Republicans in Wisconsin embrace family leave in wake of near-total abortion ban
In states with total or near-total bans, a number of GOP lawmakers and candidates have shifted as more women face being forced to carry pregnancies to term.
WAUKESHA, Wis. — On a debate stage in Milwaukee last month, two candidates enthusiastically vowed to implement paid family leave programs if they are elected.
But the promises — a signature part of many Democratic campaigns — were made by the two leading Republican candidates in Wisconsin’s competitive primary for governor.
It’s a sudden turn that has occurred in Republican circles across the country as the party seeks to find its footing in a political landscape turned on its head by the Supreme Court decision this summer to overturn Roe v. Wade. In states with total or near-total bans, a number of GOP lawmakers and candidates have shifted as more women face being forced to carry pregnancies to term — if not their stances on abortion rights, then their positions on policies like paid family leave, which is more typically promoted by Democratic politicians.
In Wisconsin, the top two candidates to take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers — former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and businessman Tim Michels — vehemently oppose abortion rights. Both have vowed to enforce the state's strict 173-year-old law that went into effect after Roe was overturned if they are elected. Recently, they have sought to paint themselves in a more compassionate, pro-family light, strategists and politics watchers in the state said. That includes taking new positions in support of a state law that would promote paid family leave.
Trump-Pence proxy war confuses Wisconsin voters ahead of governor primaryAug. 8, 202202:13The move may allow Kleefisch and Michels, who appear neck and neck in Tuesday's primary, to woo Republican-leaning suburban voters — particularly women — who may have been turned off by their support for the near-total ban.
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