Housing is a human right. AND housing is more than something you work, just to line the pockets of out-of-state, big money landlords. But, that is exactly how housing is treated in Wisconsin. Over the past 10 years, Republican lawmakers have passed over 100 pro-big-landlord laws. We’ve felt the impact.

I know what it’s like to face eviction, couch surf, and work three jobs, praying to pay rent on time. As your alder, I fought back by spearheading the legalization of duplexes citywide, passing thousands of units of affordable housing, and leading Madison’s Housing Forward Initiative. As someone who has worked on housing issues at all levels of government, I know that we must look to the state and federal levels to deliver affordable housing.

Wisconsin is in a shortage of 200,000 affordable homes. But the State has no plan to get there. Here’s my plan:

• Invest in deep, permanent, affordable housing
• Make it easier to build affordable housing
• Unlock homeownership and cooperative housing opportunities
• Pass a Tenant Bill of Rights
• House the unhoused

Wisconsin is in an affordability crisis. This is not a mistake — it is by design. Republicans have rigged the rules to keep wages low, benefits weak, and the working class stretched thin. Our economy should work with us, not against us, by allowing everyone a fair chance to work hard and still live with dignity. I will fight for an economy where everyone can have access to opportunities and everyday essentials.

Here's how we'll lower the costs of living:

• Tax the billionares
• Expand the state's capacity to break up monopolies
• Pass an economic justice bill of rights
• Cap interest rates on payday loans
• Establish a public banking system
• Expand SNAP benefits and invest in sustainable, affordable food systems

For over a decade, Republicans have played petty partisan politics with our kids and their future. Now, Madisonians are forced to bear the brunt of the cost in endless referendums.

Kids in Madison are at the forefront of Republican attacks. Currently, the state only covers 10% of costs for MMSD schools as opposed to over 50% in other areas of the state. This is due to a flawed formula that doesn’t account for the reality that kids don’t get to choose where they need more financial assistance.

My plan is rooted in the principle that every child deserves to win. Here’s how:

• Deliver no-cost child care
• Fully fund public education
• Raise teacher pay
• Pass Healthy School Meals for All
• Expand student mental health services
• Close the achievement gap for Black and Brown kids

Our healthcare system sucks.

As the caregiver to an aging parent with a chronic heart condition, I’ve spent many endless nights in hospital waiting rooms, worrying over how to afford my family's health care needs. I’ve learned both how hard a job our healthcare workers have and how much harder our system makes it for patients, caregivers, and providers. No one should have to choose between their health and their daily needs.

I will fight to ensure every Wisconsinite has access to the care they need:

• Expand Medicaid (including dental, vision, and postpartum care)
• Introduce a single-payer option
• Increase pay and support for healthcare workers and caregivers
• Enshrine reproductive freedom
• Stop prescription drug price gouging

Wisconsin was built by the progressive working class. But Republicans have betrayed that legacy — they stripped workers’ rights, blocked increasing the minimum wage, and gave handouts to megacorporations that crush small businesses. We have a lot of work to do:

• Raise the wage to $23 by 2030
• Repeal right to work; Restore collective bargaining rights
• End independent contractor scams
• Remove barriers to entry for small businesses

The climate crisis is here in Wisconsin. This summer we dealt with a 1,000-year flood, extreme heat, and historically bad air quality. In Madison, we continue to see our lakes — one of our most precious natural resources — become more gross. Why haven't we taken action?? Because bold climate policies we need are getting shut down by corporate interests that have way too much power in the capitol.

Let me be clear: corporations are not my constituents. I will not sell out our natural resources. Instead, I will always put people and planet over profit. Here's my plan:

• Become 100% carbon-free by 2040
• Lower utility bills
• Deliver fast, free, and accessible transit for all
• Clean up our water, air, and land
• Create good-paying green, union jobs

Our leaders have abandoned the Wisconsin Idea.

Instead of supporting those pursuing higher education, Republicans have waged a divisive, anti-intellectualism crusade that is robbing us of the teachers, nurses, engineers, social workers, and other hard working individuals we need to power our state. As a UW alum and student activist, I’ve been in the trenches fighting with you against a government that does not value what we bring to the table.

I am committed to ensuring our leaders prioritize student life and wellbeing so that higher education is a door to opportunity, not a lifetime of debt:

• Fully fund the UW system
• Fund tuition-free learning for Wisconsin residents
• Invest in affordable student housing
• Repeal the GOP’s anti-DEI mandate
• Restore students' rights to shared governance rights

Over the past few years, Republicans have voted 77 times to increase criminal penalties, which has caused record-high incarceration rates and placed the system at 130% of its capacity. Meanwhile, crime has not decreased, gun violence is on the rise, and Wisconsin is far behind our neighbors in legalizing cannabis.

I will fight to invest in our community, not prisons:

• Pass common-sense gun control laws
• Legalize cannabis
• Finance community-based safety
• Expand Wisconsin's expungement laws to give people a second chance
• Stop mass incarceration, and invest in restorative justice

Our state’s most vulnerable communities are under attack.

The felon in the White House is sending ICE stormtroopers to our cities. Republicans are targeting queer and trans individuals, while pushing to whitewash and erase Black and Brown communities. Now is the time to sound the alarm.

I will fight to make Wisconsin a safe place where everyone can thrive:

• Protect immigrants; Stop the ICE invasion
• Safeguard LGBTQ+ populations
• Divest from apartheid regimes
• Support aging with dignity and care
• Honor our veterans with vet-specific benefits
• Expand disability rights
• Dismantle systemic racism embedded in state law

Democracy only works when everyone can participate. But fascists in the White House and the Capitol are working night and day to remove our rights and silence our voices. I will fight to protect our democracy and ensure free and fair elections.

My plan:

• Get fair maps; Establish an independent redistricting council
• Expand access to voting
• Repeal restrictive voter ID laws
• Establish a ranked-choice voting system

Madison is being squeezed. Madisonians are sending substantial tax dollars to the state, which Republicans are using for tax cuts to billionaires instead of reinvesting in our city.

As a former Alder and a State employee, I have a deep understanding of the severe financial strain our city is facing, despite being Wisconsin’s second-wealthiest metro area. It is absolutely absurd that we are the economic engine of this state, and yet we continue to be attacked by out-of-touch Republican budgets.

I will fight the affordability crisis and get a fair deal for Madison:

• Send more funding to local jurisdictions and service providers
• Revise state limits on local revenue
• Encourage local cooperation or regionalization of service