, and I think our state needs a change of pace. I am voting for Michels. The issues driving me to care about this election the most involve inflation and the economy. It’s nice to have a candidate with a business background because they have a solid understanding of how the economy functions.”

Her concerns for the economy have played a big role in deciding who she votes for. Even though she doesn’t feel passionate about either option, she narrowed down her most important issues and chose the candidate that has the same stance on topics she cares about most.

“I did consider not participating in voting at one point because I feel there’s not a candidate that I can say I fully support every viewpoint they have. I wish there were more candidates in the middle and not too extreme towards one party. I can’t tell who will win because Wisconsin is a swing state.”

She added: “If I had to make a guess I would predict Evers will win this election because abortion is a huge issue that many people feel passionate about and since Micheals isnt allowing any exceptions for abortions regardless of the circumstance I think that will impact his chances of winning. Michels’ stance on the abortion issue seen in ads used against him concerns me as well.”

Kerrigan had to make a difficult choice deciding who to vote for because she had to sacrifice certain issues and pick the side she thinks will be best for Wisconsin and the city she loves, Milwaukee.

“The one thing I think the governor should do to help younger generations would be to start locking in college tuition and providing more loan forgiveness options for all students trying to pay for their education,” she said.

-By Mackenzie Krueger

Cares about protecting individual freedoms

This election season, Wisconsinites have faced a large amount of pressure surrounding the governor elections, and UWM students are feeling pressure as election night is coming to an end.

“There’s been a serious amount of advertisements everywhere,” said Samuel Kolo, a Film Major at UWM.

They say this is reference to the political advertisements surrounding the governor’s race.

“We need someone who can pass more laws protecting individual and safety-based rights and freedoms,” said Kolo.

Sam and their partner recently welcomed a baby in August so for students like Sam safety of the city are a high concern

-By Maria Peralta-Arellano

Voted in Minnesota

Lauren Osmian, 22, voted two weeks ago using an absentee ballot. She submitted an absentee ballot for Minnesota’s race for governor because that is her home state. She is a senior in college at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee pursuing an Italian major.

Osmian said she voted for Tim Walz for governor over Scott Jensen because of policy reasons. She values women’s rights and health care, environmental preservation and voters’ rights concerning racial inequality. Osmian said she has the right to vote in Wisconsin but does not plan on voting because she intends to move back to Minnesota after she graduates.

“I am only here for four years,” said Osmian. “I don’t think it is right for me to vote on laws here because they will not affect me when I leave. I don’t see the point. My ideas about the political situation here may be congruent with the majority of people, but they will not be affecting me after I graduate.”

Although she is not voting in Wisconsin, she still understands that voting is important. The issue she has with voting is the choices that we, as a nation, are given.

“Unfortunately, the political system in the United States is a two-party system,” Osmian said. “By this point, you choose whatever is the lesser evil for me personally. If you don’t vote for the one you are voting for the other. You not voting or voting for someone who cannot hold weight against the two parties, and in the two-party system we have, your vote is going to the other person.”

Her hope for the future of Minnesota is to remain a safe haven in the Midwest for women seeking an abortion or other health concerns. She hopes that political leaders will remember the people when they are in their political environments because those are the people they need to protect. This stresses the idea that political leaders need to connect with the people to govern them productively.

-By Margaret Cody

Concerned about crime

After hearing the debate between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican opponent Tim Michels, senior Alex Kleinke believed Evers “fumbled the questions” regarding crime in Wisconsin.

“I would like to see a governor who could be harsher on crime,” Kleinke, 28, said of the candidates.

The communications and business student’s sole reason for voting is to control wrongdoings across the state.

“I would like to see somebody who will actually help Wisconsin win this election,” Kleinke said.

-By Anna Gipple